Saturday morning it was threatening to rain.
We'd had excellent weather, we got lucky, now we were leaving...
hopefully without getting poured on.
Ray:
We had to crash before 9 last night.
Slept till morning.
Dusty in room packing and I'm doing free sit-down breakfast.
I am sore all over after last two days' work!
Heading to Saas Fee today and hoping for more good weather in coming
days.
Our hotel
Our balcony was third floor right side, with the letters "ANIA" :)
The bar on the rooftop below us seemed family friendly and crowded each
evening, but we never went.
It appearred to have pizza and not much else.
09:24 Switzerland time 01:24 California time
10:13 Switzerland time 02:13 California time
By the time we left for the train station it started to rain.
I re-organized to get my umbrella and raingear out...
10:28 Switzerland time 02:28 California time
Showing Ray how to use the SBB app to buy tickets...
12:03 Switzerland time 04:03 California time
Midday trains from Zermatt tend to be packed full.
We were the only ones standing in this compartment of the train when we
boarded maybe 10 minutes before departure.
People trickled in quickly.
It was standing room only all the way down the mountain.
12:12 Switzerland time 04:12 California time
Stalden-Saas
We needed to get off at Stalden-Saas to get on the bus to Saas Fee.
However the train had other ideas.
It got stuck 50 meters from the Stalden-Saas station and would not move.
I believe the mechanism that releases the cog refused to work.
We waited... and waited... and waited.
Someone from the station walked over to try to fix it.
Everything rebooted a few times.
Still not moving.
Thirty minutes went by, it got warm and stuffy, everyone opened
windows,
people needed the bathroom and I was standing in the path.
This train was blocking the one and only track up to Zermatt, this
delay would cascade all day long..
Finally the train moved the 50 meters into the station and we were
allowed to get off.
Lots of folks ran to the restrooms.... then they announced the train
would be leaving again.
We found out bus stop, then our bus, then got to Saas Fee.
13:32 Switzerland time 05:32 California time
This was about the first thing I noticed in Saas Fee
Benefit for Blatten in Raron tonight
Blatten was the town inundated under the glacier on May 28 2025
17:37 Switzerland time 09:37 California time
We needed to checkin at the Hotel Larix, which is maybe a 5 minute walk
past our Hotel Burgerner.
Hotel Larix is also about the last building before the ski area
starts....
When we checked in we asked how long the Grill Party would last.
She said there hadn't been many people, it may shut down early...
I said we'd be back in 10 minutes, don't shut down yet :)
I was very pleased to find a budget option for a hot meal.
While our rooms Hotel Burgener were a relative bargain compared to
Zermatt, there aren't any cheap places to eat in Saas Fee.
We took our stuff back to our rooms, then came back for late lunch at
the Larix Grill Party...
13:40 Switzerland time 05:40 California time
15:13 Switzerland time 07:13 California time
Ray's room 1.
15:13 Switzerland time 07:13 California time
My room 5.
I think we were the only people on our floor, and we seldom saw anyone
else in the hotel other than the restaurant staff.
The bottom floor of the hotel was old and empty, however the attached
restaurant was busy every night.
13:48 Switzerland time 05:48 California time
My room at Hotel Burgerner - free upgrade to a double
Ray and I both got upgraded to better rooms since we were staying
multiple nights and the place was nearly empty.
14:22 Switzerland time 06:22 California time
After our meal arrived and Ray and I were talking pics of each other,
an American ex pat introduced himself and offered to take our picture.
He said he was a veteran and married a local 10 years ago.
He asked how we'd heard about Saas Fee - very few Americans know about
it, he may have been the first American I've seen here other than Kent
and Ray and I've been here five times.
I told him I'd been coming here for years, and that I'd been here for
the cow fights in 2023 - he seemed impressed.
14:54 Switzerland time 06:54 California time
15:01 Switzerland time 07:01 California time
Ray's balcony was huge and wrapped around the building.
15:41 Switzerland time 07:41 California time
15:46 Switzerland time 07:46 California time
17:12 Switzerland time 09:12 California time
19:37 Switzerland time 11:37 California time
Saas Fee Guides...
17:46 Switzerland time 09:46 California time
13:38 Switzerland time 05:38 California time
18:34 Switzerland time 10:34 California time
We didn't have a reservation, so we had to eat outside.
It was not warm but it was bearable with enough clothing :)
