2011 - Switzerland, Austria - Day 9 - Stresa, Italy and Zermatt, Switzerland

We left St. Moritz this morning and drove towards Zermatt, our final destination. We arrived in Zermatt 10 hours later. Long day. But again…..beautiful drive! We stopped after a couple hours in Bellinoza. The drive from St. Moritz to Bellinoza was spectacular. I took so many pictures of the mountain and lakes and waterfalls and gorges. We were on the bus for many hours today, but we were driving through the most beautiful mountain passes. In Bellinoza, we just had an hour stop for a snack/lunch. Then we drove back into Italy and stopped in a gorgeous city by Lake Maggiore called Stresa. We had an hour there to walk around. It was so beautiful there, by the lake, so many flowers everywhere, and the mountain all around. Mom said this was one of the most beautiful places she had seen, that it had it all, with the lake, mountains, and colorful flowers everywhere. We found a nice bench in the shade for mom, then Amber and I went for a walk down the lake front. After another couple of hours on the bus, we stopped at the base of Zermatt, and had to take mini buses and little electric taxi cars to get to our hotel. They won’t allow any pollution in the city, hence, the electric cars. No regular cars or buses are allowed in the village or up the pass to the village. We are leaving soon for a fondue dinner in a nearby restaurant. I am hungry and it sounds delicious! I’m thrilled to be in Zermatt! I haven’t seen the Matterhorn yet. I’m a little disappointed that it’s not visible from our hotel room. But we will be up close to it tomorrow. The fondue dinner was a fun experience. We left our hotel at 7:20 and had a group photo taken. Then as we walked around the corner, we saw the Matterhorn! The clouds covered the peak, but we saw most of it, how exciting! We walked to the restaurant and when we walked in, it stank! It made me worried that if that was the smell of cheese, I wouldn’t like our cheese fondue. They served some dried meat and cheese for an appetizer, which I didn’t like very much. I ordered some Rivella to drink, which Susie told us was a local favorite. It reminded me a little of gingerale. Then they brought out the bread and cheese fondue. It was pretty good. For dessert they served apricot ice cream mixed with liquor. We didn’t realize it had liquor in it until mom tasted it and made a face. So we asked for some plain ice cream. After dinner mom and Amber went back to the hotel. Mom was tired and Amber was getting a headache. Suzie took a group of those who wanted to go around the city center. We saw the old part of town, which made me feel like I stepped back in time 300 years. And she showed us the church and graveyards of the mountain climbers, and the city graveyard, with its red candles lit all over the graves. I will be taking Amber and mom back there tomorrow.