Zermatt and Zurich
November 18, 2019
I didn’t sleep as well as other nights so I am glad that I set my alarm for 6:30–enough time to hit the snooze a couple of times before getting serious about getting out of bed. David gets up, opens the curtains and to our delight, the sun is shining, the sky is clear and we have a beautiful view of the Matterhorn!
We shower, dress and head downstairs for breakfast and a walk around the cute village. Maybe we will find a souvenir or two and perhaps, get lucky and capture a Christmas card photo.
We stroll through some fun shops, (almost buying a fun hat in a high-end ski shop), and make a quick stop to a bakery for a couple chocolate bars for gifts and a baguette salami/cheese sandwich to have later, ($28.05 CHF).
Time flies and before you know it, is time to check out and head to the train station. We almost buy that fondue pot that I really like, but I just can’t get over how difficult it would be to haul it home so again, I leave it behind. (I know that I will regret that decision for a long time).
We board the train from Zermatt to Twisp and enjoy the scenery as the landscape flies by. We change trains in Bern and then on to Zurich for our final stop. I am so sad that this magical trip is almost over.
Now for the familiar challenge; finding our hotel, this time from the Zurich train station.
Our hotel in Zurich, The CitizenM, is very contemporary. They even have you check yourself in and make your own room keys. Once in our room we discover that it is amazingly small — well appointed, but REALLY REALLY small. ($188.60 CHF)
Our room has a lot of fun things like a full color spectrum you can set for a nightlight from an iPad which is provided with the room. (These photos are in different colors, not from a filter but because it is actually the coloring in the room as David changes the light on the iPad). The bathroom is as small as possible, but the shower is probably one of the nicest I have ever seen in a hotel room).
We hastily drop off our luggage and then head back outside to discover Zurich, before we lose our daylight. David leads me down an amazing street full of impressive stores; Prada, Rolex, Chloe, Tiffanys, Armani…you get the drift. I am impressed. Then we make our way up the hill to see some beautiful old churches. Here, we find a brick paved street with all kinds of shops and restaurants. This charming area is referred to as “old town”.
We see a great shop full of teas and spices, but I resist the urge to do some more shopping. It is getting to be time to get serious about finding a place to have dinner. Since we have been eating so well, I am not particularly concerned about our choice. We have yet to have a sub-par meal this whole trip! We find a nice looking Italian place and order a pizza to share. ($34.40 CHF)
It is now dark so we decide that it might be a good idea to figure out where our hotel is before we come up with a plan for the rest of the evening. We find our way back to the train station and then trace our way back to the hotel. There is an Irish Pub across the street from our hotel that I had noticed earlier so we decide to finish the evening there with a beer….or maybe two. ($36.00 CHF) We have a busy day tomorrow, starting with finding the train station to get to the airport for our long journey home.
Back in our room, David plays with the controls for the room on the iPad, and then gets to work booking a hotel room for our overnight stay in Phoenix. What a wonderful vacation. I can’t wait for the chance to come back. Sweet dreams!
November 19, 2019
Tossed and turned through the night. Must be what I do before a big trip. My 6:30 alarm goes off and I am up and at ’em. Did I mention that the shower in this room is really great?
We check out of the hotel, meander our way to the train station and hop on the train to the airport. After a fair amount of time, we notice that something seems amiss; we aren’t seeing any airplanes in the sky as one would expect when nearing an airport. After a few worried glances and nervous comments, I ask the lady in the seat next to us if we aren’t on the right train. She confirms our suspicion, saying that it would normally be the correct train, but it was rerouted and doesn’t go to the airport for now. (Something only a local would pick up on).
After a momentary feeling of panic, we sit tight until we get to the next stop –hop off, (with a few other unhappy passengers), and then on to a different train, this time going to the airport. (Good thing we started out early today).
At the airport, we buy some chocolates and stop at the pharmacy for some cough lozenges for me. Then through the usual drill. David finds us a nice lounge and we have a good breakfast, FANTASTIC coffee and a glass of Prosecco while we wait to board.
On the way to the gate, David drops a couple postcards into a mail box and then on to the plane.
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