Around the World in a 60s Daze. Chapter II - Zermatt

Dear Family and Friends:


When I first came to Zermatt in 1975 it was a rather small city with about 2,000 permanent residents. It was, even then, a prime destination for skiers and hikers but it remained the quintessential alpine village, high in the Alps at the base of the Matterhorn. The streets were then full of horse drawn carriages and only a few small electric cars were in use (no regular vehicles are allowed in the city). All the hotels, houses and chalets had flower boxes out and the whole place had a relaxed feel.

I've been back to Zermatt a number of times since 1975, but this time I am very much aware of how much it has changed. The flower boxes are still here (with nothing in them now, of course), but the horse drawn carriages are mostly gone and the remaining horses wear diapers, horse shit in the streets apparently offending the sensitivities of modern mountaineers. The narrow streets are filled with hordes of the even narrower electric cars. There are even new electric buses that whiz the tourists, who used to walk, to the ski lifts and back.

Still, the clip clop of the remaining horses with their harness bells jingling, the crunch of the snow when you walk, the twinkle of the Christmas lights in the City and across the valley as viewed from Bonny and Hermann's deck, and the sound of Hermann practising his Hacktbrett (Swiss mountain dulcimer) in the basement, all make Zermatt a captivating place and I've had a wonderful stay.