Fresh off the plane and headed to Jill's home. And I HAD to stop and take a picture of the cows, just roaming freely on the side of the road. What's not to love!?
Just being silly with William. Who better to be silly with?!! :)
Taking a GORGEOUS bike ride around the lake in Zug, by Jill's home. It was unbelievable. I loved it.
Me, Maddie and William, just playing around after the bike ride. I love those kids!!!
The outside of Jill's house. I loved the cows in the back round.
Waiting for Maddie to finish at Young Women's.
It has been several months since I took one of the funnest trips of my life. And I have been meaning to post about it so I could always remember it. But time seems to slip away from me every single day!The end of September-the first week of October, my mom and I flew to Zurich Switzerland to visit my sister and her family. It was a very last minute trip, and so much fun. My sister and her family moved to Switzerland last August and we were dying to go visit!!!
We spent 2 weeks in Europe, visiting Switzerland, Italy and France. It was AWESOME!!! I hadn't even been to Switzerland and I COULD NOT believe how gorgeous it was. It was like straight out of a dream. Honestly. Words really can't describe what I thought of Switzerland. Majestic. Even just right where Jill lived. There were these lush BRIGHT green hills, covered. And little villages all spread though out the hill sides. It was incredible.
My sister Jill took us to most of her favorite places that she has discovered since living there and we did some great shopping. The food in Switzerland is #1. Sick. #2. EXPENSIVE!!! So we ate some delicious food prepared by Jill. . . the famous chef. The cheese selection was unreal, so I had the best grilled cheese sandwich ever. In fact, I think about that sandwich regularly when walking through the specialty cheese section at Harmon's. But the food in Italy was great and so was France.
The wooden bridge on Lake Lucerne and finally finding a nice couple. . . from Argentina to take our picture. Leave it to the South Americans to be helpful and nice. The bridge was built in the 14th century.
Grande Emperial Hotel. . . where we stayed in Moltrassio, Italy
So, after a few days in Switzerland, visiting Lake Lucerne (AMAZING! GORGEOUS! WONDERFUL!), Zug, and a few other incredible places, we drove about 3 hours south, to the north of Italy. We stayed in an amazing hotel on Lake Como. And by amazing I mean AHH.MAZE.ING. We had the presidential sweet and the view was spectacular. We even enjoy a pretty impressive fire work show across the lake from our gigantic balcony.
The drive to Italy was breath taking. And scary. We wound through the Swiss Alps, along the side of MAJOR drop offs. I truthfully was very uneasy for parts of the drive. At times I didn't dare take my eyes off the road, and I wasn't driving. The drop offs were HUGE. And the roads there had no sides. Just straight into the lakes. Deadly lakes. :) The mountains were incredible. To say the least. But it was intense for me. I have a small fear of heights and steep drops into large bodies of water. I have the chills as I write this.
Lake Como was equally impressive. The Italians are just so kind and warm. And the Swiss were not that way. The were the polar opposite. I have some stories to tell about asking THREE different people to take our picture and ALL THREE telling me no to my face. Just because. Rude.
Random homes along the lake. Absolutely gorgeous. George Clooney has a home on Lake Como. :)
Once you get to Lake Como, you have to ride a boat to get to the main city part, or to visit any of the other villages. I can't remember the name of the village we stayed in, but it was fantastic. NOT a tourist area. It was the real deal. No English, all cobblestone streets, and little old Italians in the streets. The homes were so neat. It was just what I pictured. But better. There was a waterfall in the center of the village, running thought a small section of homes. Yeah, we took some pics.
We visited most all the of the most famous villages, including the original Bellagio. It was so pretty. I loved every second of Italy. Of the whole trip!!! :) We also pretty much walked the ENTIRE city of Como, looking for a market that was supposedly happening while we were there. No one knew what we were talking about, but then someone said they knew. They guided us there, to find the biggest market of crap I have ever seen. My mom was dying. We all were. It was NOT what we were expecting. Thankfully we had another market to go to the next day that was sure to beat that one.
We stayed in Como for a couple of days, then headed to another village in Italy to go to the "market" and it was so fun. The hotel there was also WONDERFUL. (Sorry about having to capitalize so much. But I have to make my point). It was a very small hotel, with only 4 rooms. All overlooking the lake. I loved it.
GELATO!!!!
On the way home from Italy, we stopped at a McDonald's to get a diet coke. We ordered our 2 large diet cokes and 1 large fry. As we were pulling through the drive through to pay Jill said, "Get a load of this." The employee sticks his head out the window and tells us our total. He said, "That will be 19 francs." UHHH, excuse me? That was like $35 AMERICAN DOLLARS!!!! I seriously asked him, "Where is the value menu? Hello?" And he just stared. We also told them at least 9 times to have lots of ice.
So they hand us our drink and there is literally ONE cube of ice, practically melted already. We handed the drinks back and told him yet again, MORE ice. Like fill it to the top. He said, along with another employee that come to the window, "But you will ruin your drink." We said, "Yes, we know. Ruin it." And so they gave each of us about 5 more cubes of ice. What is with the ice thing in Europe?!! For reals. Room temperature pop? Nasty. But it was like that everywhere we went. And Jill is just so used to it that she is like, "Yeah yeah, ruin my drink. Give me the ice." It was one of my hardest laughs on that trip as we drive away with our pathetic diet cokes. But any diet coke was better than no diet coke. My mom ordered water of course. :)
The market was crazy. Hundreds and hundreds of people. And everyone trying to get a deal. :) Include your truly. I ended up with a couple new bags. . . shocking, and some gifts for the kids and a new skirt and a scarf. :) It's Italy after all!!!
Then we drove back to Switzerland and recuperated for a day. Then headed to France for a day. Jill lives very close to the boarders of France, Italy and Germany. Hello. . . Lucky!!! We went to a place in France called "Le Petite Venice" and the name says it all. It was such a great place to visit. Just like a little Venice. Canals ran through the street and there were some EXTREMELY old buildings there. It was so fun to go see. Plus, I ended up with yet another DARLING bag. :) Some one help me. There was a store there that I loved. Its like a French Target. Yeah, what's not to love. I bought tons of clothes for the kids there. How cute?!!!! Little French clothes!!!! I often think about going back to that store. :)
Yes. . .french crepes!!!
We headed back to the US a couple of days later and oh how I long to go back. It was an incredible, memorable, perfect trip. And I was so happy I got to spend those days with my mom and sister. And my darling niece and nephew!! I can't thank Jill enough for hosting us and taking us to some of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I can't wait for her to come home!!!!!And last but not least, thanks to my amazing husband for letting my book a trip to Europe so last minute and without him!!! Next time it will be with Jason!!!!!
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