Feeling Malificent at Gornergrat, Switzerland

Saya berdiri memandang pegunungan es yang terbentang luas. Beberapa burung hitam tampak bertengger di bebatuan yang memagari area dengan tebing.

"I feel like Malificent here, ready to cast some dark spell," saya bergumam sendiri di dalam pikiran saya. Apa yang saya lihat sangat mempesona, beyond reality dan saya merasa seperti ada dalam scene film dengan set yang dahsyat. Well, itulah kata yang cocok untuk menggambarkan Gornergrat, area yang merupakan salah satu highlight kunjungan saya ke Switzerland.

Lokasi ini merupakan area dengan pemandangan paling spektakuler yang dapat dengan mudah dijangkau dari Kota Zermatt di Switzerland. Anda hanya perlu naik kereta dari Station Gornergrat, duduk manis sambil terus menerus melihat pemandangan indah ala Swiss dan sampai di ketinggian 3.089 meter di atas permukaan laut dalam waktu yang singkat. Easy breezy!

white fog covering the view when we arrived

Suddenly remember Beethoven!

Saat saya melangkah keluar dari kereta di Gornergrat, saya hanya melihat putih dimana-mana. Cuaca berkabut sehingga gunung es tidak terlihat sama sekali, hanya selimut kabut putih dan cuaca dingin yang menemani. Namun perhatian saya langsung tertuju pada makhluk berbulu lebat dengan wine barrel di lehernya. Saint Bernard! Jenis anjing yang terkenal karena film Beethoven ini ada di depan kami, sedang berdiri di depan pria yang rupanya fotografer.

Briskett is the star, she's the one having all the attention :)

Slowly the sky is clear and we can see the mountains!

Saya dan Andhini teman saya yang notabene pecinta anjing langsung mendatangi Saint Bernard lucu ini, puas bermain-main kami juga berfoto dengan Saint Bernard bernama Briskett ini. Kami dihibur Briskett yang dengan manja selalu minta dipegang tangannya hingga kabut putih perlahan bergeser dan kami langsung dapat melihat pemandangan spektakuler, rangkaian pegunungan es di sekeliling kami!

The sky, the rocks and the snowy mountain :)

Kami segera naik ke atas mengikuti platform jalanan yang menanjak, melewati bangunan Observatorium yang menurut teman saya mirip dengan kastil pelatihan Batman, ah ini memang tempat yang membuat semua orang berimajinasi dengan referensi scene film-film Hollywood :))

Choose your spot!

View from Aussichtsplatform

Tempat terbaik untuk menikmati rangkaian pegunungan es ini adalah di area viewing platform di ketinggian 3.131 meter di atas permukaan laut, dengan 270° area ini dikelilingi pegunungan dan batuan yang diselimuti salju, area putih yang menakjubkan!

Snow path

Glacier lake

snow everywhere

Simply stunning :)

And it was a warm sunny day! :)

Aussichtsplatlform ini membuat saya tidak dapat berhenti mengambil gambar, kemanapun kamera bergeser sepertinya adalah frame yang tepat dan foto ala kartu pos langsung saya dapatkan. Namun tentu saya sediakan momen untuk duduk diam melihat rangkaian pegunungan salju ini, menikmati dengan mata langsung tanpa melihat layar LCD di kamera, such a breath taking view that deserves moments of admiring, with no camera in framing your view, just eyes, just eyes :)

@marischkaprue - loves the white snowy mountain but she loves to be tan also

NOTES:

• Gornergrat dapat diakses dengan kereta melalui Station Gornergrat di Zermatt, Switzerland.
• Untuk berfoto dengan Saint Bernard di Gornergrat anda harus membayar 10 Franc yang dapat dibayarkan di dekat Stasiun Gornergrat untuk mengambil foto yang sudah dicetak.

RELATED STORIES:

• Matterhorn, The Chocolate Mountain! 
• Breakaway To Switzerland, FREE! 

You can win a free trip to Switzerland, free with one of your friend. See here for details. Competition opens until 14 December 2014!

I Join this Switzerland trip with Qatar Airways, from Jakarta to Zurich then simply traveling by train to other cities, including Zermatt. Anyway, they have a very nice business class with the best lounge in Hamad International Airport, Doha :)

Best way to enjoy long flight!

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Matterhorn, The Toblerone Mountain

I'm sure you all know the famous triangular shape chocolate, the Switzerland chocolate, Toblerone. Well, that shape doesn't come from nothing; it's actually represented the mountain that you can see also on the logo, the Matterhorn.

I was lucky enough to be able to visit the beautiful town where I can see one of the most photographed mountains in the world from almost every side of the town. Zermatt in Switzerland is a gateway to Matterhorn, even though this mountain is "shared" between Switzerland and Italy (it called Monte Cervino in Italy).

When the sky is clear, you can see Matterhorn from many different spots in Zermatt

Matterhorn will capture your eyes instantly. Well, lets hope that the sky is clear so you can see this beautiful huge mountain at the height of 4.478 meters above the sea level.

This is a very nice option to get on top: gondola!

Long time ago only a few can see this mountain from a near spot to get the great view of Matterhorn and the glacier around it. But thanks to tourism industry, Zermatt is a city where tourist flocks and surely Switzerland gave a better and nice option for people who want to see Matterhorn from a proper distance.

Last stop before taking the bigger gondola to get to the glacier paradise

The stunning view during the gondola ride

Ski area

The viewing point at 3.883 meters above the sea level

I only have to take a gondola ride to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, and climb only a few stairs to get to the viewing platform at 3.883 meters above sea level. Nice and easy, but the view is beyond nice, it's surely sweeter than Toblerone. I can't even compare the pleasure of having a sweet chocolate with seeing this. Matterhorn is just awesome.

@marischkaprue - few years back when she climbed a mountain, she brought a lot of chocolates.

NOTES:

• Thanks to Qatar Airways for the nice experience. I took a Qatar Airways flight from Jakarta to Zurich (via Doha). 
• From Zurich you only have to take a train to get to Zermatt. Easy breezy :)

Visit Switzerland with these super awesome people, thanks for the fun days! :)

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