Woke up this morning and made a nice breakfast and watched a couple episodes of "Ray Donovan" on Netflix. I don't know if we get the show in Canada but it is quite entertaining.

Anyway, my hope of going paragliding was dashed with no openings so I decided to go for a mountain hike up behind our villas. Backpack on, water bottle filled and binoculars in hand, off I go. Up a beautiful trail which overlooks Zermatt even more. I keep climbing and come across a serious family who were decked out in climbing helmets, walking sticks, hiking boots and jackets, etc. Here I am running shoes, plastic water bottle and a Tilley.....anyway the hike was fantastic and provided a great view.

It seems hiking is the thing everyone does here this time of year. Most backpacks that people are wearing have a pair of collapsible walking sticks tucked away.

Anyways, Dominique heads into town and we have some alone time cause she is tired of me most likely... we meet up at 5 pm at a local restaurant called the Brown Cow. Inside, met a British lady who moved here 32 yrs ago after visiting for 6 months....she thought we were American and when I pointed out we were Canadian her whole demeanour changed, and she became noticeably more friendly and chatty. We talked for 10 minutes and we got to ask some questions that baffled us. The main one being since pathways going to our villas and others have angles reaching literally 45 degrees how do people walk on them during winter. She advised us that everyone here has boots with crampons that can be activated or retracted as needed. In addition they put wood chips down on the roads and paths to help with traction.

Had a great burger, fries and salad along with a pint of local ale, all for 50 franks. What a deal.

In for the night, with tomorrow our first train being at 9:37am and our flight arriving in Amsterdam at 6pm. I am not sure if we need to clear customs or not since coming into Switzerland we never had to show our passports to anyone, but I will let u know

Harold