Cheese, Chocolate and Christmas...Part 2

The Christmas lights in the market at night made it that much more fabulous!  We wandered around taking in all the lights and music and then stopped to have a crepe for dinner.  Chad had a chocolate crepe and I had a apple and salted caramel crepe....healthy dinner right?  Either way it was the perfect evening!  Who needs a fancy restaurant when you have paper plates and the perfect company : )

Dinner of champions!

The next morning we hopped on the train and headed for our next destination, Zermatt.  On the train we met a super sweet couple from Portland, Oregon who we chatted with during the 2 hour trip.  I wish I had snapped a photo of them for y'all!  When we weren't chatting it up we were all in awe of the scenery.  Zermatt is up in the Swiss Alps and you can only get there by train.   As we climbed the mountains the snow became thicker and I felt like we were riding the Polar Express.  

Getting on the train!

All of these pictures are from inside the train so I apologize for the glare.  The train ran just along a mountain stream and the water was glacial blue!!!  This was definitely my favorite train ride of the entire trip. 

Winter Wonderland!

The little villages scattered throughout the mountains were so isolated and quaint.  They reminded me of the little ceramic village that my mother in-law puts out during Christmas.  I couldn't imagine living in a place only accessible by train, could you?   

Once we arrived in Zermatt the views only got better.  The entire town was blanketed in fresh snow.  We walked down the beautiful street to our hotel and found we had another fabulous mountain view from our room!

Town square with the big Christmas tree!

Quaint little streets with the mountains in the background!

Our hotel

After we were all checked in we decided to check out the town.  It started to snow as we headed out the door.  The snowy weather really takes you back to childhood....you know you just want to play in it, through snow balls and if you are Chad...eat it!

Chad in the snow

Little creek in town

All bundled up

Chad eating snow....hope it's not yellow!

 While they don't have cars, they do have these mini truck things that haul snow and shuttle people around like taxis.  We were wondering what they did with all the extra snow....well there is your answer!  They dump it in the creek and it flows back down the mountain.  Let me just say the tap water in Zermatt tasted awesome!

Since they don't have private cars, people walked the streets with little sleds toting their packages and even their children.  It was probably one of the cutest things I've ever seen! 

Look at all the snow that accumulated when we got back from our walk!  This was in front of our hotel.  The restaurant in the hotel was famous for it's fondue so after a quick nap we went there for dinner.  Now, those of you that know me well know I LOVE CHEESE!!  I have ever since I was little and really I would eat some form of cheese at every meal if could.  I hope I never develop lactose intolerance!

 The restaurant was super cute and had a little cottage-like feel.  The cheese fondue was AMAZING and they served it with fresh, homemade bread.  Lets just say this wasn't the last meal of fondue I ate on the trip...I may have had 3 or 4 meals of straight up melted, gooey, cheesy goodness!

After dinner we walked through the town again to look at all the Christmas lights.  It was even more magical with all the snow.  Most of the people had gone inside and it was quiet and peaceful. 

Chad showing me how deep the snow is.

Lights up the mountain side.

Once we had our fill of snow and lights for the night we headed back to the hotel and into bed.  We had a big day planned ahead of us as we headed up to see the Matterhorn!