Journey to Zermatt

14.09.05

I had an early breakfast at the hostel in Gryon, and later “leftover surprise” special fried rice for lunch. But otherwise just got ready to go and caught up on my journal.

At Jungfraujoch I had purchased a “Top of Europe” fleece and put it over my sweater (it was cold!). It was size small (like most my clothes), and I hadn’t noticed that it was a bit short-in-the-sleeve. Last night I had talked to an asian girl named Nan who is headed to Interlaken and Jungfraujoch. The fleece fit her better, so I told her to wear it when she goes up there, because it’s cold.

Jonathan and I arrived in Gryon at the same time, and we left at the same time too. Something happened with our train from Bex, so we were delayed half an hour (I was going to Aigle to catch a train back the other way, and he was going to Paris via Geneva). So we had a soda and he told me about the job he had for two years in London, helping out at a TV studio. The cool part was going somewhere with the limousine… everyone wanting to know who he was.

I ended up with a stop-over in the town of Sion, so I checked the schedules there, got some change for the locker, and wandered around a while. There is a fortified church on the hill — I took some photos from a playground and some other angles, but didn’t go up.

Back on the train I talked to a Portuguese man who works as a waiter in Brig, Switzerland. It was already getting dark when we pulled into Zermatt, and I said a little prayer to find the way to the hostel. Just before the tourist info booth closed, I got a map with the route drawn on it. Somehow I still got a bit lost, and was thankful when a man stopped and asked “do you need any help?” He got me back in the right direction.

After settling in, I sat outside Papperla Pub just for the wireless Internet access, as the hostel staff recommended. The waiter asked, “Would you like a drink?” and was quite fine with the fact that I didn’t.