Zermatt Switzerland ...

Leaving Leukerbad was sad after our evening of swimming at the baths.
It is an amazing place - which just happened to be next door to our hotel, so we didn't have far to walk for a swim.

This complex has about 18 pools, 6 or 7 of which we tried out ourselves - we ran out of time to do the rest. It is open from 8am - 8pm and there are people in there from morning to night. They even have a kids area with a big barrel like slide for the kids to enjoy - similar to the one we have at Wet'n'wild).

 Amongst the many different pools, this one had plastic beds like a lazyboy (under these people) with a headrest so that you can lie down and relax while being massaged by the jets of water..

 The outside pools are steaming and you can go inside and outside via a little plastic door, without leaving the pool.  The pools are heated with lovely hot water and have jets at all heights around each pool to massage every part of your body.

 This 'mushroom' like spar has a seat in the middle so you can have it run over your head or just enjoying sitting on the seat and meditating - just like being under a waterfall.

There are lot of giant taps which can massage your neck and shoulders and 'un-ice' your hair if you happen to get a little chilly..

It was sad to leave this but we will be back.....

Here we sit, below the snow capped mountains waiting for our train to Zermatt, another delightful little town in Switzerland.

 The scenery was beautiful and you can see the alps on each side of the train - the red carriage in front..

 It was just fantastic....

 We travelled along the river valley all the way up to Zermatt which is about 1600 metres above sea level..

 Amongst our beautiful vistas we encountered some waterfalls

 The view of the mountains from our train.

 The staff of the hotel Alpine Rose picked us up in this little golf like buggy as Zermatt is a carless town... such a nice change from traffic..-  Naples eat your heart out!!!

 Here is our hotel room balcony overlooking the famous Matterhorn mountain, one which has claimed over 500 lives in those who attempted to conquer it..

It is covered in cloud and is where I am pointing. The mountain is over 4000 metres high..

 That's it.

 We had lunch about 5 minutes walk from our hotel and sat looking at the Matterhorn.

 What a delightful little place. This shows our hotel - right next to the river.  You can see our balcony on the left on the first floor.  We can hear the river constantly singing it's tune to us while we sleep.

This is a better view of the Matterhorn, I believe that this is a famous symbol for Switzerland. For those chocolate lovers, have a look on the Toblerone packet.

 We did a 10 minute walk into town through the village... so pretty.

 A lot of the houses are nicely decorated..

 Lots of flowers on balconies - this is very common in Europe.  Amazingly the flowers survive the snow and a lot of them are geraniums.

 Pretty, isn't it?

 A lot of outdoor cafes have sheep skin on the chairs to keep people warm... what service!

 This is the township...

 They even have a horse and carriage for people to hire, again with sheep skin seats and blankets to keep you warm.  Today isn't too bad, the weather is quite pleasant - no wind..

 We came here on a whim - a recommendation from a delightful waitress at our restaurant in Leukerbad.  What a great decision.

Bob is taking me skiing on the glacier tomorrow, my very first attempt, so fingers crossed that I come home with all my bones in tact....

I hope the kids don't show me up.....

Watch this space......