The Week of Cheese and Skis

When Jack and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary back in August, Jack proposed that we go on a trip to Switzerland.  We went during the summer of 2001 and have always talked about going back during winter.

At first I thought his idea was completely absurd (for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that we have 3 babies), but after a few days I warmed up to the idea and before long I was doing my usual obsessive planning.

Here is a pic of us on our first trip to Switzerland in 2001.  We went with the Millsaps business school on a trip to Europe and while in Munich had a weekend excursion to Switzerland.

We chose to go to Zermatt, Switzerland, home of the famous Matterhorn.  It was an incredible trip.  The town is wonderful, the scenery amazing, and the hotel perfect.  We stayed at the Coeur Des Alpes which was an ideal mix of a boutique hotel and bed and breakfast.  The owners were very present and so friendly, as was everyone in the town.  The hotel location was right near one of the main lifts which was great and there was an awesome breakfast spread each morning including a great selection of cheese and bread.

One thing that I loved was the number of gondolas.  You had the ability to go all over the mountain without skiing. I like to ski, but I am not that great, and I don't necessarily want to ski all day - I was able to ski some and be on the mountain all day if I wanted because of the gondolas.  It also kept you from getting too cold and let you regroup between ski runs.  Zermatt borders Italy and you are able to ski over to Cervinia, Italy.  We did this one day and it was great.

The food was over-the-top amazing.  So much cheese.  Wonderful restaurants in the town and all over the mountain.  Lots of great wine and prosecco.  I was in heaven.

Here are some pics.  I took all pictures with my iphone because I didn't want to lug around my big camera.

Beautiful view of the Alps before a ski run.

Picture from the train on our way to Zermatt.

Picture from the train on our way to Zermatt.

View of our hotel (on the right) from the street.  You go in a tunnel and then up an elevator to get there.  Great view of the Matterhorn (on the left of the pic) from the hotel.

Lobby of the hotel.

Lobby and eating area of the hotel.

View of the mountains and Matterhorn from our room.

This is one of the days where I was on the mountain ALL DAY and only skied 30 minutes.

The first two days it was cloudy without great visibility.  It was a little hard to see going down the mountain both on skis and in the gondola.

Clouds starting to clear and we can finally see the Matterhorn.

View from the top of one of the lifts.  We went through the clouds and then could see the mountain peaks.

Jack at the top of the mountain where Italy and Switzerland meet.

At the top of the mountain where Italy and Switzerland meet.

View of the Alps from Cervinia, Italy.  It looked much different from this side. 

They had a snow playground in Cervinia for kids.  So cute.

View of the Matterhorn from Cervinia, Italy.

Had to get this pic.

Church in the town of Zermatt.

Excellent dinner one night.

The streets in Zermatt are narrow and only electric cars are allowed.

River that runs through Zermatt.

View of the town of Zermatt from the mountain.

Me and the Matterhorn.

Excellent lunch spot on the mountain.

Another great (and relaxing) lunch spot on the mountain.  This was our last day and the weather was beautiful.

Train that runs to the top of the mountain.

Town of Zermatt.

Beautiful view from lunch one day.

Another view of the mountains.

I can't say enough about the food.  I am having cheese withdrawal now.

Look at that cheese!  Amazing.

Pizza in Cervinia, Italy.  Delicious.

That would be soup, served in a red high heel. 

Some sort of goat cheese awesomeness.

Rosti.  SO good.  A swiss dish that is like hash-browns and then all kinds of toppings.

Cheese ravioli and a view.

On the way home we spent a night in Zurich and a night in NYC to break up the travel.  Below are pics from Zurich.

The river with a view of the Grossmünster on the left.

Grossmünster

Grossmünster

Really cute streets, restaurants, and shops in the Old Town part of Zurich.

Storefront with all kinds of neat instruments.

Church in Zurich.

View from the plane as we left Switzerland.  Look at those mountains above the clouds.

Of course we missed the girls SO MUCH.  It is amazing how much Facetime helps.  So great to be able to see them and talk to them while we were gone.

Souvenirs for the girls.  Irene got socks because she LOVES socks and talks about them all the time.

Views of the Alps are great but not sure anything could beat this view when we got home.

We are incredibly thankful to our wonderful family and friends who took care of the girls while we were away.  It was so comforting to know they were in such great hands.

Ciao.