Switzerland 10: The Matterhorn, wildlife, the final gorge, and a herd of goats

We embarked on a long train ride to our final real destination, Zermatt, the home of the Matterhorn.  The Matterhorn is actually only the 12th highest peak in Europe, but is known for its toothlike shape.  It is on the border of Switzerland and Italy and there was a race to see who can reach the summit first.  Switzerland arrived three days before Italy and four of the seven died on the way up.  They all would have died had it not been for the rope breaking.



Since I promised myself I would not go up any more cable cars, Stephanie went without me and I relaxed in the room.  Then we took a short walk to the nearby Gorner Gorge.  I have tried to use up as much of my Swiss currency as possible, since we are nearing the end of the trip.  Because of this I was 70 cents short for us entering the gorge.  Luckily, a man nearby overheard me counting change and gave us an extra dollar so we could enter.  He told us that someone had done something similar for him in Japan.

This gorge was much smaller than the others we had been to, but the water rushing through it was much fiercer.  It was very loud.



As we exited, I noticed a man with a camera standing motionless next to a nearby tree.



Stephanie spotted the Edelweiss plant, the national flower of Switzerland.



Back in town, we walked around a bit, taking notice of some of the older buildings buildings in the old town.



We came back out to view the sunset but were a bit on the late side to get better colors.



This morning we walked around again to take pictures in the clear morning.



As we were walking back to our hotel we were passed by a herd of goats, being shepherded through town.



We are off now for our longest train trip yet, to our Geneva Airport hotel.