Following their long schlep down from Trockener Steg to Schwarzee on Tuesday (Ken T. is working on that post), the Fearless Foursome decided on an easy Wednesday. Judy enjoyed a morning in the chalet all to herself, while the rest of us set out on an easy walk to Täsch, the next door village to Zermatt.
The route out of town was very, very scenic.
We dallied a bit to watch a helicopter load up and lift off.
We followed in the helicopter’s wake, hoofing it along what turned out to be a multi-use trail.
We enjoyed the soothing sounds of the Vispa River – when we could hear it above the helicopter rotors, clacking trains and gravel crunchers.
There were lots of rockfalls along the trail – and a lot of protective fencing.
Täsch is tiny village with the largest train station and associated parking structure that we saw anywhere in Switzerland. All of those fossil-fuel powered vehicles banned in Zermatt hang out in Täsch, a mere 14 minutes away by train. The station was echoingly empty at this time of year, but it must be a human zoo in ski season.
Matt and Ken R. peeled off and headed back to the bright lights of Zermatt, while Ken T., Dominique and I hung around to explore the town. “Real” Täsch is a charming cluster of 16th -19th century wooden buildings, most now lovingly restored. We picked up a walking tour guide at the visitor center, and Ken was able to translate enough German to guide us.
The Catholic church holds mass in German and Portuguese, reflecting the influx of laborers that have settled in this part of Switzerland over time.
The design of stone stilts holding up many buildings was apparently developed to keep out the mice.
Heading back to Zermatt, we shared train space with a gorgeous little pup trying her best to behave.
Dominique and I had coffee/tea and cakes, then did a bit of shopping at the weekly outdoor market.
A shopfront featuring these gaily painted ceramic creatures caught our eye. One of the cows went home with DomQ.
We spent the remainder of the the afternoon in Zermatt’s lovely little library, researching native plants (Dom’s project) and blogging (my never-ending task), then bussed our way back up the hill for a fine, Judy-cooked dinner.
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gorgeous
I finally got a chance to look as this one after losing track of the email reminder. I really liked the photos of the town. So quaint! My favorite though, was the cat walk…how cool is that!