We got up early, had a light breakfast, then left the apartment luggage in tow or on back to bus to the train station. We arrived a good 20 minutes before the 9:11 train we wanted to take. But we discovered it had been cancelled. Luckily, the same train left at 9:29 so we sat around and waited in the chilly air.

Our train trip to Lausanne earlier in the week wasn’t as educational as we hoped. That train had a dining car. The one we caught did not. Had we known, we would have bought some water and maybe a snack.

Some good scenery despite the snow. You can see the vineyards.

We needed to take the train to Visp and then change trains. It took about 2.5 hours to get to Visp. There were not a lot of people on the train to Visp.

We transferred at Visp to the train for Zermatt. Initially, we were surprised at how few skiers we had seen. A lot of snow had recently fallen in the Zermatt area and we thought many skiers would be heading there. As we waited at Visp, a flood of people with skis, boots and big luggage boarded the train.

I was so squished, I could not reach my phone to take any photos. The train was slow and stopped a lot with more skiers squeezing on. At points of steeper incline, the train used cogwheels to get up the grade.

After over an hour on the train, we arrived in Zermatt. Google maps said we were less than 5 minutes to the hotel. I misread the direction that I was to head and after walking at least 10 minutes, I looked at a map on a wall and realized we had headed in the wrong direction.

We went back to the train station, where I saw the tourist information. They gave me a paper map and directed me to the hotel. It was less than 2 minutes away.

We were able to check in and go to our room where we guzzled down two bottles of water. Going for over 5 hours without water was not good for energy levels. Neither was the unnecessary jaunt trying to find the hotel.

The room has a balcony overlooking the Main Street, Bahnhofstrasse, and a McDonalds.

We asked where we could get lunch that wasn’t McDonalds. Most of the restaurants close at 2 pm but Molino’s stayed open late.

After late lunch, Scott went looking for a fleece because he’s going to need it. I bought some wine and returned to the room to put my feet up.

I booked dinner at Schweizerhof Kitchen which is the main dining room of the hotel. It seemed convenient. Turned out not to be our kind of place as there was a DJ playing loud dance music.

Dogs are allowed. The Jack Russell was getting fed from the table.

After a late lunch, I wasn’t very hungry but my one course was huge.

Scott also managed a starter of foie gras.

Service was terrible. Not the best birthday eve that Scott’s ever had.