We traveled by private car about an hour and a half south east of Lucerne to a small thermal spa town called Bad Ragaz. Here we spent the afternoon emerged in one pool after another. Each pool was a different degree in temperature and most had some type of jets….relaxing to say the least. You kind of feel like your legs are Jell-O after a two hour visit.

Next morning, we boarded the famous Glacier Express, which is the slowest express train in the world… sounds contradictory, doesn’t it …but that’s how they promote it. It averages 25 miles an hour and passes thru the heart of the Swiss Alps. It was a little like a roller coaster ride going up and down steep slopes. The view was absolutely stunning the entire ride to Zermatt. We went through a huge gorge (they call the Swiss Grand Canyon) in the Alps that was created 10,000 years ago with walls reaching up to 1,200 ft high.
Wild orchids grow all along the walls and the river rushes thru the gorge. If you’re ever in this part of the world, I strongly recommend you add this train ride to your schedule. The scenery is absolutely amazing!

We stayed at the Somme Hotel in Zermatt, higher up the mountain overlooking the town. This is one of my favorite quaint villages in the world that does not allow cars. The only way to get up the mountain is by a cog train. Next day, we took the train on up the mountain all the way to the top… and as my luck would have it, we got great pictures of the Matterhorn… along with the other four highest mountains in Switzerland. These five mountains vary in height from 13,000 to 15,000 feet. When you’re that high up, it feels like you can reach to heaven. I know Tommie and Paul were riding on our shoulders that day, because we both remarked how peaceful we felt admiring the Matterhorn.

Couple days after some great food and shopping, we boarded the train and headed to Basel. There we get on the Armedius Star riverboat to head north for a week sailing the Rhine River to Amsterdam. 🛳️