Family Time

The halfway point of the NJC school year was marked by a week's holiday. Some students chose to travel home to see their families, but, in most cases, it was the other way around. Parents and siblings made the trip to Switzerland to participate in a week of fun in Zermatt, one of the great ski resorts of the world.

The view over Zermatt from the Hotel Tschugge

As a non-skier, my first instinct was to enjoy my time off somewhere else, but when I mentioned the school trip to my elder daughter, Katie, she became very excited. Skiing Zermatt was on her bucket list, so she made her way here from Calgary to do just that. I was content to see the place and to walk around the village and surrounding area for a few days. Après-ski all day for me!

The Matterhorn looms over Zermatt.

On Saturday morning, Katie and I were on one of the two buses heading southeast to Zermatt. My job was to act as a supervisor to the "orphans", the students whose parents could not get away this week but who wanted to be part of the experience. There would be four of us in this role over the week: Lyn and I in the first half, and Terry and Sandra in the second half.

An electric shuttle bus in Zermatt.

Our bus to Zermatt stopped at Täsch, where we boarded a train to complete the trip to the village. Zermatt, I discovered, is car-free. There are electrical shuttle buses serving the many hotels, but otherwise, the only ways to get around are by foot or by train.

On the way to Hotel Tschugge

Group meeting in the lounge at the Hotel Tschugge

The 15 students staying at the Hotel Tschugge had to climb up a hill to get to our accommodation, while the others, staying with family members, headed in the other direction to the Hotel National. During our time there, we frequently went back and forth between these two hotels. The National was fancier and closer to ski lifts, but also more crowded and noisier; I was content with the Tschugge's quiet location and views over the town.

One group at the National

Clearly, these folks are happy to be on vacation with each other - and their families.

Arriving at about 15:00 on the first day, it was too late to ski, so Katie, Lyn and I merely explored the town to get our bearings. On the second morning, however, the two of them headed upwards to ski while I chose to play indoor tennis with Bill. It had been some time since I had swung a tennis racquet but I competed gamely; I think I got more exercise on the tennis court than the others got on the ski hills!

Jen joins Katie and Lyn on the first day of skiing.

Bill  dominated me on the court. It was like playing John Isner for me.

This was a beautiful day of sunshine, a bluebird day, as they say in skiing parlance. In the afternoon, I wandered around the town window shopping, before stopping for hot chocolate with Kienan and his parents. At 17:00, the week's organizers, George Hardy Tours, scheduled a reception for parents where I enjoyed chatting with many of them in an informal way. Dinner was at Hotel Tschugge where I was reunited with my family member, my Katie, Lyn and our group. Liam's dad, who had just arrived, dined with us as well.

I decided to take a photo into the direct sunlight and see what would happen. I like this one.

On the second day, the light was flatter, creating less than ideal ski conditions, but the day was fine for hiking. I had arranged to meet Becca's mom, Mary, at the Hotel National. The concierge suggested we make our way to Zum See, about an hour's walk away, where we would stop for lunch. There are many hiking trails in the area and this is one of the more popular ones. The restaurant in the hamlet of Zum See is delightful. Mary and I sat in a glassed-in section and warmed ourselves under the blankets provided, while we split a rosti dish. As we were leaving, we met with Andrew's mom, Julie, who joined us on our walk back to Zermatt. (We tried a short-cut first - which became a "long-cut", so we retraced our steps to get down the mountain.)

The restaurant at Zum See is in a 300 year-old building.

Hiking buddies, Julie and Mary

At 17:00 that afternoon, George Hardy had reserved the local skating rink for a friendly hockey game between parents and students. This was an entertaining event, with very relaxed rules. It was hard to tell who was on each team since there were no uniforms; there was no body checking, of course – that might have killed some folks; and the skill level was greatly varied. The Swedish import, Viggo's dad, was an impressive player, as was Sierra's father, wearing the Boston Bruins jersey. To add authenticity to the event, Matt Nunziata and Lauren's dad staged a glove dropping fight in centre ice part way through the second period. In spite of the best efforts of goalies, Jesse and Mr. Boyer, both teams scored a couple of times. The official score was a tie: 3-3, I think.

Lots of players in this game!

After the game, frozen, Katie and I headed out for dinner at an authentic Swiss restaurant, the Weisshorn, where we enjoyed a tomato fondue. That warmed us up!

Zermatt's main street at dusk.

The view as we reached the top of the tree line.

The next day, Tuesday, the sun was shining again – time for me to take the Gornergrat Bahn, a train that stops several times on its way up to its final stop where the Matterhorn can be viewed in all its glory. On the ride up, I shared the car with many, many skiers, but on the way down at 11:00, I had the car to myself. This allowed me to take picture after picture because the views were magnificent.

The Gornergrat Bahn on its way down.

I could not take my eyes off the Matterhorn - what a majestic sight it is! The photos tell the story of my 30 minutes at the top. I have only posted a few of them.

How exhilarating it must be to ski here!

This guy was posing for the tourists.

I was there!!

At 13:30, Katie and I boarded a train to return to Neuchâtel. We missed out on the skating party and the curling matches that took place later that week, but our family time in Zermatt was very enjoyable nevertheless. We were not finished our holidaying either, as you will discover in the next blog post.

One last view of the Matterhorn.