These weekend and day trip planned by Paul and Becky are perfect for the foreign and skint Au Pair. Everything is planned for you, so you don't have to worry about where the best places are to go, or whats the best things to actually do are. You just pay the money that is required and that sorts out where you stay, what you do, travel and most of what you eat. The best part though is that so many different people get together and share a great weekend away from work and just explore somewhere new as you get to know each other.
It was another early start on Saturday morning. So early that I got to watch the sun eventually appear from behind the mountains, as a sat rather snugly next to my new buddy Taylor on the coach. I say snugly (and note that I have literally only just met this person...for the first time...at 7:30am) because we were somehow accidentally one person over booked on the coach. I was on the back row (one of the last to arrive as usual) when Taylor sat next to me (running late too) and gradually more and more people filled up the back till we were one to many despite getting very close to each to make space. People ended up taking it turns sitting on the floor though. However for me and Taylor after that first close encounter (which somehow stayed pretty close throughout the rest of the journey) we were practically attached at the hip for the rest of the weekend. We were provided with many private jokes for life all because there was one extra person on the coach. She is from the States by the way, and is amazing!
The sun emerges....................
The view from the top of Lake Leman..........
Remnants of an avalanche near Zermatt.....
The odd thing about the beautiful town of Zermatt, which is very very close to the border of Italy (if you were to walk 6km over some glaciers you would be eating pasta) is that there are no cars. The only way to get into the town is by taking a 20minute train ride which takes you into the town centre of Zermatt!
Spot allllll the Au Pairs........
The Mattahorn Mounatin (aka the Toblerone mountain).........
After arriving in the town all 53 of us made our way, carrying our loads up, up and painfully up just a bit more to the youth hostel that we stayed in for the weekend. Or course people may associate the 'youth' part of a youth hostel with people that are young, full of life and fighting fit. Hence this must be the reason why it was such a climb of practically vertical slopes and many, many stairs to get to it, because 'youth' can handle that, right?! I'm gonna talk for everyone and say NO! Everyone hated that climb, especially at the end of a flipping hike! Rant over!
We dumped our bags, ate our lunch and got ready for our little Saturday afternoon hike to a tiny place called 'Zmutt'. You had the choice of taking the more grueling 'uphill' route with Paul, or the 'easy' (aka lazy) route with Becky because you would take a cable car part of the way to avoid getting sweaty! So naturally I took Becky's 'Easy' route with 12 others taking in some amazing views from the cable car as it took us over the tree tops. My little group that I was with had a good laugh as we meandered to our destination through the gorgeous autumn surrounded paths.
We even spotted some Edelweiss on.......
Zmutt! Pointed out to you by Paul.......
Zmutt, the tiny town that beholds treats........
Once we reached Zmutt we sat outside a little restaurant in the blazing sun (yes, my English skin got burnt of course!). For some reason we were all rather smug with ourselves for taking the 'easy' route as we sat waiting for the 'uphill' group to arrive. When the red faced, slightly sweaty 'uphill' group did arrive we were felt even more smug! Hahaha! Even though we hadn't worked as hard as some others, we still basked in our cool refreshments and ordered some delicious Apfelstrudel. Maybe I should say that we weren't completely lazy, we did walk the same distance as the 'uphillers', just didn't have to walk SO much uphill!
Apfelstrudel................
Ye old hay barn.............................
Here's a little historical lesson for the day about the hay barn above. The reason that it is has blocks of stone on stilts under the structure is so that little rodents cant climb into the barn and ruin its contents. These are all over the place in Zermatt!
After our hike we gathered food for the next day from the shops and gained access to our rooms at the youth hostel. I was roomed with Taylor (or course) and two fellow Englishmen (women? Englishwomen? Is there a female term for that) called Hannah and Shiffy, plus Sanita from Latvia. After we filled our stomachs with as much as they would take of the Youth Hostel food, Taylor and I got ready for bed. Even though we were way tired, being ready for bed by 8pm was a bit...errmm...sad? It's okay though because we ended up talking about Au Pair life (mostly) till the late night hours. Gradually everyone in our room (who just couldn't leave such riveting conversation to go out clubbing, only to be faced with THE climb back up to the Youth Hostel) ended up slipping into p.j.'s too.
Sunday morning everyone was packed up and ready for the big hike of the day which was promised to start with a snow capped Gornagrat mountain (that's where we were headed). We took a train to the top of the Gornagrat at 3069meters high, from which we were to hike our way down back into the town of Zermat. The day was full of misty clouds (which when walked through left you just a bit damp) and rainbows! I should say that a LOT of photos were taking on our hike. A LOT of silly, silly photos. The majority of which did not make it on to here, because if you weren't there you just wouldn't find them funny. So just humor me here, as always. You should also enjoy the Edelweiss bandana that I was rocking all day. I bought for no particular reason at the top of mountain, but my very cold forehead was extremely pleased that I did!
Our hike down the mountain was absolutely beautiful! Paul had talked to us all that morning about how getting away from our work place to the gorgeous natural landscape of somewhere like Zermatt for a weekend was a good recharge for our souls. He was absolutely right! Being surrounded by such beauty and spending your time with so many wonderful, new and funny people lifted my spirit even higher. You could feel the buzz between everyone as we took in the glory of the mountains and each others company as different groups of people joined together the day went on. It was a fantastic day!
Making our way through the town center.......
Waiting for our train tickets............
The red train route to Gornergrat (you can see that Zmutt was very low down).....
Zermatt from the train.......
Mountainous glaciers........
Arriving at the top station..............
Group Au Pair photo (I was in the loo)......
It wouldn't be Switzerland without a St.Bernard........
Taylor owning this space................
My bedroom gang...Shiffy, me, Taylor, Hannah and Sanita..........
Me...owning this space...?...........
RAW for the hike.............
My favorite photo from the day of Taylor and I........
A 'good luck' note left under a rock pile.......
Follow the red arrows to find your way......
Making our own rock pile..........
One of many lakes scattering the mountain......
Sun ray...........................
The lunch rock......................
Get your face in it..........
Toblerone fight................
Shiffy in the rainbow and clouds......
The dinosaur mouth........
I may be a little stuck.......
Help...........................................
Walking, walking, walking.......
We are still good to go.............
You can always be a kid................
Shiffy disappearing into another cloud.....
Zermatt is the distance...............
Finding the main road.........
Following the lopsided man off the road again......
Just as we were near the end of our hike we took a route that would take us to a gorge with beautiful flowing blue water cascading down and through the gorge called 'Gorner Gorge'. It is a canyon created by the last Ice Age. Not everyone took this route on their way down, so I was very glad that we did, because it was the cherry on top of the whole day!
Gorner Gorge...........................
Steady down the steps..................
The start of the Gorge..................
Some of the group...................
Desperately hoping that the walkway holds up.....
The rest of the group.................
Once we all came out of the Gorge we were in Zermatt a minute later! Bags had to be collected from the hostel and we all gathered at the train station with achy legs and done-in knees ready to get back on the bus at the other end.
The back of the bus.................
Sleepy time..........................
I am so glad that I went on this trip to Zermatt! It was a place that I had really wanted to visit whilst I'm here. I again met new people and got to know them, as well as getting to know many others a bit better than I did the previous week. In the words of Paul...I was left fully charged for another week!
Sleep time.........
