The Most Magical Place...

We just couldn't resist, we just had to go to Zermatt one last time before we left Switzerland. So somehow we managed to find a free weekend in August and made our fifth trip to this magical town in the far south of Switzerland. We were also excited that we were able to go with good friends Joe, Liz and their son Liam. Evidently we have them to thank for the phenomenal weather...

We made the three hour train ride down on Friday evening (we definitely miss the amazing Swiss train system already) and found our way to the apartment we rented with our friends for the weekend. Emma and Liam were excited to see one another and find out they were having a sleep over (kind of)! And the adults were excited for dinner, drinks, and good conversation "late" into the night (according to tired parents standards).

There was a summer festival going on during the weekend in Zermatt

Saturday the agenda was to get outside, enjoy the amazing weather and views of the Matterhorn from the hiking trails above Zermatt, and find our way around five different lakes that all boast views of this iconic mountain. We took a cable car up from Zermatt to somewhere around 8,000 or 9,000 feet to the exact spot we had skied back in April. It was fun to see the same but very different view from the area. We spent the better part of the day taking in the great weather and enjoying the company while we took turns toting the kiddos on our backs. We did cut the hike a little short, but we couldn't resist having a little more time to wander around the cute streets of Zermatt. We eventually made it back to enjoy another great dinner and conversation with our friends while watching Emma and Liam wreak havoc on the apartment.

Just out for a Saturday afternoon hike...

I guess the views were pretty good

This view was probably the greatest of all! Seriously the two cutest hikers ever...

While I got some good altitude training in on Saturday morning, my body wasn't ready to run at 6,000 feet two days in a row. So we parted ways with our friends in the morning after enjoying a great breakfast courtesy of Liz, and we each headed out to do our own thing before heading back to Zurich later in the day. While Steve and I had hoped to explore the Glacier Matterhorn Paradise, which is the closest viewing platform of the Matterhorn and one of the highest platforms around (at nearly 13,000 feet) we found out we could not go with Emma. Although we were a little disappointed it just gives us another reason to have to go back to Zermatt someday. And as the options are endless in Zermatt we happily found ourselves instead heading up the Gornergrat train to another beautiful lake and lunch spot with what else, but views of the Matterhorn?! We knew we had found the hot spot two days in a row as both days we ran into the same modeling shoot at different locations...

Amazing reflection!

King of the hill!

Taking in the views

One look at the photos and I think it's pretty easy to see why we love Zermatt so much and it was so hard to say goodbye one last time when we left town on Sunday afternoon. The place is simply amazing and I have no doubt it will go down as one of my favorite places visited for all my life. I just hope Emma will take me back one day!

 



Too bad this girl sleeps through all the best photo spots!