Switzerland Day 5-6: Arosa

Arosa was much more enjoyable than the snobbery and absurd hours standing in line of Zermatt. The highlight of Arosa was sledding down 2½ miles of trails to the next stop down the mountain, Litzirüti. There we catch the train with our sleds back up the hill and repeat the experience. The train station in Litzirüti definitely had a more authentic countryside feel to it. There was a counter inside for refreshments and tickets that was staffed on-demand only by the family that lived upstairs.

We were hoping to get the chance to horseback ride in the snow here as well, but despite the claims of the guidebook, there was no riding to be had during the winter months.

Switzerland Day 5: Glacier Express

The next leg of our journey was enjoying the scenery through the Swiss Alps on the Glacier Express train. There was lots and lots of snow.

Switzerland Day 4: Zermatt

For this segment we took the train along the east shore of Lake Geneva, up the Rhône into the Alps, finally arriving at the ritzy tourist trap known as Zermatt. For over a hundred Swiss Francs a day you too can have the privilege of standing around in a poorly ventilated, concreted floored gondola terminal for over an hour to get up to the slopes. And lest I forget mentioning the loading onto the gondola car which was less cordial that a New York subway at rush hour.

That's not to say it was all bad. It is quite a view from the top and the laundromat in town did a precision job, the train ride up was fun too. There was a gigantic windmill in the river valley, which there are pictures of in the slideshow above.

Switzerland Day 2-4: Luzern, Murten and Gruyères

This stretch of our trip included a tasty lunch in the cafeteria on the top floor of the Manor department store in Luzern and free samples as part of the tour of the cheese factory in Gruyères. We were in Murten on St. Patrick's Day, but the only "Irish Pub" in town was playing music that sounded Latin American, and it didn't help that bars in Switzerland are most certainly not smoke-free, it was just a little too awkward.