Switzerland, 9.6.16 - 9.17.16, Part 11 of 13: From Grindelwald to Zermatt
One last look at Grindelwald from the flanks of the Eiger
As Gina, Bob and I were eating our Rösti and drinking our Rugenbrau at Alpiglen, Dana and Bridgit were having an equally good time. Their first stop had been back up to Kleine Scheidegg with us. After we left for our hike, they went back to a shop where Bridgit had seen a hat that she liked for herself. After that, they took the cog railway back down to Grindelwald and roamed the streets the entire day. Finally, after emptying out every shop in Grindelwald, they met us back at the Gletschergarten.
Bridgit sporting her new hat and looking mighty fine
Bridgit and Dana, both suffering from a bad case of CSS (Contented Shoppers Syndrome)
We had all gotten back to the hotel by around 3PM and I was eager to squeeze out every last minute of our time in this incredible place. We felt really good about how much of the area we had explored during our stay, but there was still one spot I was very eager to see that I hadn’t visited yet.
Our hotel was near the eastern edge of Grindelwald and I really wanted to see an area called Grosse Scheidegg. This was the ridge east of town that comes off of the north face of the Wetterhorn. The road that passed by our hotel winds up the valley to Grosse Scheidegg so Bob and I hopped on the city bus and off we went. The road got narrower and narrower and soon began to switchback up the side of the valley. It was very obvious that the minute we turned the corner past our hotel that we were out of the town and into the countryside. It was very beautiful as we climbed higher and higher. I was amazed at how good the driver was. Some of these switchbacks were extremely narrow and he had to honk his horn just to let any possible oncoming cars know that we were coming around the bend.
It only took about twenty-five minutes to get to Grosse Scheidegg and due to the lateness in the day we were the last bust to go there, with one more return bus that would arrive a half hour later.
Grosse Scheidegg with the berghotel and the Wetterhorn
There wasn’t much up there other than the Berghotel Grosse Scheidegg, but from this spot we were rewarded with views down the other side of the valley from the ridge which can’t be seen from Grindelwald.
The north face of the Wetterhorn closeup and personal
The beautiful valley east of Grosse Scheidegg. This peak east of the Wetterhorn is called the Engelhorner which we couldn’t see from our hotel.
Coming back down we passed by the valley of the upper Grindelwald Glacier. Here we got an interesting view of the Shreckhorn.
The valley below the Shreckhorn. Notice how tall the waterfall is on the right side of the shot and the climber’s hut perched on a cliff on the left side of the shot. We could see this hut from our hotel at night as a tiny light on the side of the Wetterhorn.
For our last dinner in Grindelwald we wandered down the main street and picked a place that had a good pizza menu. It takes a bit longer to get food in Swiss restaurants, not because they are busy but because everything is freshly made to order.
Final dinner in Grindelwald. One pizza was goat cheese, ham and asparagus spears. The other had artichoke hearts, olives and mushrooms I think. Grubbin!
Our wonderful hosts at The fabulous Gletschergarten - Gabriela and Gerhard Michel-Breitenstein
The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel as we did each morning since it came with the room fee. Besides, it was a very delicious spread and gave us all time to get our act together each morning before heading out for our daily adventures. Then we sadly checked out and headed for the train station and with a tear in our eye, we said goodbye to Grindelwald.
Gina and Bridgit
The train dropped down from Grindelwald back to Interlaken and then on to Speiz. This is where we had to say goodbye to Gina. She had been such a great part of our group and gave true meaning to the adage that states “the more the merrier”. I was also pleased that Gina had now spent quality time with both sets of the people Bridgit and I hang out with the most in Lake Stevens. You may or may not recall that she and her husband also joined us in Whitefish, Montana for a ski trip two winters ago with our other friends Greg and Donna. Anyway, Gina was off to southeastern Switzerland to explore the upper and lower Engadine near St. Moritz so we wished her well and continued on to our next destination - Zermatt.
The train from Grindelwald to Zermatt took us about three hours but it felt like an hour. Zermatt is on the southern border between Switzerland and Italy and we were going there for one reason - to lay eyes on the most beautiful mountain in the world, the Matterhorn.
Upon our arrival at the Zermatt station, the hotel picked us up for a very short ride to our new digs, the Hotel Shönegg. I had picked this one during my planning phase for a couple of reasons. The first and primary reason was that I could tell that staying in the main part of Zermatt only offered a partial view of the Matterhorn. I found that choosing a hotel on the slopes above the main part of the village the views were much better. I also wanted to splurge and stay in a bit nicer hotel just to treat ourselves to a little more luxury on our last couple of days. Our first glimpse of this was when we arrived at the hotel. Since it was on a steep hillside, the entrance to the hotel was through a tunnel that led to an elevator that takes you up to the hotel itself.
This is the tunnel we had to drive through to enter the hotel. The lights would change colors every ten seconds.
The Hotel Schönegg. Our rooms were right under the “Schönegg" sign.
Since we arrived around noon, our room wasn’t quite ready so we went out onto the patio and had a glass of wine while we waited. We stepped out through the bar onto the deck and there it was. The Matterhorn. The first mountain I’d ever been inspired by. The mountain I had dreamed of seeing for the better part of fifty years. And while clouds swirled in and around it throughout the afternoon, we were staggered by how great our view was of this peak from our hotel rooms and this patio. The view was completely unobstructed and I was just praying that we would get some clear weather during our four days here. The weather forecast was deteriorating and we were pretty sure our luck with the weather had run its course so I was just grateful that we had even gotten a glimpse of this incredible peak.
Our first view of the Matterhorn
My lovely wife looking very content on our balcony at the Hotel Schönegg
We were close enough to the main village that we could go out through the tunnel and walk a few blocks to the main street. We went out for dinner and checked out a few shops knowing that the girls would need to be allotted some time to rid themselves of any francs they might still have. Returning to our hotel, we had a beautiful night view of the village of Zermatt with the Matterhorn rising behind.
A room with a view. From our balcony.
This concludes Part 11. Read on for Part 12: The Matterhorn, The Rothorn & The Five Lakes Trail.