 |
| Vineyard that we weren't sure how they got there in the first place! |
We had such a great day on Day 5, it was one of my favourites by far. Zermatt is the village at the base of the Matterhorn and no one can actually drive into the village itself. We had a lovely drive that had us flipping our heads from one side of the road to the other. We honestly didn't realize just how much the Alps grew in terms of produce. We saw apple, apricot, grape vineyards and many others. The vineyards were incredible in the way that we weren't sure how they actually got to where the vineyard was or how someone lived there.
On the train to Zermatt--the only way to access this village.
We did pick a not so great day in terms of weather when it came to seeing the Alps. However, the village itself was out of a fairy tale. There was so much to see and take in, and we were grateful that the rain actually did let up while we were walking through seeing it all. In the picture where Mason appears to be walking, he was actually waiting for Mike to return. Four adults and seven children isn't the best ratio when you are in busy places like this. All of a sudden we heard Mike say,"Where is Brennan?" We realized that he was no where with us, and so we were waiting as a group while Mike went to find him, Mason waited patiently for Dad to return. Mike found Brennan back at a store where we had bought him a jacket. Brennan realized he was lost and walked back there on his own and asked the woman at the till for help. What an amazing moment to realize that your little boy knew exactly what to do in that situation. He didn't panic, didn't worry, just did what he has been told over and over! They gave him a little bag with a colouring book, crayons, and a few sweets. This story might sounds familiar to any of my family who know about me and Flaming Gorge, but that is another tale for another day. Needless to say Mike was very grateful for the spirit guiding him and telling him to go right back to that shop, because he went straight there. It was quite a ways back as well, so it wasn't as obvious a decision as it might seem. After that little drama we headed back on track to get to the Matterhorn Museum.
The Matterhorn Museum was pretty neat and was fascinating to have a lesson in all things rock climbing/Alp living. The rope that Mike and Carter are standing near is the rope that the first climbers used to ascend the Matterhorn that broke during that climb killing four of the climbers. We all enjoyed the museum for a while and then went looking for some lunch.
This is what it looks like to get a photo of our five children together. We try and try to just get one shot, one picture where someone is not being attacked, kicked, crying, screaming, etc..just one. :)
After a quick lunch we headed up to the ticket office to ride our way to the top and see the Matterhorn. We were planning on going to a glacier palace that is also there, but we found out because of how quickly that particular tram shoots up the mountain no one under three was allowed. That busts some hopes and we thought we wouldn't even see the Matterhorn, but we realized we could still go to the top, we just had to go with the 'slower moving' cars. Once loaded we took off pretty quickly, these things actually climbed quite quickly. Brennan started shouting in a silly voice while looking at the earth moving quickly away from him, "I'm going to die!!" He wouldn't stop and the kids were having such a great time on this part of the day, that we were all laughing at Brennan and couldn't stop.
 |
| "I'm going to DIE!" |
We broke through the clouds and finally spotted it--The Matterhorn!
The view from the top in the gondola.
Having a bit of fun with photos, trying to place the baby on the peak--top of the world almost!
 |
| The clouds broke just enough that we finally saw the whole thing! |
 |
| Got hit with altitude sickness, I don't know why my body reacts so quickly to these types of changes, but my head was pounding, I was going to throw-up and as soon as we were half way down I was fine. :) I guess my career choice shouldn't involve mountain climbing. What a diligent husband I have that is always there taking pictures of the sweetest moments. ;) |
 |
| Cloudy or not, the views were breathtaking! |
 |
| Oh such great brothers these two are! |
After taking the train out of Zermatt, we stopped at a nice little pizza place, that was ever so tasty. The kids were very hungry, but I think Brennan's body decided eating was overrated after a long day like today. He was out before the main entree got to the table. He stayed asleep until the very end when I picked him up to take him back to the car.
