My second winter trip was to Zermatt, a tiny little town tourist attraction. People ride around on exalted golf carts, unless you’re going to a very expensive hotel where they take you there on a horse.

Thursday

We took a train from Zurich to Visp, where we took a train to Zermatt. We stayed at a Best Western with an awesome pool, ping pong table, fooseball, and much more. It was late in the day, so we didn’t do much. We just floated around in the pool. Dad went to a supermarket and bought some food for dinner that night.

Friday

Friday was our big day. We got up early, ate a delicious breakfast (pound cake) and went to a ski lift that would bring us up the mountains. The first stop was Furi, which was a stepping stone up 1000 feet. Then the next main stop was Schwarzee, where there actually was a hotel. The next stop was Trockener Steg, where we got off and boarded another lift to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, or Klein Matterhorn. I had serious altitude sickness at the top, and only Haribo Coca Cola gummies and hot chocolate could make me feel better. We ate at the Cafe DuPont, and then just drifted around the hotel for the rest of the day.

Saturday
Today we took a cog railway up to Gornergrat, then went sledding on a sledge run at Rotenboden for most of the day. My mom was a good driver, but whenever she turned snow blowed into my face. Dad didn’t learn how to break until the fifth and final run, but he went extra slow, so it wasn’t as exciting. When we went back we ate dinner at this really awesome place. I got a raclette. We then went back to the hotel.

Sunday

Today we toted a couple plastic sleds, in search of hills. We followed a path to Zum See, but the restuarant was full, so Dad made us walk to Furi, where we ate a good pizza (we were very close to the border). But we found a good sledding hill, which we did until I went over a bump and hurt my butt. So then we went to the Matterhorn Museum, which was nice.

So after 4 days we headed back to London. I really liked Zermatt. It ranks number 2# on my favorite countries (Number 1# is probably either Scotland or Poland, and in last place is probably either Milan or Istanbul).