The hotel had given us a town venture pass, so after we ate breakfast, we headed up through the village to see if we could take the cable car up the mountain and then down into Zinal. Unfortunately, it was closed, so we hiked back over to the bus stop and took the Post bus over to Zinal to start our adventure. Fortunately, the hotel pass made the bus ride free as well. We headed further up the valley to Zinal which sits on the other side of the ski mountain from Grimetz. Since it was fairly early in the morning, we headed out of Zinal fairly quickly and up, up, up into the forest. The initial ascent was rather steep and we decided that the Swiss just didn’t have time to put in switchbacks, but probably should have at some point done that. The path followed along the path for a marathon that ends in Zinal. That would be one tough race. Once we gained the ridge, however, the remainder of the hike was fairly gentle and flat as we hiked the rim from above Zinal to the Hotel Weisshorn. The views back toward Zinal were ridiculous and it was hard not to stop and keep looking back toward the mountains. We met a family from Belgium on our way around and enjoyed the watefalls, eating chocolate, and the views. After a rather long hike, we made it to the Hotel Weisshorn where we had Fondue.
It turns out, we didn’t know how to eat Fondue, because no sooner had we started to eat, a rather obese French man sitting next to us came over grabbed a piece of bread and taught us how to eat Fondue properly. He mostly used gestures and grunts to teach us, until he discovered that Mike spoke French. At that point, he used words to do the instructing. Just watching his big meaty hands break the bread and dip it in the warm melty cheese was somewhat surreal. We would see him and his wife later hiking down into St. Luc. We will always be grateful for the random man who decided to put his hands all over our food so that we would no longer be stupid Americans eating Fondue incorrectly.
Interestingly, our waiter was from Portugal and Mike got to speak Portuguese with him. We headed out from the Hotel Weishorn with the intent of taking the Funicular down into St Luc, after all, we were pretty hammered from all the hiking. However, it was about 45 minutes to the Funnicular and 45 minutes to just hike down to St Luc, plus, the family from Belgium told us it was a pretty hike, so we headed down. It turns out, that it was a pretty hike and it was a nice way to end a long day of hiking with a leisurely stroll down the mountain. The weather was amazing, and the views wonderful. What a great place to be and a great time to be alive.
We made it into St Luc and hiked past the Funnicular station straight into a Wes Anderson movie at the Hotel Bella Tolla. It is hard to describe a place like this and do it any justice. It is a storied boutique hotel wherein everything is perfectly appointed and prepared so that you can enjoy a quaint and terrific day in the mountains. The staff was prepared for our arrival and knew us by name as we walked into the hotel. Our bags were waiting for us in our rooms with a bag of fresh fruit and a personal note from the host and hostess welcoming us to the hotel. What a great place to spend a couple of days. One thing of note throughout our trip was that the room keys in Switzerland are all attached to giant items. At the hotel Bella Tolla it looked like a peppershaker for Andre the Giant. Where do people put these giant-ass keys?
Once we had gotten ready for dinner, we were greated to a phenomenal meal that was more a celebration of taste and design than anything in recent memory. The décor of the dining room, the service, the presentation of the food were all over the top. The host and hostess came to each table, speaking fluently in several languages making sure the guests were not only well cared for, but felt that their stay was personally important to the hotel. It was a sight to behold and to experience. After dinner, we sat outside under the stars and a furry blanket listening to the piano music drift into the night sky. You could imagine that the stars in the night sky wished they could be so cozy and warm.
It turns out, we didn’t know how to eat Fondue, because no sooner had we started to eat, a rather obese French man sitting next to us came over grabbed a piece of bread and taught us how to eat Fondue properly. He mostly used gestures and grunts to teach us, until he discovered that Mike spoke French. At that point, he used words to do the instructing. Just watching his big meaty hands break the bread and dip it in the warm melty cheese was somewhat surreal. We would see him and his wife later hiking down into St. Luc. We will always be grateful for the random man who decided to put his hands all over our food so that we would no longer be stupid Americans eating Fondue incorrectly.
Interestingly, our waiter was from Portugal and Mike got to speak Portuguese with him. We headed out from the Hotel Weishorn with the intent of taking the Funicular down into St Luc, after all, we were pretty hammered from all the hiking. However, it was about 45 minutes to the Funnicular and 45 minutes to just hike down to St Luc, plus, the family from Belgium told us it was a pretty hike, so we headed down. It turns out, that it was a pretty hike and it was a nice way to end a long day of hiking with a leisurely stroll down the mountain. The weather was amazing, and the views wonderful. What a great place to be and a great time to be alive.
We made it into St Luc and hiked past the Funnicular station straight into a Wes Anderson movie at the Hotel Bella Tolla. It is hard to describe a place like this and do it any justice. It is a storied boutique hotel wherein everything is perfectly appointed and prepared so that you can enjoy a quaint and terrific day in the mountains. The staff was prepared for our arrival and knew us by name as we walked into the hotel. Our bags were waiting for us in our rooms with a bag of fresh fruit and a personal note from the host and hostess welcoming us to the hotel. What a great place to spend a couple of days. One thing of note throughout our trip was that the room keys in Switzerland are all attached to giant items. At the hotel Bella Tolla it looked like a peppershaker for Andre the Giant. Where do people put these giant-ass keys?
Once we had gotten ready for dinner, we were greated to a phenomenal meal that was more a celebration of taste and design than anything in recent memory. The décor of the dining room, the service, the presentation of the food were all over the top. The host and hostess came to each table, speaking fluently in several languages making sure the guests were not only well cared for, but felt that their stay was personally important to the hotel. It was a sight to behold and to experience. After dinner, we sat outside under the stars and a furry blanket listening to the piano music drift into the night sky. You could imagine that the stars in the night sky wished they could be so cozy and warm.
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