A Breathtaking Before and After: Welcome to the 162nd Metamorphosis Monday!

Greetings!  Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

For this Metamorphosis Monday, I have an outdoor "Before and After."  Cornelia, who lives in Switzerland and sometimes shares a lovely tablescape for Tablescape Thursday, recently shared some amazing photos with me.  They are of the mountain cabin she and her husband own in Switzerland.  Cornelia told me during the summer the cabin can be reached by car, but during the winter, the only way you can reach it is by skiing in.  Fortunately, it's located on the slopes so it's easy to reach even in winter.

Cornelia said, "We have a very cold period at the moment – 17.1 Fahrenheit. We went skiing in the Canton of Grison and had a meeting with our architect because we plan to reconstruct our Mountain Cabin. We had to wait for more than half a year to get the building permit. When we got it it was to late to start with the building due to the snow. The cabin is in the middle of the slopes and you can reach it by car only when there is no snow. Otherwise you get there by ski! It is in the middle of the slopes and you get there very easily."

Here's a view of Cornelia's mountain cabin in spring/summer.  I asked Cornelia about the roof...isn't it interesting!  She said it's made of tin and that the roofs are always made of tin or slate to stand up to the heavy snows.  The views...they are nothing short of amazing!

Cornelia said, "We are not allowed to tear it down because the cabin is not in a building zone. We have been given the permission to remold it and to add an annex. We will keep the frontage but inside we will build new rooms and a new ceiling.

The cabin dates back to 1835.  It was used during the summer as a stable in the basement where the farmer kept his cows or goats and had a small kitchen where he made cheese and slept. They used the upper floor to store hay.

We plan to use as much of the antique wood as we can. But there will be a complete new interior including a kitchen in the new annex, two bathrooms, two bedrooms, a family room and two utility rooms in the basement.  As soon as the snow melts we are starting the construction work."

This is the view from the cabin.  Absolutely gorgeous!  Hopefully Cornelia will take lots of pics during the renovation and will share those with us.  :)

Cornelia shared this pic and said, "The cows just came down for the Winter. They stay up in
the alps all summer long."  When I saw this picture below, I instantly thought of the book, Heidi!  Doesn't it remind you of the illustrations in that wonderful book?

Now, ready for the metamorphosis?  Wait until you see how this same area looks right now during wintertime!

Here's Cornelia's cabin in the winter!  Wow!  Now you can see why it's only reachable by skis during the wintertime.

Amazing!  Mother Nature wins the award for the most dramatic metamorphosis, hands down!

A couple of weeks after skiing near their cabin, Cornelia and her family (hubby and two daughters) traveled to Zermatt where they skied in minus 24 degree weather at nearly 4000 meters!   While visiting in Zermatt, they took a helicopter tour around the Matterhorn.  Have you ever visited or seen the Matterhorn?

Wikipedia states, "The Matterhorn is a mountain in the Pennine Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy. Its summit is 4,478 metres (14,690 ft) high, making it one of the highest peaks in the Alps.[2] The four steep faces, rising above the surrounding glaciers, face the four compass points."

Wikipedia also states, "The Matterhorn is one of the deadliest peaks in the Alps: from 1865 – when it was first climbed – to 1995, 500 alpinists died on it."  Folks can't resist climbing it, apparently.  It has been successfully scaled on all sides now.

Cornelia shared the following photos with the descriptions below:

"View from the Gornergrat to the Matterhorn. You see the Matterhorn Railway
in front."

Here's the view as Cornelia and her family approached the Matterhorn in the helicopter.

Wow, how cool is this!  The Matterhorn, up close and personal!

More views from the helicopter...

Cornelia said, "The helicopter dropped us on the Rothorn where we skied down and had lunch with a friend in his cabin."  The photo below shows Cornelia's daughters and their Dad with The Matterhorn in the background.

Cornelia said this is an excellent restaurant on the slopes.  It's named "Chez Vrony" (http://www.chezvrony.ch/start.html).  Cornelia said it was their "favourite place to eat and the cuisine is absolute top."  Imagine dining with this magnificent view!

A few extra photos Cornelia shared:

The view from the Matterhorn Glacier to Gornergrat...

This picture is from Matterhorn ski paradise.  Cornelia said, "You see over to the Italian
Alps. It is about 3365 meters on the glacier."

One last view of the Matterhorn...

Cornelia, thanks sooo much for sharing these wonderful photos and stunning views.  They were absolutely breathtaking!

Looking forward to all the Before and Afters!

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