Zermatt in September 2019: Part 1

The star of Zermatt is the beautiful Matterhorn mountain.

This was taken from above the town from a lovely restaurant in the mountains.

I really like the way they have arranged bottles of flowers on high ledges

 in front of this marvelleous view.

But first of all, we'll visit the town before going up into the mountains for a hike.

Switzerland is well known for its beautiful arrangements of geraniums

and they're particularly beautiful on the wooden chalets.

Here is the hotel we stayed in which is very near the small centre,

but just on the other side of the River Matter Vispa that runs through Zermatt.

A pretty garden in a side street.

You can see the dome of the museum on the upper right.

From the balcony of my hotel room

I could see the Hotel Julen in typical darkened and weathered wood

which shows off the window boxes of flowers so well.

This was taken in the early morning.

Another chalet adorned with flowers and even a pair of mountain boots.

The Zermatterhof is a beautiful hotel in classical style.

This is where my son and his bride stayed last year in August

 and it's where the wedding reception was held.

Here is the link if you would like to see it:

A Wedding in Zermatt

The church steeple of St. Mauritius.

This plaque in the main street is to honour the first man to successfully reach

the summit of the Matternhorn with two guides.

It was a dangerous ascent and the equipment was rather rudimentary.

You can read about it here:

The first ascent of the Matterhorn

On the second day of our stay, we took a funicular up to a station called Sunnegga.

This is the view that greeted us!

You can see the glacier on the right of the image.

We took a small path down to a little hamlet called Findeln.

The cows were still grazing at this high altitude of 2.288 metres.

Soon they will be leaving the mountains to descend down the valley

for their winter quarters.

When we arrived in Findeln, we headed for a wonderful restaurant, called Chez Vrony,

 with fabulous views and a welcoming outside terrace.

The long wooden tables and white parasols make it perfect to sit outside.

Isn't it inviting?

The view is pretty marvellous too.

This is where we had our after lunch coffee.

Inside the chalet restaurant looking out over the sunny terrace.

It must be so snug for skiers here in the winter!

Here are Vrony and Max, the lovely owners of this restaurant.

They kindly allowed me to photograph them.

Here is a typical chalet on stilts used for storing grain.

The large discs of stone prevented rats and mice from climbing into the building

to eat the stored cereal.

When we could tear ourselves away from the lovely terrace and delicious organic food,

we started our descent down the valley.

Another chalet in the same Findeln Hamlet.

The pathway down was quite steep, but the views were fabulous all the way.

If you would like to see more mountain shots,

come back at the end of September when I'll be doing the next blog entry!

I just added this colourful collage to wish you all a very happy

Autumn Equinox

on Monday 23 September!

A Weekend in Zermatt

The River Vispa runs through the village of Zermatt and the pointed summit of this mountain

can be seen just about everywhere you go in the village.

The Matterhorn is probably the most well-known and recognizable mountain in Switzerland.

I recently spent a long weekend in this mountain village

and this is the view we had from the hotel balcony.

The rising sun hits the side of the snow-powdered rocky surface.

Different times of the day create different moods and they were a constant source

of never-ending fascination.

There were other things to see of course,

like beautiful chalets and pretty red shutters and seasonal decorations.

Bars and cafés often have outside seating with sheepskin rugs

and thick warm blankets to keep warm in the crisp, cold air.

Many of the chalets are very old and have a great deal of charm.

The older the chalet, the darker the aged wood becomes, like this one above.

I have a special fondness for draped sheer curtains!

The hotel we stayed in is basically a big chalet with a modern wing which

is the reception, breakfast room and restaurant.

The hotel is very nicely placed just slightly out of the centre, 

but with an easy ten-minute walk to the station. 

Only electric vehicles are allowed here

and the air is beautifully pure.

This view just takes my breath away.

The Matterhorn is 4.478 metres high.

The German word 'Matte' means valley or meadow and 'Horn' means peak.

Here is the main church called St. Mauritius

This is the view you get as you come down the steps from the church

The front view from the steps on the old chalets and another mountain range.

One last shot of this iconic mountain at sunset when the sky was just turning

a shade of lavender.

We were so lucky with the weather which was sunny and quite cold.

On the last morning, it was -10 degrees Celsius,

but the average temperature during our stay was around -6C.

I really want to go back here again, but in the summer months so that we can do 

more hiking and enjoy the alpine flowers.