Day 12 - September 7

Today was another spectacular weather day. Being Sunday, most shops and boutiques were closed. If you are of a certain age you may remember “closed on Sunday” in the US. I strolled through Gstaad this morning and it was a completely different vibe than Saturday afternoon.

Love the sidewalks

Although bears no longer live in Switzerland, they are an iconic symbol of the country.

Water (wasser) from pipes like these indicate safe drinking water to fill your water bottles.

The railway. I’ll be taking it to Zermatt tomorrow

There are many beautiful and luxurious hotels in Gstaad

And there’s this. I will confess that yesterday when I was looking for my hotel and saw this I kept repeating “please don’t let this be my hotel”

I spent a large portion of my day at Glacier 3000. I was a bit dubious because it sounded like a tourist trap but it was highly recommended. I realized Glacier 3000 meant the glacier(s) were at 3000 meters or 9,840 feet. Changed my perspective. It took 2 cable cars to get up there. I enjoyed the experience thoroughly.

View from the top

A glacial field

One of the things I did was the Peak Walk. It’s a suspension bridge connecting two peaks. Since Bill wasn’t there jumping up and down on the bridge it was a smooth crossing.

From the bridge

It was windy

Tissot watch has the brand on Glacier3000

It was a clear enough day that the Matterhorn was visible way off in the distance. I’ll be closer tomorrow

Another activity was the Glacier Walk. I was underwhelmed. It was no different than navigating slushy half frozen sidewalks in Indiana so I only did about 1/3 of the walk. I imagine it’s more impressive in colder months.

Not my idea of a fun walk. The fun part was taking the ski lift down to the glacier.

I think this means stay out. What do you think?

This was the alpine coaster. I had talked myself into doing it but when I was in line I realized it was a separate admission fee.

So I did this instead.

I had the most adorable thing happen while I was enjoying my tart. There was a very cute and friendly little guy about 2 or 3 also sitting at the table (they were long picnic tables). He was most interested in my dessert. With his papa’s permission I gave him one of the little chocolate decorations. Next thing I know he has scooted up close and has his mouth wide open like a baby bird for a bite. I laughed so hard as did the people at the next table who saw it happen. I did not give him a bite but I sure wanted to. His papa was so embarrassed. It was my favorite moment of the day.

I was quite curious about what these were. They were big blocks of snow covered with tarps. ??? I found a worker who spoke a little English and he told me is was snow “saved” for the ski season. Look how thick they are. That’s a lot of snow.

One last look before heading down to Gstaad.