Anna Wilson
“Switzerland”, a magical land whose beauty mesmerizes even the darkest of souls…. Its mountains, meadows, cattle and chocolate can drive anyone crazy for more. We were excited like nothing before to experience this country. “Schwez” was so famous. During our stay there, our eyes were treated to coniferous trees, rough terrains, green hills with the sunlight shining on them as they were bathing in its golden hue and above all I had the honour to behold the “Matterhorn” in Zermatt.
Not many were accustomed to the name “Matterhorn” but everyone knew Toblerone and the mountain on its cover. That day all of us woke up refreshed and got ready for a new chapter of our life. We were going to visit the Toblerone Mountain at last. The train ride to Zermatt was captivating, we crossed towns, farmlands and a sparkling river, we were truly awed by its pristine condition. We sang together and cracked jokes in the train and finally reached our destination. Since we were to see Matterhorn’s tip, we had to take another train to reach the very top of the mountain. Everyone settled inside the train and soon enough one of the Swiss tutors who accompanied us, Mr Benedict befriended a Chinese woman who was visiting Switzerland with her family and we all enjoyed a merry ride up the mountain. We dismounted the train after a long ride and viewed the breathtaking scenery in front of our vision. It was absolutely gorgeous, all the mountain peaks were covered in ice, the sky was blue with fluffy clouds floating and the air had chill to it. But it was not as cold as we had expected. We took many pictures with the Matterhorn behind us, posing with our hands flung out or resting it on a friend’s shoulder. Someone started a snow fight and soon snowballs were flying in the air and we were laughing very loud while dexterously trying to dodge them. After a while, we were informed that in a few moments we were to descend the mountain and anybody who wished to use the restroom must use it immediately. And that’s how we started walking the steep rock path down the mountain. There was very little greenery in Matterhorn, the colours that stood out the most were brown, white and light blue. We made a quick stop to take a group picture and continued walking again. The path was gravelly and slippery and once in a while I saw someone slipping and falling or holding onto another for dear life. Another snow fight happened within an hour, when we reached a clearing where we decided to have our lunch. There was a gorgeous greenish blue lake and “the Matterhorn” was right behind it. We could even see little fishes swimming in the water. We took a seat in the sand and feasted on ham, bread and sandwiches, sausages and salads. Many were exhausted to the core after the tedious walk and decided to climb back up to catch the train to the bottom while the rest of us decided to continue our walk. The wind blew hard on our faces as we climbed up the steep slopes and then proceeded to climb down them. All this time we enjoyed Mother Nature, abstaining from using electronic gadgets except for clicking pictures once in a while. Soon enough the train station came to our view but we realised that we would not be able to catch the train which we were expected to. In a splurge of adrenaline we dashed towards the train giving our legs all that we had and barely had time to hop in before it propelled down the mountain.
Sadly not all of us were lucky enough and some of our team mates, we found out, were stranded up in the mountain and would have to wait for the next train. The teachers dispersed us to go shopping wherever we wanted with a promise to come back at 4:22 pm to aboard the train to Fiesch. We took a stroll through the magical town of Zermatt buying snow globes, bells and chocolates for our families back in India. At 4.22 p.m we were all seated in the train and zooming towards Fiesch where we would be staying for the night. It was a beautiful place. We were to make our own beds and assist the elders in cleaning, cooking and all that sort of thing. Dinner was served at about 7.30 pm and we assembled in the dining room after a quick shower and contacting our parents to inform them of how that day had unfurled for us. We were treated to some healthy salads and bread first and later to a plate of delicious spaghetti with tomato and beef sauces with yummy cheese. Also desserts were served afterwards. Since we were bone tired from walking the entire day, most of us went to bed early while others stayed to clean the kitchen.
