Cheese, Chocolate and Christmas...#3

The next morning we bundled up and headed up the mountain side to see the Matterhorn.  We climbed (on the train of course) to an incredible 10,134 ft!  My ears were popping and poor Chad actually got a little lightheaded.  We were pretty much the only people on the train NOT in ski gear.  As we got closer to the top we could see the gondolas carrying the skiers to the slopes. 

Miles and miles of perfect snow!

Once we reached our stop, all the ski bunnies got out and headed for the slopes.  Chad and I headed for the little trail that led to the view point.  Neither one of us have ever skied...we considering giving it a try but figured we should probably start with something a little more gentle than the Swiss Alps. 

 Once at the top you were supposed to be able to see all the surrounding mountain ranges.  Well, it was a little foggy that morning so most of what we could see was just white, white, white.  No Matterhorn in site : (

We did stumble across this tiny little chapel.  It was so cute up on top of the world.  How neat would it be to get married in this winter wonderland!

  

Just below the view point was a hotel and restaurant so we decided to go get some hot chocolate and wait for the sun to burn off all the fog.

It was soooo great to sit and watch the snow while we drank our hot chocolate and warmed up.  We probably sat there for about an hour, both agreeing that we really could take a nap since we were so relaxed!

Our plan worked and the sun slowly burned off the fog and clouds.  We bundled back up, went outside and the view was glorious!!  The Matterhorn (which you can see behind us below) sits on the border of Switzerland and Italy.  It is one of the highest peaks in the Alps reaching to 14,690 ft. 

 I just couldn't stop taking pictures of the view!  It felt like we were sitting in a post card!

On a side note...I also got new boots for our Switzerland trip.  They did their job perfectly and kept my feet warm and dry in all that snow!

Once we had taken in all the views on top we headed back down the mountain.  We spotted this little "one horse open sleigh" (feel free to break in to song here) while we walked back to the hotel.  If he hadn't had a passenger I would have insisted we take a ride. 

 

The view from our balcony was even better since all the fog and clouds had cleared.  We hadn't realized we had a view of the Matterhorn from our room until then. 

After a short nap (yes we love to nap on vacation) we headed to the cutest little restaurant in town for dinner.  I of course had another meal of cheesy goodness!  We wandered the snowy streets in the dark taking in all we could of our perfect winter wonderland.