Back down in Zermatt town we thought we'd get on the free bus and just stay on for the round trip which according to the map looked quite extensive. For some reason though it only went part of the way - can't be snow as there wasn't any this low down. A couple of snaps through the bus window.
We then made our way slowly back along the main street to our little hotel.
Hopefully this is not a real, stuffed, marmot.
We'd walked past this take-away crêperie last night and they looked really nice, fresh crepes being cooked on request, so we thought we'd have one for our meal tonight. Ian chose ham and mushroom and I opted for smoked salmon (£18 each) but sadly it didn't suit my very fussy taste.
I'm so glad a Brit was the first to climb the Matterhorn
Back at the hotel we enjoyed a complimentary glass of wine which was offered if you were happy to not have your room cleaned each day - quite frankly we don't make a mess and are more than capable of making our own bed. We then packed ready for a fairly early start tomorrow as we needed to be back at Zurich Airport mid afternoon and it was around a 4 hour train journey, changing once again at Visp.
Breakfast was again very good and we had an interesting chat with an Australian lady to our right (whose husband had left at 0500 to get a train as they were full - glad we'd got our tickets yesterday) and a couple from New Zealand whose son, also there, worked in Switzerland and explained the whole tax system to us. The New Zealanders were heading to London for a few days afterwards so we gave them a few pointers on what to expect.
Heading for the station we met these lovely ladies on their way to church, but unfortunately given the language limitations we couldn't establish if they always dressed this way for church or whether it was because it is Pentecost today.
This is one of the electric taxis I mentioned before.
More sheepskin seat covers.
A few pictures of Zermatt town as we walked down to the station. It really is quite a charming place and although I detest snow with a passion, I can imagine it looks really picturesque in the winter.
Having bought our train tickets yesterday, as per usual, we had time for me to nip down to the Migros Supermarket 5 mins past the station and get us sandwiches and a drink for the journey. This train definitely has tinted windows but here are one or two shots along the way.
I still haven't got the hang of selfies, but I quite like this one.
Settled in the lounge at Zurich Airport, or rather on the terrace.
On boarding we found that yet again, despite having booked our extra legroom seats back last year (and amending them several times when BA decided to change things around) we found ourselves in non emergency exit rows. After the fiasco going to Tampa in March we were really p*ssed off and for once Ian let rip. Our economy stewardess was new but immediately said she'd speak to the chief stewardess who apologised profusely and invited us to row 2 of Business Class with an apology that she couldn't offer us a meal as these were pre-allocated, but that drinks would of course be complementary. It is so annoying that BA Head Office/IT/Whatever mess around with people's bookings and then leave it to the staff on the plane to take the flack but we were grateful for the way Hazel immediately and professionally dealt with the situation. Her colleague kept plying us with fizz and in fact once all the paying Business Class passengers had been served, Hazel came over to say that there were meals available if we'd like but we'd declined as we'd already eaten in the lounge.
An interesting few days, the train journeys were OK but probably not as wonderful as we'd imagined - maybe the wrong time of year/weather and the eye watering cost of everything certainly put a bit of a damper on things.
A quick update on Ian's shortage of breath; he went to the GP after we got home and it turned out that the sinus node in his heart was malfunctioning and he needed a pacemaker and with our grateful thanks to the NHS/Medway Maritime Hospital he was fitted with one less than a week after we got home.