Tobogganing in Switzerland

It was a long 24 hours of travel for my brother Nick and his wife (Lynn) but they made it here on Monday.  Monday was spent driving them around and poking them to stay awake until nighttime so that they can re-set their clocks.  They were troopers and refrained from threatening my life. 

So as a reward, I plucked them from their bed at the ripe hour of 5am Tuesday, threw them into the little-car-that-could and raced 5 hours to Zermatt, Switzerland. 

What a cute town.  Cars aren't allowed in Zermatt so you park in the most pristine parking lot I’ve ever seen in Tasch and take a train up to the town.  And that’s where the fun begins… 

Lunch

First thing first…foooood.  Pop quiz.  Do you tip in Switzerland?  I know you don’t in Italy but now we’re stepping out of our comfort zone.  I am maybe 80% sure you don’t so I boldly grab the bill to ensure Lynn does not put a tip in the tip line.  A horrified couple stares back.  Now I’m not so sure so we dash out of there and run to the lift only to discover that Lynn left her bag in the restaurant.  !@#$%.  I reluctantly follow them back into the restaurant where I could have stiffed the waiter to ask for our bag.  Our same waiter sees us and knows EXACTLY why we were there….the bag.  Upon returning to my lifeline of a computer, I confirmed that it is NOT customary to tip in Switzerland.  Phew….

Shopping. 

Now, one must purchase a Swiss Army knife, chocolate and post cards when in Switzerland.  And Lynn wants nothing more than to see Matterhorn peak and so we ask the shop owner which direction it’s in.  He enthusiastically walks us out of the shop to show us in person only to see clouds where the peak should be.  “Ooooh, maybe not today” says the Japanese owner of a Swiss shop.  Doh.

Our View of Matterhorn today

Reminder of what it looks like from my trip a few weeks ago

   

Tobogganing

Ahh, here we go.  A little late but we’re getting started.  From the town you take a train up to the slope (versus a lift).  Different, but pleasant enough…once we found the right lift.  We picked up our toboggans with less collateral than our lift passes and that’s when the fun began.

NOT us

Lynn

Nick

Lynn

Nick

do NOT take me out with you

Parking and Money

Switzerland is neutral, right.  That also means they aren’t part of the EU and don’t have Euro’s.  Swiss franc’s are now our medium of exchange.  I got a 10 franc refund for returning the lift cards (nevermind that we could have walked off with the toboggans without recourse, but nooooo, these plastic cards are very important).  Franc’s..great.  What are we suppose to do with Francs.  Oh, I know, pay for parking. 

Let me stop right there.  Now we got jet lag, time zones AND daylight savings conversions (US clocks changed last Sunday but Italy’s didn’t) and 3 currencies to work with. 

Riddle me this Batman: How many Hall’s does it take to pay for parking?

Ok, we are reasonably intelligent human beings (debatable some days but let’s just go with it for now), we can do this.  Feed the machine your ticket and pay the amount it says.  13 francs.  Great, I have 15 (a bill for 10 and a coin for 5)….put in the 10….no place for coins……wait….search….discuss…..  The machine gives up and spits out our 10 back in coins.  No, no, no wait.  Now what am I suppose to do with 15 francs in coins.  Uggh. 

Dinner

Ok, Kristyn is not a fun person to be around when hunger but we found the first place that had the word steak in the sign and plopped our tired selves down.  The menu is conveniently in 3 languages, but unfortunately we speak none of them.  Ordering is a leap of faith and we continue the multiple language dance of Merci, Gracias, Grazie and, no wait, she said Danka (now German).  My little brain can’t keep up.  But, as luck should have it I get a perfect yummy steak with Béarnaise sauce alllll over it.  And proceed to shovel it into my big fat mouth.   Mmmmm  That’s what KK needed.  The waitress ended up with a nice big tip of frac coins.

Despite the odds, we made it out with all limbs in tact and back to Italy ok. 

Dad and Martha are scheduled to arrive tonight (I stress the word scheduled).  The fun is sure to continue….

Now get out Denver and enjoy your 70 degrees in March.