"Switzerland Spells Fate" - Time Out #150

By a show of hands out there readers of Our Town and far beyond, just how many of you folks believe it fate??

Both my hands are immediately in the air!!!

If there had been any doubts about my official position on that issue before our June trip to small Switzerland and tiny Liechtenstein, they were all erased on Day #6 of our escorted Insight Travels Gold Tour, titled "Majestic Switzerland".

That particular tour day, we happened to be in magical Zermatt, Switzerland, at the base of the mighty Alps, and, as that special word, fate, would have it, it was my 71st birthday. For the past lots of years, I have planned my birthday experience to be in one of Planet Earth's beautiful places, and Zermatt certainly delivered this year.

But, wait, I completely got ahead of myself. I owe it to you to let you know how my bride, Debbie, and I got to Switzerland in the first place, dear audience.

Only just a little peek, however, as I really need to return to that fate thing I mentioned earlier.

Well, since Switzerland/Liechtenstein had not been added to our "been there" list, flying there had been long overdue. So, now, they have been added, and the total countries visited stands @ #95.

We flew to Zurich, and in just 10 days, circled the entire small (8 million) country (with clockwise travel), returning to Zurich, before we flying home. Probably (?), there will be another installment about the rest of this beautiful country in future writings, but for now, I am just concentrating on this fate thing!

Just a little more background info, first, however.

We arrived in quaint Zermatt (pop. 6,000), after riding the famed Glacier Express high-tech Swiss railroad from St. Moritz. We actually rode it half-way on its regular route (got off at Andermatt) after an incredible 4 1/2-hour adventure through an absolute scenic fantasy land. Our first-class seats and huge train windows made the experience effortless; all we had to do was recline in our comfy seats, and take in Mother Nature, Switzerland-style, at her finest.

Once outside Zermatt, our luxury motorcoach was vacated, and we were loaded into small electric vehicles to transport us the remaining few miles through a lovely valley and into the town. You see, no gasoline or diesel vehicles are allowed in Zermatt. Wow! As a result, there is very little fossil fuel air pollution or noise pollution/noise, just electric-power or person-powered transportation on their streets.

We checked in to our historic hotel, Hotel Mont Cervin Palace, and our assigned room was a spacious corner unit on the second floor. It had 2 large balconies, one off the front and the other off the main street side. The front view looked like Switzerland's signature icon, Matterhorn mountain, was literally across the street, only a few blocks away.

The only other time in my life I had been that close to the iconic mountain was in 1957 in Anaheim, California. There, my father, Col. C.H. Breedlove, took me to Disneyland, the new world-class amusement park that had just opened 2 years earlier. He and I rode the exciting Matterhorn Bobsled ride in Fantasyland, and I thought (?) at age 10 that I WAS in Switzerland then!

O.K., enough of that previous chatter leading up to that fate thing.

Our first morning in Zermatt while having a delicious breakfast in our hotel dining room, another couple on our tour sat down to eat with us. We had not formally met them yet, so we made some small talk for a few minutes in between drinking coffee and enjoying toast, etc. Out of the blue (i.e., fate), the new-friend lady asked us if we would like to take a helicopter ride with them over the Matterhorn late this afternoon? Not exactly expecting that question at that moment from an almost stranger, I paused, and said, "give me 5 minutes to think about it". My bride, who eyes were bigger than saucers by then, quickly knew after 37 years of marriage, my brief reply was code for "YES!" Ms. Debbie was, of course, correct like she always is in any situation, and the rest is now history.

During our half hour ride beginning at 4 pm on that first day of summer (6.21), my bride sat shotgun beside pilot, Robbie, who has been flying helicopters with Air Zermatt since 1989. The video Ms. Debbie captured in that virtually unobstructed seat should be submitted for an Academy Award in film. Not only did our veteran pilot take us to the base of the snow and ice-covered Matterhorn, he skillfully maneuvered his machine around and OVER the incredible mountain. More than one time, I (sitting directly behind my bride) thought he was going to land ON the summit of the Matterhorn!

For a sample of what we experienced, I would highly recommend NetFlix's 5-part series, "The Horn". It is a mini-documentary about Air Zermatt in the Swiss Alps. The photography is awesome for sure.

When our helicopter returned to the Air Zermatt hanger and landed, I truly thought I had lived a dream, but when my feet touched the concrete ground pad, reality was quickly re-established in my birthday brain.

Yes, my mind's eye has captured this awesome experience forever. Thank you for allowing me to share it with you.

Thank you, also, fate; you are truly alive and well in my life........