MIDWINTER'S DREAM

The bucolic charm of Zermatt and the cosmopolitan flair of Montreux are two sides of the Swiss coin. On a winter holiday in the country, Adila Matra uncovers these contrasting worlds.

- Adila Matra

IT IS A SILENT NIGHT, 10 DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS. The streets of Zermatt are dressed up in twinkling lights, Christmas trees, Santas of varying sizes and shapes. Plow machines pass by occasionally, clearing snow and sludge off the roads, leaving it glossy enough to reflect all the lights. I pull down my beanie, tuck my hands inside the pocket of my parka and continue walking towards my hotel.

The tingle of what sounds like a xylophone forces me to take a detour. Above the door of one of the closed shops is a band of little people carved out of wood. There's a drummer and a xylophonist lit by a single bulb, and as I approach, they play a little song that makes me smile.

Christmastime in Zermatt is truly magical. The town becomes a meeting point for ski enthusiasts during the day; in the evenings, there are small pubs playing festive music while its patrons huddle around with wine and beer in hand. By 8:30 pm, the town goes silent barring the din of a few restaurants that run late into the night.

I landed in this ski town earlier in the day; the sun, however, was nowhere to be seen. Like a rookie, I had come unprepared for the snowy slopes of Zermatt. So, the first order of business was to hire a pair of sturdy boots for my excursion to Gornergrat, one of the many mountains around Zermatt that offers sledding, skiing, and winter hiking opportunities. One common aspect among all these mountain excursions, I would learn later, is the Matterhorn, the 4,000-metre peak in the Alps.