Zermatt day 2!

Waking up early in Zermatt is very easy...and if you know Becca and I we usually sleep in till after 10am. So waking up at 6am to a beautiful sunrise right out our window was easily done. We got our boarding clothes on as quietly as possible, because we share a room with strangers, and then headed to rent equipment. 

it would of been nice to have our own boots and boards, but lugging that stuff half was across the world wouldn't be pleasant. After renting we immediately got our lift tickets and boarded the matterhorn glacial express. the views were awesome! and picturesque! 

We adventured across on our snowboards to italy and then back to the swiss side of the mountains. crossing the boarder was exciting...one minute we were trying to speak swiss the next we were in italy where saying thank you and hello (gratzie and ciao) are known to most americans!

We spent the entire day boarding, it was tiring and frustrating sometimes but knowing we were in the alps made us so thankful!

We did have a little scary episode however, I was sore and tired and ready to go back to the hostel so we decided to take a run from the top of the mountain 4,000 something km all the way to the bottom....

...conversion time: there is 1.61 miles to 1 km. and 5,280 ft to a mile. so just one run straight down a mountain was about 2 miles. 

...well this run was not my favorite. being scared of heights didn't help either. to one side there was a cliff- rocks and all and to the other was a ledge with a train above. this run switch-backed all the way down. Becca would patiently stop and wait for me as I was being very cautious not to kill myself or another on the small, crowded run. somewhere going down the run forked and i lost becca...i took a guess which way and definitely picked the wrong run. 

I looked on the map once i got home and it was a walking trail...not even a ski run! so it was small and narrow with giant snow banks on each side and the trail was carved out so it made it impossible to turn on the ice. luckily i wasn't alone. i met 2 others who embarked on the same horrible decision as myself. the trail was all downhill so we didn't have to walk to skate, so being able to stay strapped in was nice. but since we couldn't turn to stop or slow down we were had no other choice but to crash into the banks to stop.

I was injured, tired, sore, cranky...every horrible feeling possible. after about an hour going down this walking trail on our snowboards we really felt lost, but thank the lord the matterhorn was still in sight. I local told me you cant get lost in zermatt as long as you can see the matterhorn! we soon had to unstrap and walk because people were getting angry who were walking on the trail. walking in the snow holding your board isn't fun after a long day and even worse we came out at the wrong end of town by the river so we had to hike uphill and across town. 

I was praying that becca would get the hink that after about an hour and a half that i wasn't following her and would just go back to the hostel or to the bottom chairlift where we started from. She wasnt at either place so I was starting to panic! I was scared going down some nothing of a run, but i was sure she thought i was dead in come ravine off a cliff! which made me feel horrible!

after being apart on the mountain for an hour and a half and then me waiting for another 30 mins after the lifts closed I was freaking out. Mike the bartender at our hostel assured me that people get separated all the time and that i shouldn't worry. but I was still very worried, even the beer he gave me didn't calm my nerves. I actually started crying and a few people in the bar tried to calm me. 

2 plus hours and no becca...i sat outside cold and wet, sat inside by the window...paced around the street and then she finally showed up chapped red face and all.

She waited for me right below on the run that forked, but because some man was peeing she didn't see me take the wrong way. her fingers were near frozen so we each had a few beers and some food to bring us back to life. 

overall our first day in zermatt was exciting! beautiful snow conditions and we made more friends too!

Harry our english friend from Wales, and our three new roomates: William the french-candian, and Theo and Rory the two funny boys from London. 

I fell asleep after having a few beers with the boys but becca continued to drink and drink and drink with them. They were all funny stumbling in late and drunk...but they sure did feel it today (day three) when we were heading up the lifts!

more to come soon...

Becca and I left Paris, France at 5:45am to get to the Guar de Lyon Eurail station by 7am. The night before we had a little to much to drink, so we didn't exactly sleep. Excitement and all! The Trains were confusing we had to take 4 different trains between France and Switzerland. 

Paris to Geneva.

Geneva to Lusanne.

Lusanne to Visp.

Visp to Zermatt. 

Nothing was in english, as usual, so we had to take chances and guess we were boarding the right train. We finally came across two boys from England. They were also going to Zermatt. Lucky for us they boys were cute and close in age. We sat together on the trains and helped navigate eachother in the right direction. 

The views riding up the Swiss Alps were amazing, I know I use that word a lot but there really isn't any better word to describe what we saw. White snow everywhere, clear flowing rivers, and mountain peaks resembling something from one of Dr. Suess's  books. 

Just as I was about to fall asleep, the ticket collector warned me we were 2 mins away. 

Our British friends, Becca and I were completely lost from there....

The city of Zermatt doesn't allow cars. The chemical combustion causes smog- which could cloud the view of the Matterhorn....so we were without a taxi and any form of hope as to how we could get to our hostel. 

Most of the town speaks a variety of languages so we found a few english speakers and they helped us to our hostel. Becca towed two of our suitcases, Henry and his brother had their skies along with giant duffel bags, and I had another suitcase with a giant backpack. We stood out like sore thumbs. We had to walk about 12 mins uphill to our hostel, but it was worth it.

The Matterhorn was in clear view. beautiful! our hostel is quite unique as well. Its called the Matterhorn Hostel. There's a little pub attached, the owner Mike (aka Sparky- the name of the pub) has already become familiar with us! upon arrival we threw down our luggage and started ordering drinks. We ordered a local beer on tap which was delicious and had them comming until we could check in. 

Becca and I share a room with a girl from Taiwan. So far thats it, but there are a total of 6 beds. Becca just went to bed and now I am about to also.

Goodnight and sleep tight till my next blog.