Despite my romp with the captain the night before, I woke
bright eyed and bushy tailed for the day ahead. I was psyched to get up to the
mountain and see what I could see. First things first..I brought my curling
iron to an electrical store on the main drag to find the correct size wall
adapter. They didn’t have one that fit, so naturally the guy offered to shave
down the trouble part of the plug for me for free. And voila, it worked.
It was early yet, but I was literally walking through town
in the clouds. It was so neat but I hoped they would lift before my trek up to
Gornergrat so the Matterhorn could be seen!
My hotel offered a free breakfast at the adjacent building to mine, and
due to my dwindling funds, I was planning to pack it in. I walked in and
approached the desk in case I had to check in for breakfast. The woman was the
same one who experienced the hairdryer debacle with me. She laughed and said,
“Oh, I know you, you don’t have to check in.” I chuckled and told her that
if I asked for another hairdryer she had permission to kick me out.
Breakfast was pretty top notch and I took one of everything.
That should hold me til dinner. On my way out I stopped to inquire to my new
bestie about the hike I intended to do. She said it would be a long one, but it
was definitely doable. I was in. Since I
didn’t know if I’d even make it to Switzerland, and underestimated the chilly
summer temps they sported here, I had done a horrid job packing. I’d be hiking in my running sneakers, and would probably be cold doing it.
New bestie went in the back and produced a sweatshirt fit for a small giant,
but I was grateful. At least if the sun didn’t come out today I could be toasty
in this!
I met the two j’s and their bikes at the train to
Gornergrat. We sold another organ to afford the trip up to the top, but we knew
it would totally be worth it. The clouds had lifted out of town, and the sun
was out. We were like three little kids boarding the train, trying to find seats
on the right side because one of us read that it had the best views. We rode up
in this ridiculously cool cog train that stopped at the few train stops along
the way.
We traveled higher and higher into the Swiss mountains and once again
were dumbfounded by the scenery. I practically cartwheeled off the cog train
and the two j’s were speechless.
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| rock sculptures at the top |
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| the matterhorn in all it's glory |
We took pictures with the ginormous gornergrat
sheep, and shameless mountain selfies at the top. I even nailed my classic
jumping pic. We were on top of the world!
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| Me, the two j's, and a giant sheep |
Then it was time to part ways. The two j’s were going to try their
best to navigate the steep, rocky trail on bikes. At least they were wearing
helmets.
We bid farewell, a look of terror on blonde j’s face. ”Just keep your
hands on the brakes” was my best advice. We agreed to meet up that night to
swap survival stories…hopefully.