Today we are travelling to Andermatt which is roughly halfway between St Moritz and Zermatt on the Glacier Express route. Fi comes down just after 9 and has decided to ski in St Moritz today. She walks across to the platform with us. The train is late today which is unusual. We have decided to catch the Glacier Express instead of the regional train from Filisur to Andermatt today. It will save us having to change trains twice. They are easy changes and the ticket is more expensive but today because it is cold we decide to be lazy and not change at all! It is very cloudy most of the way. As the train climbs up to Oberalp, 2044m above sea level, it starts to snow and by Oberalppass it is almost a total whiteout! There is heavy snow on the ground, the sky is white, everything is white. It's really hard on the eyes to look at. Occasionally we see a house or the odd rock poking through the snow. It's like a pure white sheet had been thrown over the train. Slowly we descend to Andermatt, 1100m high. It is snowing lightly as we walk towards our hotel. The river runs through the centre of town and we walk across the bridge to our hotel. After a cup of tea we head off to explore the town. I love the real Christmas trees for sale outside the Coop Supermarket. They are even sold with a covering of fresh snow! Inside are pot plants which have fair isle knitted covers and the poinsettia is sprinkled with glitter! Andermatt has an interesting tradition to celebrate Advent. On each day, a different store or business decorates their main window in a special way. Today it is the Childcare Centre's turn. The snow is falling more heavily now so we head back to our hotel and have a delicious dinner at the restaurant across the road.

We stayed at The River House Boutique Hotel. Room 1. We had received an email from the hotel to say their reception was shut on Tuesday afternoon but they would leave our key and information in their letterbox outside the front door. We let ourselves in and in reception was a vey quaint lounge area with comfy chairs and a couch, a large cabinet with books and magazines and a table with tea, coffee, a large container of cakes and a bowl of fruit. In our room is a tray with two bottles of orange juice, two mandarins and two biscuits. It is very rustic with a low timber ceiling, and timber beams around the door. The feeling is very much one of the room being built into the old stone wall. It's quite spacious though and our view is over the river. With the window open, the noise is deafening. With the window closed, it is completely silent. The bathroom had a large shower with really good pressure and enough hanging space. The bedroom didn't have a separate wardrobe, just one double hook with 6 coat hangers. The hotel has no lift, just stairs and free wifi. The rooms are not airconditioned but well heated in winter. There is no television in any of the rooms. Breakfast was very nice continental. Plenty of meats, cheeses, salad, fresh fruit salad, muesli, cakes, bread and bread rolls.Eggs could be ordered, boiled or scrambled, and were delicious. There was also a toaster. Good coffee. We were helped back to the station by Natasha who wheeled one of our little cases in the snow.