Interlude (5/14)


This morning I woke up in Zermatt, and had a fantastic breakfast before deciding to take the train east to the Aletsch Glacier. It was an amazing ride with spectacular views in all directions. Although my train ticket was to Betten, I got off at Möller because the address of the place where I made a reservation was in Möller. As I have done in the past, I use Google Maps to get me to my new hotel. This time, I have no idea what happened, but I walked uphill, schlepping my suitcase with my backpack on my back, and Google Maps kept telling me to keep going. I went way beyond where I should have stopped. We’re talking hiking in the mountains on a really narrow road. The good news is I saw some wonderful scenery, including a couple of horses grazing, a lot of wildflowers, and a mountain stream. The bad news is I was going straight uphill – actually, not straight but on a windy mountain road, and as it turns out, I passed my hotel without realizing it, and kept going up. A woman who lives in Betten, which is farther up the mountain, finally stopped her car and took me back to the general area. Actually, Breiten, where my hotel is, is a tiny village. Even so, I couldn’t figure out which was my hotel, and at one point, I left my suitcase out in front of some apartments, and went on to find the hotel before schlepping the suitcase. Once I found it, the hotel turned out to be a place with spectacular views of the mountains and trees. The hotel keeper sent someone – in a car - to get my suitcase and had it brought to me.

I am now in a quite low-cost resort and spa, with a swimming pool, sauna, and masseuse, with a wonderful view.  My room is really a studio apartment, so I have cooking facilities, even though they serve breakfast in the morning. I’ve decided to take a much-needed break, which means I’m going to just sit, do some knitting, do some reading, and catch up on the news, rather than rush off to the next location. Part of what makes this possible is that I’m here to see the Aletsch Glacier, and I can’t do that until midday tomorrow. By the time I get back from the glacier, I think I’ll want to crash rather than to move again. I’ve been thinking about taking a break anyway, and this is as good a place as any to do it, with plenty of amenities to keep me busy. So, my feet are up and I’m looking out at mountains with magnificent trees, topped by a snow-covered peaks. Tough life if you can get it!

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