The primary theme of our Italy-Switzerland Adventure is train trips.  We rode the train *under* the Alps from Milan to Lucerne, and now, we are traveling the amazing train routes up into the Alps.  Our trip from Lucerne to Brig, Switzerland included time in a famous tunnel that has a double spiral (like a figure-eight.)  The funny thing is, aside from being in the dark for more than 20 miles, there was no sensation of going round and round.  The spirals allow the train to gain altitude in a short distance and as far as I could tell the train never slowed down through the entire trip.

We arrived in Brig and, after finding our hotel, we looked around the pretty city, surrounded by snow caped mountains.  The weather has been unseasonably warm here (mostly in the 40s).  Because of that the snow level is confined to the mountains around us.  We think that is just right!  The hotel is adjacent to Stockalper Castle.  It is impressive to look at, but doesn’t offer tours in the winter time.  The other thing Brig is famous for is that the train station here serves as a major interchange for some important rail lines.

There are two famous rail excursions in this part of Switzerland.  The Glacier Express travels between two major ski areas.  However, it travels on the regular tracks and the regular trains that offer service to the same places have nice big windows.  I say that to explain that over the next two days we are traveling trains on the Glacier Express route, but not on that particular excursion.  The nice thing for us is that we can hop on and off the trains wherever we like rather than needing to stay with a tour.

This morning we left Brig and headed up deeper into the mountains to a world class winter playground: Zermatt, Switzerland.  The train climbed up above the snow line.  The scenery is amazing.  For many people Zermatt is all about skiing.  There are thousands of hotel rooms and chalet rentals.  Only electric powered, small taxis and a couple of small, free, electric busses are allowed on the streets.  There are several ski lifts and a cog railway offering access on up to the ski areas high above the town.

And, from most anywhere the Matterhorn, which towers over 14,000 feet can be seen.  It is beautiful beyond words.  We looked around, took photos, checked out an area where buildings dating back over 400 years have been preserved.  After having lunch we returned to Brig.  Due to the time difference, we got back to our room just in time to catch Sunday School and church in Texas!

Here are a couple of travel tips that might be helpful to some.  First, there’s a free app called “Google Lens.”  It has other uses, but it’s translate function is great for people traveling.  Using Lens you turn on translate.  Your phone camera comes on and you can aim it at any text.  The app translates the text to English and on the screen the words actually morph from whatever language you are looking at into English!  Tonight we were buying sandwiches to bring back to our room.  The labels were in German, but when I looked at them through Lens I could see that they were turkey.  We don’t speak hardly any German, but we were able to navigate our way through the store and get what we wanted.  Really cool!

Another thing: on the train and many other places, announcements in Switzerland are repeated in German, then French, and then English.  That makes it easy to get around.  Aside from that, since we are in a major tourist area, we hear English spoken most everywhere.

Tomorrow, we continue the Glacier Express route.  What a way to start a New Year!