Zermatt, Switzerland

This is the summer of the Covid-19, the coronavirus that has swept the world. Travel for the summer has been cancelled. In an attempt to not go insane while semi-self isolated, I purchased a scanner online and began the arduous task of scanning some 3500 slides taken over the years since the 1970s. Those years, from the mid-1970s until 1997, I lived in Germany and traveled well to the surrounding countries, From my home, I could be in either Switzerland or Holland in less than 5 hours. I took every opportunity. Also, my folks made several trips over and would stay a minimum one month, mostly during the summer months. We'd travel extensively, all by car, and cover multiple countries in one visit.

Which brings me to these pictures of Zermatt, a trip we took in 1985. In preparation for this page, I googled Zermatt to see if cars are now allowed in the village, as they were not back then. I see much controversy on the subject of electric cars being allowed, it seems largely for two reasons: One, Zermatt has expanded over the years, and it's not as easy to carry luggage from the train station to one's lodging. It can potentially be considerably farther than 35 years ago. Secondly, it appears people don't WANT to walk. What? Seems they want the convenience of being transported. Back in my day, blah, blah, blah. Yes, it's a new generation(s).

At any rate, here is Zermatt in 1985. No doubt, much has changed, but I suspect the quaintness of the village and the splendor of the majestic Matterhorn will always be.

I don't normally include personal photos on my pages, but I'm making an exception here. Those of you who visit my Web site for travel information or ideas, please forgive the intrusion of pictures of Mom and Pop.

Because Zermatt is car-free, our best option for getting there was via a couple of trains. The first was in Kandersteg where we loaded our car onto the open-sided car shuttle for a 9-mile ride through the Lötschberg Tunnel to Goppenstein. From there we drove close to an hour to Täsch, the stopping point for all cars and visitors to Zermatt. We stayed at a lovely apartment in Täsch, and took the easy three-mile train ride to Zermatt each day.

Most intriguing to any photographer is the charming buildings of the Hinterdorf (the "rear village") of Zermatt's oldest part of town. The structures are made of larch, the type of resin-rich tree that surrounds the area. Over time, the sun and weather darken the wood which, in turn, absorbs the heat. The roofs are made of heavy slabs of rock, and often the buildings are on stilts or cement blocks to keep out mice.