It was raining the next morning as we headed to the train station to catch the Glacier Express. There was a lift to help get Debi on the train and we settled in for the 7 hour trip to Zermatt. We thought we were on a Disneyland ride as the train traveled through tunnels and over dramatic trestles past stunning scenery. We passed through charming villages and saw several ancient castles. The upper mountains were obscured by clouds, but there were still plenty of waterfalls, cliffs and canyons to observe.The weather cleared just as we arrived in Zermatt and we caught a glimpse of the sun setting on the Matterhorn. We wandered into the pedestrian only village and discovered a delightful bakery, where we bought delicious pastries and more chocolates. Accessibility was good in the village. We checked into the beautiful Hotel Christiana and immediately felt like we had traveled back in time to the elegant era of the early 1900's.
Wednesday was a perfect day and we saw Switzerland at it's best. The fog cleared as we finished breakfast and we were stunned by the magnificence of the Matterhorn, which had a fresh dusting of snow. We had to take 4 trams to reach the steep cliffs at the top of the 12,700 foot Klein Matterhorn. The trams were very accessible. We were very impressed with the Swiss engineering. A tunnel led us to a sunny snowfield, where we were treated to a stunning panoramic view of the Alps. We took photos and watched as skiers schussed down the nearby glacier. There was too much snow to reach the restaurant with the wheelchair, so we took the tram down to a lower restaurant, where we basked in the sun and enjoyed lunch. We continued on down to the village and explored more shops and had a wonderful dinner.
We awoke to a spectacular sunrise on the Matterhorn. We left Zermatt early in the morning and enjoyed the drive through the Rhone valley. We were impressed by the wide, green valley and spectacular peaks. Our next destination would be Lake Geneva.