Train to Glacier Heaven

For my birthday we decided to go on the hunt for Glaciers. After recently failing to see the Aletsch Glacier, we were disappointed to find that the train we had wanted to take (the so called “Matterhorn Glacier paradise”) was also closed! No paradise for us!

Luckily the Gornergrat Railway came to our rescue!  For the small fee of 86 CHF each (around £56) they will take you on a short train ride to the top of Gornergrat.  (And yes I am being sarcastic, this is clearly unacceptably expensive).

Having read the guidebook carefully we dutifully sat on the right side of the train to maximise our scenic views 🙂 and before long we arrived at the top… Gornergrat. This has amazing 360 degree views of the Matterhorn and several glaciers. Yay! I finally got my Glacier!  🙂 And on my birthday!

I was mesmerised by the largest glacier and we basically stood there all day staring at it. It was fascinating, particularly as there were streams of bright blue meltwater forming oxbow lakes, which I have never seen before.

We hung around the viewing platform, accompanied by the obligatory Asian couple getting wedding photos done. I don’t know how they did it, as we found it pretty cold, and eventually we went inside to eat a welcome slice of substandard pizza in the mountain restaurant.

Before we reboarded the train we read some signs about a science research station in a mountain hut, with photos showing how it was built. To our great shock, we realised that there was a mountain hut right in the middle of the landscape we had been staring at all day. It was like a magic eye, when you suddenly see the tiger in front of your face. But they had done a good job of camouflaging the research hut into the landscape.

As the train pulled away, we spotted a mountain goat in the snow! Stood so still we first thought it was plastic, but then it moved! It was a special day 🙂

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