Switzerland was just as beautiful and a tad more expensive than Tania had remembered having back packed there in 1983.  She wanted to re-visit Zermatt and especially Z'mutt (which had both grown considerably)!

Taking a hiking trail up from Zermatt they eventually found Z'mutt.  Tania had remembered it as a small village (apparently the inspiration for the children's book "Heidi") with only a few small buildings and a cafe that served only a bowl of soup with bread on it's two small tables.  Z'mutt on the right had truly expanded! (Zermatt on the left and Z'mutt on the right...)

Fall was a great time to visit.  Although still a bit crowded in Zermatt, the weather was delightfully cool.  The flowers were still in abundance and the parachute jumpers were out in full force everywhere. (There was even an advertisement where they pushed an old Citroen off with it's parachute on...)

 They made their base hotel in Brig and traveled throughout the area from there.  The window box for their room was exploding with flowers and it was still warm enough to have the window open.  They took the train up to Jungfrau.  The scenery from the cog train was spectacular.

 The Alps occupy 60% of the country so it makes for spectacular scenery everywhere.  But none can compare to the cog train ride up to Jungfrau (the Queen of the Alps). From Jungfraujoch - at 3400m (11,333 ft) this is Europe's highest rail station and the great panoramas are breathtaking (literally as you try to breathe in the thin air and find some difficulty) and on a clear day encompass more than half of Switzerland.

After taking the elevator to the higher Sphinx Terrace you can look out over Europe's longest glacier (the Great Aletsch, whose melt-off eventually makes its way to the Mediterranean.  Also popular is the Eispalast (Ice Palace), which is a series of tunnels that are carved into a glacier and filled with different ice sculptures.  Here Bob holds onto the railing as the ice floor is a bit slippery.

Bob and Tania had to get a photo opt in on the glacier.  The carvings are updated (as seen by the EU "Mickey Mouse" in the Eispalast.  Bob on "Top of the World" on the Sphinx Terrace (it was colder than it looks!).