Adventures By Disney Review: Italy & Switzerland | Day 5 – Zermatt & Matterhorn
Day 5 of our Adventures By Disney begins, where we continue exploring Zermatt and see the ever-famous Matterhorn! Let’s get right into it!
Sunday, September 4th, 2022 –
A Train Ride Up To Matterhorn Mountain
Our call time today was 8:10 AM! We were up super early so we could go catch the train that would take us up to go see the Matterhorn!
The train ride itself was an event. It was probably about 15-20 minutes long, and the further we rode the more beautiful it got. The views were beyond spectacular. Even though it was chilly, we opened the windows and I took about 50 photos of the Matterhorn along the way. It was just wonderful!!
Seeing the Matterhorn!
We got up to the top and Alica and Miki welcomed us to our Matterhorn viewpoint! They told us a story about a Saint Bernard named Barry 🥹 who was a rescue dog at the Matterhorn. He saved about 14 lives during his lifetime, including a little boy who he had to lick to bring back to consciousness because he almost froze to death! Barry was able to reunite this little boy with his parents, and needless to say, he was deemed a hero. In the last 2 years of Barry’s life, he lived peacefully with a monk after all of his years of service. As a tribute to this sweet boy, now there’s always a dog named Barry in the Matterhorn rescue!
After that heartwarming story, we had the chance to take our own Matterhorn pictures. It is such a magnificent sight! In all my years of riding the Matterhorn rollercoaster at Disneyland, I would’ve never guessed we’d all get to go see the actual Matterhorn in person together as a family. So, so special!
We were very lucky this morning because we actually got a clear view of the Matterhorn! Alica and Miki went with their gut instincts and pushed this activity forward a day, because technically in the itinerary we could have done it yesterday. But it was absolutely worth the gamble! They knew best!
Like I said in our ABD Day 4 Post, you never know if the clouds are going to cover the top of the Matterhorn. It can be so hard to plan when Mother Nature is at play! However, this morning was truly the best-case scenario and we were so thankful it worked out!
Even the surrounding areas that weren’t the Matterhorn were exceptional! Switzerland truly blew me away, I’m still processing the grandeur of it all.
The time came and went so quickly (I could have stayed much longer!) but we had to move on to our next activity!
Zip-Lining Through the Alps!
We took the train back down and then went over to Forest Fun Park to go ZIP LINING!!
I was honestly really nervous because I’ve never zip-lined before but I just sort of followed Jon, let them strap me in, said “what the hell” and did it!!
The hardest part at first was figuring out how to adjust the rope. There was a very particular placement for your hands on the top for balance, around the neck for stabilization, and where to press down & break so you wouldn’t crash into the platforms!
Don’t worry – the staff gave a very thorough tutorial and let us go through a practice course. But once we passed that, we were on our own!
Here We Go!
Jon was in front of me and then Anthony and Laurie and the New England crew were behind me. Jon was very helpful and helped coach me through the upcoming segments. Some of the sections were SO difficult but I felt accomplished every time.
Alica was waiting for us at the first checkpoint where we could exit but I WENT FOR IT and did the whole green course!!
Oh my god, it was SO MUCH FUN!! But it was hard. The ropes course required so much upper body strength (that I don’t even have). We had to walk across moving wooden logs and tightropes and all sorts of things that were just INSANE.
The zip-lining itself was the best part. It just felt so liberating and like I was literally flying through the air. It was cool to see that my body was able to do this!
This whole experience gave me such a moment of reflection because 3 years ago I was bedridden from my toxic mold experience. Even one year ago I wouldn’t have had the strength to do this! But the fact that I went through this course today and had fun with it… it just made me feel so proud. I’m just so appreciative of my body for being strong and healed enough to do things like this now! Truly, thank God!
The Green Course was pretty long, so once that was done I called it quits. But there were four additional courses you could go on – some with just ropes and others with just zip-lines! Jon continued on to the Blue and Brown zip-lines courses! He said Brown was his favorite, the views were the most spectacular!
I was just so thirsty, hungry, and hot by the end of it all. But I was so happy and accomplished. And my first time ever zip-lining was in the Swiss Alps… how cool is that!?
Mom and Dad did not participate in this activity, but honestly, it was probably for the best! Mom has a severe fear of heights and Dad has some shoulder issues so it was a smart move on their part. There were folks of all ages though (even older than both of them!) doing this course, which was so impressive! Everyone who did it had an absolute blast.
Off to the Pub!
Once Jon finished up, we took some electric taxis to take back into town! Electric Taxis are so cool because they make NO NOISE! Since Zermatt is a car-free town, these are the only vehicles allowed and they’re very quiet and clean.
Once we got back into town, we went to the Brown Cow Pub which was the PERFECT place to go after zippin’! There’s nothing like going to a pub after a full day of activity and fresh air, and I was ready for a big ol’ burger!
I got a lager, tomato soup, salad, and a cheeseburger with mushrooms and fries. It was one of the BEST BURGERS ever! It was so big, the bun had such good seeds on it… omg, it was so good.
Strolling through Zermatt
We decided to do a little walk around town to go do some shopping. We were looking for sweatshirts but no luck yet. However, I did get a Switzerland cuckoo clock magnet for my collection!
Jon went back to the hotel to take a nap. Mom, Dad, and I went back to the Läderach and got MORE CHOCOLATE! This time, we got regular milk chocolate, dark chocolate blackberry, milk chocolate cranberry, strawberry, and more of the white chocolate pistachio one that dad loves. I LOVE THE CHOCOLATE STORE!!
After that, Dad went back home. Mom and I hung out in town a little more and went to Co-Op to buy some socks. But we then decided to go back home. We all took naps and PASSED RIGHT OUT! Taking a rest was much needed.
Checking Out The Matterhorn Museum
I woke up at 4:45 PM and Dad asked if I wanted to go to the Matterhorn Museum and I said yes! So we walked over so we could check it out. Our whole museum walkthrough took about 20-30 minutes but it was super interesting.
We learned about how Zermatt used to just be a town for farming, and then it turned into summer visits only, and then it developed into a major ski town! During both World Wars, they lost all their tourism but then in the 70s and 80s it came back and thrived! Now Zermatt is known as the “money vein” of Switzerland.
We also learned about how Edward Whymper was the first person to climb the Matterhorn. But there are conspiracies that he killed his 4 comrades along the way to be the first person there! 🤯 The world will never know! But we were laughing because the restaurant we went to last night was named after him, how controversial.
Soaking in the Ambiance
After the museum, we walked around town for a little bit. Dad and I were both just completely in awe of Zermatt… we just wanted to take a moment to soak it in!
I found a water fountain and filled up my water bottle with that fresh mountain water. We sat on a bench nearby and the church bells were going off for 9 minutes straight. They were SO BEAUTIFUL and the whole town was filled with the sweet sounds of bells.
While we were sitting there, Jon walked by! So we all walked over to the apartment/residential area of Zermatt. I’m telling you… whenever I get to a point where money is not an option, I would very much consider living right here!
On our walk, we also saw some other hotels and even some gravestones of people who had died climbing the Matterhorn! What a place to get buried… one of the most peaceful and beautiful places in the world.
Wrapping up the Day
It was getting closer to dinner, so we went back to the hotel and met up with Mom who had just been sleeping this whole time!
We went to one more gift shop to look at Zermatt Sweatshirts and Jon, Dad, and I all got some.
Then we went back to the hotel for dinner, which was included in our tour. We sat with Frank, who is an optometrist, and his wife, who is a school teacher! They talked to us about the Florida Keys, how they got engaged, and how they’ve had to reschedule this trip a few times due to COVID! I’m so glad it finally happened!
For dinner, we had some AMAZING pretzel bread and butter, I had a salad and ravioli. And there was chocolate mousse for dessert but I couldn’t even finish it because I was BEYOND FULL. I think this is where I hit my breaking point with food!
I took myself and my little food coma up to bed after that and immediately went to sleep! We were traveling to the final location of our Adventures By Disney trip tomorrow, so it was time to rest up!
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