We are ready to move on. Our Modus Operandi typically is to arrive in one of these incredible places and convince ourselves that we should have booked to stay longer but almost in sync, we come to the realization that because of how we organize our days we are usually ready to head onward and this was true again even in St. Moritz. We are ready to go.

Today's adventure is not like anything we have done before for either of us. Both have done short train trips including the Tottenham Santa Train and a ride on Thomas the Tank Engine in England many years ago but today we will spend eight hours on the Glacier Express leaving from St. Moritz at 9am and arriving in Zermatt just after 5pm. We have booked our window seats facing each other and have pre-ordered lunch. Our cameras are charged up and we have packed away everything else as we are psyching ourselves up to stare out the window (or lovingly into each other's eyes) for the entire day. :)

The shuttle drops us off and we are directed to our train car and find places to store our bags (hauling up some steps again!!) and take our seats. We have a lovely couple from England across from us who shared that they are part of a train journey group that left from London England and will only travel by train for the next two weeks. They were doing a test run before they head to the Canadian Rocky Mountain trip to see if they like trains and group travel enough to commit. Apparently the train journeys were a success but they were the volunteers to be the only ones to sit in another car away from the group for the day, indicating that group travel might not be for them. This is something that we have now filed in the back of our minds as our goal is to stay independent as long as we possibly can before our bus, boat and train trip years!

This journey is what has been described as the world's slowest express train will take us across the Alps over 291 kms, passing through 91 tunnels and over 291 bridges that started running in 1930. We will travel across the Overlap Pass which is the highest point of 2,033 m (6,670 ft). Parts of the track use a rack and pinion system for ascending the steep grades and to control the steep decent on the way back down.

There are far too many photographs of the day so we will post the ones that are memorable for us and know that will still need to edit both on the train and of the Matterhorn. The sun was shining gloriously and it was remarkably warm even at the highest points. A few stops we had to wait about 15 minutes for a passing train so we were allowed to get off, enjoy the view and stretch our legs. We solved all of the world's problems along the way and even got to talk retirement again with the British couple who had run their own automotive dealership for many years. Ironically we learned as we departed the train that his name was Nigel. (For those who don't know… Grant's nickname).

As you travel along you are given a headset with screens at each car door to alert you that something is being said. Some of the facts were interesting and others about Heidi and types of cookies seemed to be a bit of a filler but kept the day moving along nicely. At least we learned to pronounce the stops properly as we definitely do not have a handle on the Swiss language (likely because there are four official languages spoken here; German, French, Italian and Rumantsch).

Lunch on the train was lovely and if we had purchased it today it would have been even more horrendously expensive so we were glad we had pre-booked. A glass of wine (almost 3 oz) was 5.50 Francs (about $7.00 Cdn.) and it went up from there including water. Let's just say we were a bit dehydrated by the time we arrived in Zermatt.

The other hiccup we had was that we actually did not have a ticket. It's hard to fathom that we had a reservation and a seat reserved including our lunch voucher but apparently we had overlooked that you need a ticket. That was a fiasco that took a bit of time as there was not internet as we wound our way through the tunnels and climbed the mountains. Resolved of course but a bit embarrassing. One of the slight advantages of group travel we were assured by our neighbouring Brits!

Once off the train in Zermatt we got some help from the Travel Info office who directed us to the telephone stand where you can call your hotel directly for their shuttle service to pick you up. Zermatt is a pedestrian village. It always has been and what used to be horse and cart transport has now changed to electrical powered mini vehicles which are Matchbox car like and I thought they were very cute! We learned later that the owner of The Europe Hotel was actually a very jolly fellow (he would make a great Santa!) who seems to move in slow motion and loves to be the one to pick you up from the station. We bundled into our tiny cab that had furs and blankets ready for colder weather on the seats. We made our way to our hotel, with our host waving and stopping to say hello to many people along the way. We checked in and at the risk of sounding redundant, were amazed when we saw the room that we had been given. This off season travelling is really working for us this vacation. The room was small and very basic as Zermatt is quite expensive so we opted for a simple place to sleep. What we got was entirely different. The view of the Matterhorn across a traditional Alpine village view had us glued to this spot for a long time.

While we sat and watched the lights change and as the sun started to descend behind the mountain, I noticed what I thought was a very large bee enjoying the flowers on our balcony. (The flowers in Switzerland are spectacular. What you see in postcards is not a select view, everyone seems to have pride of ownership and most properties are a rainbow of colour). What Grant realized is that it was a bee but the tiniest of hummingbirds coming to visit. It stayed with us coming and going over a long period of time and we managed to capture a video. We googled to discover that this was a rare Alpine Hummingbird who was literally not bigger then my thumb. It was hard to capture a still photo as the wings were moving so quickly but we think we got at least one.

Our hotel had not only upgraded us but had also offered a free drink so we took advantage of that and had a lovely chat with the young man from Sweden who had arrived here in his teens to work a ski season and never left. He was very personable and we enjoyed passing an hour with him and got some referrals for various things including where to get our SIM card topped up for the next week.

We wandered the town and saw many tributes to the original climbers of The Matterhorn. Edward Whymper, 4 other climbers along with 2 guides (a father son team) in July of 1865 were the first to climb the summit of the Matterhorn with success. On their decent 3 of the men fell to their death and those who survived were later accused of cutting the rope to ensure they were not pulled down as well. They were later acquitted. It is a sad story and one that Whymper wrote about quite a bit so there is a lot to read online. The hotel that the group departed from is now called The Whymper. We visited The Mountaineers' Cemetery which is a tribute and memorial to all climbers who have lost their lives in Zermatt. There is one gravestone that is an exception as it is the grave marker of two men who died of natural causes and not on the mountains. The father and son guide team who survived with Edward Whimper are buried here alongside those who have lost their lives to their climbing passion. Some of the gravesites have the climbing axes and rope etc. It was even more sad when we started doing the math and realizing that most of these graves were of young people under the age of 25. A very nice tribute and seemed appropriate that they were all in the garden together.

After our stroll through town and admiring the view of the Matterhorn at dusk we found our way to the Stockhorn Grill restaurant which had caught our attention on our walk. A lovely wooden building with the live fire being used for cooking is what caught our intrigue. We were not disappointed! The meal was fantastic but the dessert of Toblerone Mousse was very worth mentioning and remembering and perhaps recreating at some point!

The best part of Switzerland so far that I have neglected mentioning is that they know about bedding! Italians know food and the Swiss know about duvets and lovely pillows!! I completely approve and made us feel at home tonight! Zzzzzzzzzzzz