Bit of confusion early on.

I keep checking to see what day it is.
I tried to ring Emily at 6.30am your time yesterday.
Then 7.30am.
Sure she should be on her way to work.
No answer.
Checked what time it was in Melbourne.
Yep... 7.30
Saturday....
It's Saturday?
How long am I here for?
What day is it here?
When did it become Saturday?

OK
OK

Here til Monday.
It's Sunday now.
( I know. I've checked 4 times.)
Deep breaths.

Read all your wonderful emails.
Made me cry.
Beautiful, beautiful poem, Andrew.

Thank you for all your comments
I woke up to so many emails.
I loved it.
Just lay in bed reading them all.

Beautiful sunny day in Zermatt!
Not going up the cable car to view the Matterhorn.
Yesterday was wonderful so will leave it at that.
Off to explore the 'old' Zermatt and the Climbers Cemetery just a bit further up the street.

Those goats that I couldn't fit in the suit case...
Just thought I'd also mention they were a bit out of my price range too.

Well, I was very lucky with my day yesterday, weather wise.
Today was sunny, but then became quite cloudy and overcast most of the day.
And rain sometimes too.
I don't think the view of the Matterhorn would have been very good today.

So after a lovely breakfast, I set off to find this old Climbers Cemetery.
Zermatt is a lot bigger than you first think.
The Main Street seems to dazzle you and you tend to think that's all there is.
But there are many secondary streets with shops and hundreds of accommodation places.

I just glanced out the window and the low cloud is settling.
I can't see the mountains anymore.
Speaking of the window view...
Check out the photo with the para gliders sailing past in my view.

Mum, saw a poster today talking about the herd of goats that comes down the Main Street in August.
Thought of you!
But I won't get to see them.
I was looking forward to grinning as that happened!
And, I have been inside the shop where you and Dad bought all the Swiss Army Knives and had them engraved.
I have stood at the same counter.
Thought of you both here.
I can see why you loved it.

The old cemetery was amazing.
Set in the gardens of a very big church.
So many names and very old dates.
Common theme, died on the Matterhorn.
Sadly, there were many gravestones that read the same.
The names.
Sometimes, two or three or four...
Friends at Cambridge University
Died The Matterhorn
And very early dates... Late 1800's and early 1920's.

I sort of imagine them, fit young men looking for adventure, sitting round the common room, planning their assault on the mountain.

It was very moving.

Then. I just wandered off in any old direction away from the Main Street.
I figured I couldn't get lost.
Found the old part of Zermatt that I had been looking for.
The original houses that were here as the town started to be discovered.
Small log cabin types.
Up on stilts.
On top of the stilts.... The stumps balanced on huge flat rocks.
Why is that?
Very similar to our white ant solution...
These rocks stopped the mice!

Starting to rain.
Came across a very unhappy shop owner, trying to put up an umbrella to keep the clothes dry.
It kept blowing away.
I rescued it.
Wasn't interested in me at all.
She just kept say that it was a lousy way to earn a living.
I left her to it.

Then I headed into the Matterhorn Museum.
This was the best museum I have been in, hands down.
It was underground.
And they had recreated the Zermatt from the very early days of the attempts to climb the Matterhorn.
There were light shows
Movies
Sound effects
Hotels re created.
Barns
Animals...everywhere...making noises.
Houses... ( in one of these, I was looking at the small bed in this tiny house, when someone SNORED in the bed. I nearly jumped out of my skin!)
Milk dairies.
So many old photos, I lost count.
And the original museum that was set up after the tragedy of 1865.

OK... The Matterhorn was successfully climbed in 1865.
On the descent, the 7 men were roped together.
Tragically, one man slipped, pulling 3 others off the mountain with him.
The rope snapped and all 4 men died.
The 3 survivors made it back down the mountain.

The broken rope can be seen in this tiny, wood hut replica of the first Museum.
There's a photo.
Look at how thin the rope is.

In 2005, a Swiss rope manufacturer reproduced the hemp rope, and then tested it's strength.
It would only hold 150 kilograms!
There were 4 men on the end of that when it snapped.
Three of these men are buried in Zermatt.
The fourth body was never found.

This is fascinating.
Why do they do it?
Theodore Roosevelt climbed the Matterhorn.
Wrote a letter to his sister, saying it wasn't that hard.

There is a picture of a small Teddy bear that climbed both up and back down the mountain tied to the climber's boot. It was a gift from his small son.

A woman, Felicite Carrel climbed the mountain in 1867.
But was forced to abandon her climb to the summit, 100 metres away from it.
BECAUSE HER SKIRT KEPT BLOWING ABOUT IN THE WIND.
That point, Col Felicite, is named after her.

She climbed it in a skirt?
( Now, that really is the ultimate fail of .. 'What will I wear today?')
Can't you just imagine how she must have felt?

This museum was fascinating.
Every old picture told an amazing story.
I spent nearly 3 hours in there.
And it's not big.
I absolutely loved it.

So then, I realised that I was not only hungry but past hungry and feeling ill.
It was 2.30pm.
So I promptly sat at a restaurant.
I wanted food.
Good food.
They were not quick.
And the menu with rump steak out the front did not match the menu inside.
I gave up and ordered lasagne ... ( basically because I knew what it was.)
And waited.
Beautiful when it arrived.
And it did the trick.

My hotel is smack bang in the centre of the Main Street so, no matter where I walk, I am only half a street away from my room.
I love it.
Headed back for a short breather.

Hey, it's pouring down rain in Zermatt.
That looked like fun so I shot out the door.
It was fun.
Absolutely everyone is sheltering under awnings and in doorways.
The Main Street gets very, very busy after about 10am.
Tourists absolutely everywhere.
Never felt safer in my life.
Not a policeman to be seen.
It is a wonderful place.

And the window boxes!
Absolutely spectacular.

They have very expensive watches here.

I've loved Zermatt.
Just head out the door any time you feel like it.
Have a wander.
It's lovely.

And those amazing houses built on the sheer sides of mountains.
The views everywhere you look take your breath away.

OK.
Leaving here for Turin on the 12.39pm train.
Check out is at noon.
I am sleeping in.
Figured it is the best way to avoid buying a watch, I really don't need.
Stay way from the shops!.