7/7 Gondolas... Not just for water!

We met for breakfast at 9. We decided to get a gondola up a mountain called Schwarzee and then hike back down. About an hour later we were on our way to get our gondola.

It cost 31 francs for a one way ticket up (much more reasonable than the 78 francs from the day before!) All 7 of is piled in a gondola and made our way to the top. On the way up it got pretty windy at some points, which rocked the gondola and freaked me out a bit... Once me made it to the top I was relieved!

At the top, the wind was blowing pretty hard and it was about 15 degrees colder than it was down at the bottom of the mountain. We popped into a restaurant at the top for a quick bathroom break (it's weird to see a restaurant so high up in the alps!) and then we started our descent down.

The trail was pretty rocky and I definitely slipped a few times but no major wipeouts. There were spectacular views of the alps, most of which were covered with snow and some that were covered glaciers. After hiking over an hour, we stopped at another restaurant along the way. We ordered some coffee drinks, tarts and ice cream. Side note: Switzerland is very expensive. Restaurants along hiking trails in the alps: realllllyyyy expensive.

We then continued down the trail. Along the way we encountered some rain drops followed by sun followed by more rain. About 30 mins after our snack we stopped and had lunch: rustic bread and watermelon from the previous night's dinner, wedges of cheese and crackers swiped from the breakfast buffet, and of course, some of my yummy Swiss chocolate. Bruce made an interesting creation: a watermelon sandwich. Yeah. Don't ask.

I decided to go ahead at one point and run down the trail, inspired by a poster I had seen earlier in the day advertising the Zermatt full marathon. (New fun goal: to run the Zermatt full marathon!) It felt great to be running, even though it was all downhill and I was wearing jeans.

We finally made it toward the bottom. Bruce and Combes decided to go and do a hike at a gorge. Everyone else continued back to town. My brother and I broke away from the group and pretty much ran our way back to the hotel as the rain started to pour. I made it up to my room and collapsed on the bed. A 6 hour hike had taken all of my energy. Chris and I decided to meet up a couple hours later to go back to my favorite pub to get hot dogs later for dinner. Everyone else was going to eat at the hotel restaurant and have a 4 course traditional Swiss meal. Knowing how little I actually eat, I opted out of participating.

At 6:30, we made our way in the rain to the pub. We were helped by another nice waitress (every time we came there we had great service!) I ordered a traditional American hot dog and Chris ordered 2 chili cheese dogs. We told the waitress we would be back in about 10 mins because we wanted to run to the store to get some drinks. We went down the street to a grocery store called Co-op. We got some bottled soda (at 1.05 francs for a bottle it was a steal!), went back to pick up our hot dogs, and then back to the hotel.

After about an hour of digesting my delicious hot dog (it had a grilled bun and grilled onions.... Mmm!) mom came up to my room and told me to meet at Bruce and Renee's room for games. We played 2 rounds of the game of things. Having been victorious, I went back to my room to clean out my backpack, organize my clothes and start to pack everything because we were leaving the next morning.

Side note: for some reason I have been sneezing uncontrollably since I got here! Not sure if it's the nature or the cigarette smoke. No other allergy type symptoms but definitely feeling it in my nose! I'm curious to see if it goes away or follow me to Zurich... Tbc..