Zermatt

It was a really lucky day. After standing for a while in that position surrounded by the enormity of the white saint like peaks and looking down at the eternal river of ice, I felt so small and so thankfull. I wanted to shout out loud "Thank you..."Thank you for everything....

Then we came down from the view point and started for what is called the Glacier Palace.It is like a cave inside the glacier's cold belly where there are sculptures made of ice.The tunnel that takes you inside this world of chilling wonders is 15 meters below the surface of the glacier. Just the stats can give a person enough chill!! There are hidden lights inside the ice and also music...And the ice sculptures are seen in a  mystical blue light that makes the whole place ethereal...as if we are inside a fairytale...

After coming out of the Glacier palace, we started the downwards journey.The clouds had already hidden the Matterhorn's famous 'horn".After coming down we started walking back through the city,but this time we were really slow as one should be while walking in Zermatt.Strolling past the old wooden houses, and the street side souveneir shops we reached the center point of the town,the church square.

We sat down on a bench there watching people....The horse carriages were bringing tourists to the Grand Hotel just beside the church square.Shops were selling soft dogs and marmots(small animals found on the alps) and Swiss bells...hikers were coming down leaning on their sticks.Fresh hikers and skiers were walking up the village in confident strides....

But the clouds were coming down and it was growing dark in the morning...I smelt the fresh air and the moist flavour of the morning clouds of Zermatt made a permanent stamp in my memory at that moment...

I can still see myself sitting there in front of the church talking about this lady's dress and that man's boots and suddenly there was no more noise as if the mute button was pressed...I could hear nothing but the little drops of rain on the clean pavements and on the flowers beside our bench...we felt so complete sitting beside each other....But at that moment I had fallen in a fresh new love...I was in love with Zermatt....

This love compelled me to go back to Zermatt again and again.Later I went to the other peaks and I also took my parents and in-laws there.But later I thought that taking your loved ones to places you love is very streneous.You always have to hold your breath waiting for their comments and hoping for their approval.

Exploring newer places together is a better idea.

Zermatt;The love story continued...

Now that we have reached Zermatt before the clouds, we tried to win the race to Klein Matterhorn too.But the Cable car station is at the other end of the little village.As I have already mentioned Zermatt is entirely car-free.A few battery driven taxis and horse driven carriages are seen at the station.But the main street is for pedestrians.And we started to walk.

The town (or village?) is in itself very different from any other town I have been.There is a strange tranquility in the air that will at once make your nerves relax.The main street is sometimes quite crowded.But the crowd is only of pedestrians.

Absence of cars can make a place so different.There are all the world famous brands and the boutiques are often pricy.But all of them have one thing in common.They are inside very old looking wooden houses.In the whole place there seems to be no modern house.Beautifully decorated wooden houses are alternated by some very old (restored), darkened wooden houses which look like they will fall down  and break into pieces if someone just puts a step inside.
But inside one of them you will find Macdonalds, inside another a shop of the priciest Swiss watches....

We, however,didn't have time to stop and watch.We walked as fast as we could.After a while the street becomes steep and there you cross the beautiful old village,the strange looking houses which seems to belong to history and just put there for a show.And yet you know people live there...and there must be quite modern facilities available inside.

Later, I came to know that this street is know as Hinterdorfstrasse.These houses are mostly 17th and 16th century houses and are often used as barns to store grains and food like sausages.That explains why they are all standing on supporting posts which are often a pile of stone slabs.This was to protect the foods stored from rodents.
The road comes down to the little Vispa river that flows through the middle of Zermatt.There are little log bridges which you have to cross to reach the cable car station.There we bought the tickets(which are actually quite costly(82 CHF),but we had the half pass and payed only 45CHF per head.).
Inside the cable car station, there are little automated glass boxes called Gondolas which are constantly coming in a row but wont stop.So you have to just climb on one of them while they slow down...The first stop is at Furi.From there you have to climb a larger cable car which can take a lot of passengers.It takes you to the mountain stop of Trockner steg.From there starts the last patch of the journey in another cable car.
From Zermatt to Furi,the little romantic gondolas take you above the town and the green fields.Some of the fields also look entirely purple or yellow from above.They are filled with little flowers.

From Furi to Trockner Steg,the cable car is less cozy but the scene begins to change and you start getting glimpse of ice.
From Trockner Steg the cable car takes you into a dramatic journey soaring thousand feets above the glacier and you suddenly find yourself in the midst of a world of eternal ice.White and white every where and you are in the sky looking at it from a soaring eagle's angle.

There is a tunnel and another lift at the Klein Matterhorn station and this takes you to the view point at 3825 m(12,549.21 feet) above sea level.

And finally there we were, standing at the view point with full view of Matterhorn and almost 40 other peaks which were about 4000m high.The Panorama was overwhelming...the stretch of white around us and the slightly dizzying thin air...we felt if we stretched our arms a little we would touch some angel over there...for it certainly seemed their territory.

The sky was still blue with the proud peaks showing off their grandeur in full display.

We have won the race with the clouds!!

Our Adventure:Lost in the Wilderness

When we reached Bellinzona,it was already past midday.We were very exhausted.We went straight to the tourist office.The lady there was so helpful.She booked a room for us within our budget at a hotel just opposite the railway station. We walked a little in the beautiful town.The town had a medieval flavour in all its architechture.The skyline of Bellinzona,the capital of Ticino, is defined by the powerful fortifications of the three medieval castles,which are also Unesco World Heritage Sites.The town is the gateway to Italy and seen from the South it acts as a keyhole to the Alps.
The lady at the tourist office had asked us to come to downtown in the evening as there was some local event there...there would be music...some jazz band was going to play...
I felt hungry as I saw the chicken being roasted at the roadside stands.The whole day we have been surviving on snacks as we didnt have time for lunch.
So we decided to first go to the hotel,check in,have a bath and then come downtown to have a good meal and enjoy whatever music and festivities they were arranging.
When we came out of the hotel it was already 6pm.But as it was summer it felt like it was just 4pm or so.It was a five minutes walk from there to the downtown.
We thought we should first have a look at the area surrounding the hotel.Though the hotel was near the station, it was still quite a peaceful place.
There was a bus station just across the street.We thought we should check the bus timings so that we could decide which bus to take next day and when.We had plans of exploring the virgin Biasca valley the next morning.There was really a bus connection to Biasca and as I was just looking at the timetable a bus arrived.

We asked the driver whether this goes to the Biasca and he nodded.

We asked by what time we'll reach there.He showed on a little timetable the time we'll reach there.It was only 30 mins.We thought we could just take a ride on the bus and thus we'll have an idea about the place.So we boarded the bus and sat down.There were only two more passengers.The route was so beautiful that for the next few minutes we lived just in our senses absorbing every sight and smell and sound and forgot our bodies...
When I think of that day I wonder when we were feeling so hungry why did we ride that bus in the first place?Curiosity and the madness in the blood that makes me a traveller are the only answers I can give.

One of the passengers got down.I got up and took one of the timetables that were lying there.I wanted to know when was the last bus to return.And what I found?That it was already too late.The last bus had already left.It was just 6:45pm.I went to the driver and bought the ticket and asked to make it a return one.He said the bus was not going to return today.It was the last bus.
And within 10 minutes we were there.
The last stop.
I requested the driver even if the bus doesnt go all the way to Bellinzona...he could just drop us anywhere in the way back.He denied and left.
There we were... standing in the Biasca or whatever it was with all our romanticism thrown on our face with a nice slap.
There was just his wallet and camera and nothing else with us.The bus stop showed that there was only one bus route and the last bus had left at 6:30.
It was almost in the midst of wilderness.There were a few houses at a distance.
But most of the place was forests beside a highway.There was obviously a direction mark showing Bellinzona was 23km from here but it pointed towards the hiking path through the forest.
Still we didnt cease to hope.
Want to know what hapenned next?
Tell me what do you think we did after that...

The adventure in Ticino

It was a long journey of  almost 6 hours.So we started early.Long journeys in Switzerland,however,seem shorter than they actually are.The journey itself was so beautiful that we seldom thought of reaching the destination.The beautiful swiss cities,the meadows,the mountains,the little villages with the small churches,the sudden blinding darkness of the tunnels and the change of scenary after that...the panorama keeps your mind so occupied that suddenly you realize that you are there.

The Lugano station seemed to be on a little hill and there was actually a Funiculaire to take us down to the heart of the town.

The town itself was different from any Swiss cities we have visited so far.It had a mediterranean flair,narrow pebbled  and sometimes staircased streets.You have to take these small stairs to reach one lane from another.The shopping street was covered and there was a romantic Italian flavour in everything.Yet it maintained the Swiss standards of clealiness and well groomed beauty.
The lakeside promenades were lined with sub tropical plants,and beautiful flowers.
 We took a cruise on the lake Lugano.
In Ticino,they call the "lake", "lago",Italian being the main language spoken there.

The day was sunny and the lake was sparkling.It was a pretty large steamer and we seated ourselves on the upper deck.We could see the Monte San Salvatore just moments after the steamer started moving...I dont remember the names of all the islands we saw,but some of them seemed unreal...just made for us...
I seem to remember naming one"Lover's Paradise" or was it it's real name?I am confused.

We got down on a place called Morcote.The town (or village) seemed to be peeping out from a steep wooded hill...And what you will notice first is the Santa maria del Sasso Church.But to reach that church you have to climb up a few hundred stairs.but the view from there is really worth it.There are some 16th century frescoes inside the church.But what I remember most is the little town with its quaint narrow streets, arcaded restaurants, pretty boutiques and paved alleyways.
The place was so romantic,so tranquill,I thought what if I suddenly got a chance to live here for the rest of my life?
Oh no! that was the other side of the river and you never know until you get there!!
I dont remember what I thought on that day.Perhaps I died to stay.But what I wrote now is what I think today if I had to answer that question.
True I have grown old.
True I would not take the risks I took on that journey again.
I am so much more responsible now!!Ok...more on that later....
After we came back we had a Doner kebab and went to the hotel to stay the night.
Next day we were going to the Three lake Paradise of val Piora...