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That Heidi from the story was a lucky girl. Two days in the Alps was not enough to soak up all the clean mountain air, scenery and delicious food. I met Lester, Mike at the airport in Zurich. It was so great to see them all again, away from San Francisco and work and in the place that's physically and emotionally home for Lester. Her wonderful aunt Christine (more about her later) and Mysha her Tibetan terrier (almost as a cute as Meatball, they'd be good friends) met us and we drove about 3 hours to Zermatt at the foot of the Alps. It felt like 20 minutes to a first timer there was so much to look at! I turned into an Asian tourist real fast, snapping pictures from the car because I didn't trust my brain to retain that much beauty. And that didn't even prepare me for Zermatt. You have to leave your car on the outskirts and then take a "taxi", which is a cute little electric car, into town at t he base of the mountains. The house has the most incredible view of the Matterhorn, it's literally right outside the window and breathtaking. There's nothing like watching the sun set behind the Matterhorn while having a glass of wine after a long day of hiking and a delicious meal, nothing.
I was prepared for Swiss precision, efficiency and order but one thing in particular about the Swiss blew me away: these people are incredibly fit and strong. And I don't just mean the young people but the 70, 80 and 90 year olds too. They may have some of the best chocolates, cheeses and sausages but they also walk up and down those mountains like it's a stroll in the park. Prime example, Lester's aunt Christine; and because she's a lady I'm not telling her age but she's aged beyond gracefully. This woman climbed the Matterhorn when she was 30 and at the time she had 2 kids at home including a 1 year old! It gets better. She "trained" (which was basically just climbing a lot for 3 short weeks) in secret and didn't even tell anyone she was going, just got a babysitter for the night and made it up and back down in 6/6.5 hours (3 up and 3.5 back down)! And she's climbed 5 of the other mountains as well later in life. Amazing. I wish I'd know all of this the first night when the 3 of us went to take the dog for a "walk". I thought this would be a leisurely walk maybe 10-15 minutes, you know, what we all think when we hear "taking the dog out." Well not if you're Swiss and have a Tibetan terrier. We walked up the mountain in the semi/pretty much dark for about 45 minutes and I swear that dog put off doing her business so she could stay out longer. Lester kept wanting to go up even higher and further--I thought her endurance and love of a challenge were work traits but it turns out it's just her, and she's definitely Swiss.
That first night was just the warm up. The next 2 days we went for 5 - 7 hour hikes each day all over the mountains, stopping for lunches that still make my mouth water at beautiful mountain restaurants with views that no photographer (maybe Eli) could ever do justice to. And actually Ella got some pretty good shots too, I'm including some of her pictures, that girl's got a great eye. There are all these tiny churches all over the mountains (one that only had 6 chairs in it!) and I got to see the one that Lester and Mike got married at, it's so perfectly Lester. Everywhere you looked there was something that made you stop and just want to stare, little hueslis, flowers, waterfalls, a tiny house way up in the mountains, literally breathtaking. Well that and the fact that all that climbing had me breathing pretty hard, sweating and trying to, as Lester would say, "act natural" the whole time. Meanwhile, Christine never got out of breathe, didn't break a sweat that I could see and her hair stayed perfectly in place! And apparently it's genetic because little Lucy and Ella are bad asses too. They walked the entire time both days, with only one meltdown on the second day, oh and they had just been flying for 24 hours and were jet lagged--they're 4 and 6 years old!! (I miss you lots wormalies we're going to have so much fun when I get back!)
Zermatt's beauty is raw and powerful. Being up in those mountains reminded me of being at the bottom of the Grand Canyon on the Colorado river. It's a feeling of quiet, peace and awe at the power and beauty of nature. But what made it all the more special was being there with Lester and her family, seeing and sharing her happy place. Walking up those mountains holding Ella's hand, listening to Mike explain evolution or snow machines (Ps. that man knows EVERYTHING, he should host an NPR program for kids (and Hermon), "Mike Barrett explains..."), watching Lucy run around with Mysha, catching glimpses of Christine who's always way up ahead and feeling Lester's peace was pure happiness.
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