Castles and Climbers

After the usual delightful Swiss breakfast and a short talk about "The Simplon Pass" which connects northern and southern Europe, we followed the duck literally next door to Stockalper Castle. 

View of Stockalper Castle from our hotel

Constructed between 1658 and 1678 by Kaspar Stockalper, the structure was the largest example of private construction in Switzerland at the time.

Internal courtyards

At the time, castles and wayside inns provided shelter, food and a trade route to those travelers along the mountain pass (Simplon) connecting Italy and the Mediterranean with the rest of Europe. Stockalper, a silk merchant, took full advantage of his position on the Simplon pass to control and profit from any traffic across the route, and became one of the wealthiest men in the area because of it.

Later, Napoleon even constructed a military base, "Alte Kaserne," along the route not only to protect this national road, but to provide a resting place for merchants traveling this often difficult pathway. Fortunes were made and cities, like Brig, began to flourish as improvements made passage possible even during some winter months.

Stockalper Castle is a fine display of the wealth and life during those times with ornate wrought iron gates, courtyards, an ornately decorated chapel, and city administration rooms heated by tiled stoves which could be stoked from an adjoining hallway without disturbing the business of the day being conducted inside. Art, hand-painted wallpaper and solid hand-crafted wood furniture adorns the castle rooms still in use by city officials today.

Chapel Altar Highlighted with Silver

Hand Painted Wallpaper 

Peggy really liked the wallpaper!

Mid-morning, the duck once again led us to the Bahnhof for the train to Zermatt at the base of the Matterhorn. Small wonder (no pun intended) that Disney chose this breathtaking peak and surrounds as the basis for his commercial enterprise. The cog train we rode made its way higher and higher through the valley alongside flowing waters, stands of trees, dottings of houses and pastures. 

Arrival at Zermatt started a "short walk, slightly uphill" past shops and restaurants to a most beautiful "Kirche" (church) 

which also holds a graveyard for climbers who died attempting to reach the summit of the Matterhorn. Often, bodies had to wait to be buried until the Spring thaw came.

The flowers are Edelweiss

Walking through the village paths, we stopped for a lunch of local dishes at Cafe Fuchs and readied ourselves for the underground railroad trip to Sunnegga, with its view of the Matterhorn. 

The oldest structure in Zermatt

Cars are not permitted in Zermatt

Our lunch of salad and cholera

This train is not really a train at all. Think of an incline funicular like the gentle ones in Pittsburgh, PA that take you up the hillsides to view the city from its heights. Now throw that image out of your mind completely.

Funiculars use gravity to propel two cars past each other up and down a hillside. The same is true for the inclined railway taking you to Sunnegga - only more like something built at Cape Canaveral. Starting at 1620 meters in Zermatt, the duck leads you through a tunnel inside the mountainside to a waiting set of seats inside the car reached by climbing concrete stairs. Each car holds three seated and two or three standing passengers. Looking up the stairway, you see nothing but rails and lights disappearing at an absurd angle to somewhere up there at 2288 meters. It's the ride of your life and once underway, you reach the top in just 90 seconds.

That's 5259.61 feet to we Americans!

Going Up!

The view from the top of the car to the bottom

Catching our breath and wondering if we left vital organs somewhere down below, we are greeted by bright sunshine, blue skies, puffy clouds and a chalet with seats and tables with a most spectacular view. From Sunnegga, ski lifts and hiking paths lead off to higher climes. We had a perfect day to shoot photos, get sunburned if we weren't careful, and enjoy a brief aperitif and the scenery.

And now, we are going to post a ridiculous number of pictures of the Matterhorn. It's just too beautiful to choose just a few:

Can you see the tiny weather station all the way at the top?

Sometimes you just need to take a LOT of pictures. This was one of those times.

We ALL had the same need to take pictures

We took pictures of each other too!

The trip back was a letdown - only in a small literal sense as we "dove back down" to Zermatt in 90 seconds and took the train back to Brig descending through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. It's hard for both your brain and your eyes to take it all in. 

On arrival back at Brig, we boarded a small tourist train on tires for a guided tour of Naters and Brig pointing out various historical sites and ending up, thankfully, just a few yards from our hotel. The weather up in Zermatt had been perfect, but Brig, in the southern part of Switzerland, was experiencing a record-setting heat wave, with temperatures above 90 degrees!

OK... one more picture of the Matterhorn

Our evening was capped off with another group dinner of local fare at Restaurant Schlosskeller. An evening talk on legends of the Valais area was given by our local guide, Mrs. Beatrice Wust. Tomorrow: ITALY.

The following video of Zermatt and the Matterhorn is beautiful...