How old do you need to be to look forward to a train ride across the Swiss Alps? While I wasn’t old enough to look forward to it…I very much really enjoyed it.
The Bernina Express and the Glacier Express come together in Chur, Switzerland. We came in from Milan on the Bernena and left on the Glacier, with an overnight into the tiny little county of Lichtenstein. The total population of Lichtenstein is about 39,000 people. We stayed in the capital city of Vaduz—one of the big cities of 5,700 people.
I imagine if you came from generations of wealth you would eventually get tired of the luxuries that become work. You might come to appreciate simple things in life done very well. Restaurants that are never quite crowded but full of people simply enjoying their evenings. A perfect little bakery with delicious bread and pastries. You might have a neighbor who comes from a similar background who is happy to share their advice on which pastry is the perfect one to sample first. You might keep a castle as a reminder of how much work being famously wealthy could be. That’s the Vaduz I saw. I am sure it is nothing like that but I do like the idea of a place for people so rich they realized the trappings of wealth were just not worth having.
The trains through the mountains were breathtaking. I took so many pictures that are a very poor reminder of how pretty it really was. The experience helps remind you of how beautiful the world is. And, if you just slow down a bit you notice it.
Zermatt is as cute as a mountain tourist town could be. Golf carts are the only vehicles and all hotels are all unique. It’s crazy expensive but who cares? You are on vacation. There are shops, restaurants, and bars down every picturesque street in town. The real stars of the show are the mountains. We rode up the Gornergrat, an incline railway that brings you up 10,000 ft to some pretty spectacular views.
Hiking under the view of the Matterhorn was another high point of our visit to Switzerland. Even though the Matterhorn was clouded over, we had a great view of Monte Rosa. We will be going back to Switzerland. I feel like we just got the smallest taste of a wonderful feast.