RAIN! Not just dripping, but pouring rain. We couldn't even see the Matterhorn from our ideally located room. It was as if there were no mountain there at all. The early breakfast planned for our photo shoot of the Matterhorn became a leisurely one with a discussion of "what shall we do now?" I walked to "downtown" Zermatt, and spent the last of my Swiss francs, since I could not use them at home. I returned to the chalet, still in the rain and grateful for having brought my raincoat and waterproof pants. I began packing for tomorrow's departure.

Joe VanOs had arranged for lunch at the chalet for us - a bowl of soup and a sandwich. It was sufficient.

After lunch, Mike Hill from England brought out his laptop computer and began looking at his pictures. I mentioned how I wished I could see whether I got anything at all, and he invited me to bring down my CD's and play them on his computer. I was delighted to be assured that they came out, and best of all, that some of them were really good! I especially liked the images of the Chamonix Needles with snow drifts along the ridge, as well as the Needles the first day with their dusting of fresh snow against the blue sky. Joe came along and looked at some of my pictures and selected one in particular as especially nice. Of course, I was pleased.

The rest of the afternoon was spent completing my packing for tomorrow's departure. I was now able to use the red nylon suitcase given by Pionair Airlines, on our New Zealand trip last year. That made everything so much easier! It was even easier to roll the 2 suitcases together than just one jammed full.

Our bus took us to a restaurant in the central portion of Zermatt. It had been hoped that a change of venue might be attractive. It certainly was a change, all right, but no one liked the loud music, which I thought was poorly done besides. There seemed to be a lot of problems getting our food too; instead of chicken as one of the two choices, they said they were out of chicken and had only enough for 5 dinners not enough for 21 people. There was another problem with dessert also, with the result that they simply gave us all ice cream. Next year's trip will not be eating there.

Not even Walter could get our big bus into the small streets of that part of town, so we walked back to where he had parked. Walter was an excellent driver too.