Amiamo I'Italia!

We just returned from a holiday in Stresa, Italy.  Stresa is located along Lake Maggiore in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy.  I visited Stresa about a month ago with my girlfriends and decided it was a place that the whole family may enjoy.  Adalyn had another four-day weekend, so we thought this would be the perfect time to explore Stresa as a family.

**One interesting side-note, Adalyn has had two public holidays the month of May, Ascension Day and Whit Monday, both are religious holidays.  The whole country shuts down for public holidays. Chris tried to mow the lawn on Whit Monday, and our neighbor came over and said it was a "quiet day" and he was not allowed to mow the lawn!  **

Back to Stresa...
We left on Saturday morning and arrived at noon just in time for a picnic along the lake.  The weather was perfect and the kids were so excited to play on the beach, even though it was a a bit rocky!  In the afternoon, we visited Parco Della Villa Pallavicino.  Upon entering the park, we were amazed by the beauty within.  You are transformed into a forest environment with botanical gardens and a wide variety of animals to visit.  The girls were super excited to see the zebras and kangaroos.  We spent a couple hours walking around the parc seeing the different animals, birds, and playing at the playground.

Reunited with their favorite place...the beach!

  

Beautiful botanic garden. 

On Sunday, the weather was beautiful.  When I visited with my friends, we never saw the sun, so it was definitely a highlight seeing the sun!  Lake Maggiore is known for the Borromean Islands, a group of three small islands, Madre, Pescatori, and Bella. We took a boat and visited the three islands and enjoyed seeing their unique charm.

Love Palm trees!!!  

Boat ride- 

Isola Bella 

Once back in Stresa, the weather was heating up, so we headed to a beach a local had told us about to find sand for the girls to make sand castles.  After walking through the town looking a bit odd, girls in their flip flops and swimsuit cover ups, while the locals walked around in parkas, we finally found the beach!  The girls loved being lake side, but were diappointed that the water was very cold and they could not swim.

Relaxin'

Spaghetti every meal, every day! 

Her happy place! 

For dinner, we were told of a restaurant up in the mountains with an amazing view, so we knew we wanted to check it out.  We were able to eat authentic Italian food while overlooking Lake Maggiore from above, it was a perfect ending to our trip.

Amazing view- 

Best dinner date- 

Eliza bought this souvenir camera.  It doesn't take real pictures, but she sure thinks it does!!  

She was busy taking pictures of everything on the trip.  

On our way back, we took a different route, The Simplon Pass.  This route links Switzerland and Italy, used as early as the Stone Age.  You basically go up the mountain to an altitude of 2,000 meters, and back down the mountain.  The views were breathtaking.

Starting the ascent- 

At the top, amazing to see the difference!

We are now looking forward to Chris' aunt and cousin who arrive next week for a visit!

Highlights from the last month...

We took a day trip to Bern, Switzerland, the capital.

Barengraben- "Bear Park"

Located right outside of Bern Old Town

Bern Old Town 

We stopped in Montreux for dinner and a visit to the flower gardens.   

Mother's Day on Lake Annecy-

Blessed to be the mommy to these two. 

They had these super cute horse tricycles that Eliza loved.  

Holiday in Florence

After our guests left and the girls were still on school break, we decided to plan a trip to Florence.  Thankfully, our friends, the Stringers, also wanted to go to Florence, so we were able to experience it together.  Italy is definitely one of our favorite places to travel mainly because of the natural beauty, the food, wine, and their love of children.

We left on Wednesday and drove part of the way.  It is about a six and a half hour drive from Geneva to Florence, so we thought breaking it up might be a good idea.  We stayed in a beautiful little town, Hone, Italy.

On Thursday, we arrived in Florence and stayed in an apartment right in the heart of the city.  The girls were very eager to meet up with their friends, Mary Elizabeth, Rose, and Cecilia.  We walked around the city, with our first stop being a gelato shop.

Happy girl!

Standing on the bridge over the Arno River- 

The most well known site in Florence is the Florence Cathedral, which is also called, The Duomo.  They began building the cathedral in 1296 and it was completed in 1436.  It is still the largest dome in the world made of brick and mortar.  It was HUGE.  We were lucky enough to stay in an apartment that was basically 20 feet from the cathedral, so we were able to admire its beauty in both the daytime and nighttime.

In front of The Duomo

View from our room- 

On Friday, we spent the day once again walking around Florence.  It is a large city with many different piazzas and monuments.  There are also tons of markets selling a lot of leather goods!

The girls with their new leather animal wristlets- 

The girls in front of the replica of Michelangelo's David- 

The original was moved to the Galleria dell'Accademia, which had a long line, 

so we settled for the replica!

Friday afternoon, we were very excited to do a cooking class with the kids.  It was a pizza and gelato class, which seemed perfect for our crew!  We had a wonderful time making pizza from scratch and learning about how gelato is made.  Once we were done with the cooking part, we were able to enjoy our food!  It was a memorable night- the girls had a great time!

Very intense pizza dough making going on...

Junior Chefs 

Saturday, we decided to leave the city and explore the villages around Florence.  We first went to Chianti and discovered a very old village on the hill with beautiful views, but not much more.  From there, we took a scenic drive through the countryside and drove to San Gimignano, which is an Italian medieval town in Tuscany.  We loved this town.  It is an enclosed town with stone walls, filled with restaurants, shops selling goods unique to the region, and amazing architecture.  One other reason we wanted to visit San Gigignano was because of an award-winning gelato parlour, Gelateria Dodoli.  I never thought I could tell the difference, but this gelato was amazing!

   
San Gimignano is also known for its skyline.  It sits on a hill and has about a dozen tower houses.  The girls and the dads were lucky to get to visit the Salvucci Tower.  The tower was originally built as a defense between the eleventh and twelfth century to guard against the enemy.  Since then, they have created living floors inside the tower to allow visitors to tour the tower with the opportunity to actually stay over in the tower.  The girls were convinced they were in Rapunzel's castle.

Salvucci Tower

Streets of San Gimignano

That evening, we went back to Florence and enjoyed an authentic Italian meal at La Fettunta. We all enjoyed the homemade pasta and local wine.

Our friend, Chris, ordered the Florence steak-which is the most famous main course in Tuscany.

In order for it to be a true Florence steak, the meat must come from a Chianina cow, a breed of cattle raised in Tuscany.  The steak must weigh over a kilo (2.2 lbs.) and the meat is only cooked rare- 

On Sunday, we had to drive back, so we left early and said good-bye to Florence.

A Special Spring Break

We just spent an incredible spring break with Chris's brother's family, filled with many adventures and lifelong memories.  The girls were beyond excited to see their cousins and spend ten straight days together.

On Friday, it was a beautiful day, so we knew we had to visit Chamonix.  We arrived in Chamonix just in time for lunch and the kids had a great time singing and dancing to the music.  After lunch, we took a cable car up opposite of Mont Blanc and enjoyed the breathtaking views.

Brady and Eliza walking the streets of Chamonix-

"Look how high we are going!"

No coat required! 

"We are on top of the WORLD!"

Tough afternoon- 

Picture Perfect Day

Birthday celebration for Brady and Eliza- 

On Saturday, we woke up bright and early and headed for our mountain adventure to Grindelwald, Switzerland.  Grindelwald is located in the Jungfrau Region, part of the Berenese Alps.  We had been there in the fall, and quickly added it to our list of places to take visitors.  Unfortunately, it is about 3 hours away, so it's not a day trip, but it is a nice getaway to experience a unique Swiss mountain village. Our apartment shadowed under the famous Eiger Mountain, home to the steepest North Face of any mountain in the Swiss Alps. The Eiger towers over Grindelwald, forcing travelers to have to look straight up to capture its steep intimidating peak.

Where we stayed-

View from our balcony-

We arrived around noon, and after eating a quick lunch, we quickly boarded a cable car and headed up to the Bort Station, which is located at an altitude of 5,131ft.  Up there, the kids enjoyed playing on the playground, while the adults enjoyed some drinks while soaking up the sun and fresh mountain air.

Me and my buddy Brady!

SO MUCH FUN!

Cheers!

"Peek - a - Boo!"

On Sunday morning, we woke up to clear blue skies and sunshine.  When you read about Grindelwald, you read a lot about their famous 'sledging' runs.  We really wanted to experience them, so we found a family friendly trail and headed up the mountain by train.  We started the sledding run at an altitude of 5,303ft.   Chris and Chad were the first to test out the trail with the older girls.  The run is 3km and you descend about 1,000ft down a winding trail.  After hearing their feedback of how awesome it was, we knew we all had to try it out.  So, for the next couple hours we hung out on the mountain sledging.    

Brady on his first train ride- he was very excited!

Sophia and Chad-

There they go!

Frozen stop along the trail-

Sledging with true toboggans- 

we all agreed we are bringing a few of these 

back to the states when we move back!  

In the afternoon we made the twenty minute journey into the Lauterbrunnen Valley. This 15km stretch of 72 waterfalls rushing down from 3000ft cliffs on both sides has been inspiring travelers for centuries, including JR Tolkien who based his famous Rivendell in Lord of the Rings from his own travels in Lauterbrunnen. The weather cooperated for us again, allowing us to hike through horse and cow pastures situated intimately in the valley of waterfalls.  

Afternoon hike through the valley-

On Monday, we decided to break up the drive home and we stopped for lunch in the city of Thun.  We walked around the old town area and then headed back to Geneva.  It was definitely an unforgettable weekend in the mountains.  

Tuesday, we were really looking forward to going to Annecy to experience their European market.  We were able to walk around the old town and along the lake. It was a bit chilly and everyone was still recovering from the weekend, so we didn't stay too long.

Annecy

Best Friends

Wednesday, Brady and Chad were feeling a bit under the weather, poor Brady battled a cough for most of the trip, so they stayed at the house and played with Eliza.  Sonja and I took the older girls to old town Geneva and the shopping district along the lake.  It was a fun afternoon out shopping and exploring!

The girls sitting on the longest bench in Europe-

Built in 1767 - 120 meters long 

We walked up the tower in St. Pierre Cathedral- amazing view!

On Thursday, it was another beautiful day so we headed to Yvoire, France in the morning.  Yvoire is a medieval city that is made up of stone buildings and cobblestone streets.  We went in a few shops and then drove to Lake Geneva.

Yvoire

Lake Geneva

Ice cream treats by the lake-

Friday, the last day of their trip, they experienced the cheese, chocolate, and wine tour!  Eliza was battling a cough, so I stayed home with her while the others enjoyed their final adventure.  They had a busy day visiting the village of Gruyere and the castle, eating lunch at the cheese factory, enjoying dessert at the chocolate factory, and ending the day at the wine museum learning about the wine produced in the Lavaux wine region of Switzerland.

Sir Brady the Knight 

Sonja said they could do a silly picture- this is the result!

Sampling the chocolate-

Visiting the vineyards-

It's definitely tough being away from family, but being able to share so many special places together while living in Switzerland has been a huge blessing for us.  We have been able to create so many special memories with all of our visitors.      

A few other highlights from the week:

Sophia lost her TWO front teeth while she was here!  Adalyn has not lost any teeth yet, so this was an especially exciting time for her to be part of the "Tooth Fairy" experience.  

Dying Easter eggs-

Love❤️