Spring Break-Italy & More

We were lucky to have George's mom, Elene, join us for the kids Spring Break and we had a blast!   Check it out!

First stop was the Hergiswil Glass Factory!  We learned the history of glass, watched them blow glass, went through a glass labrinth, rolled marbles down the glass run, went down the                                slide, & shopped in their store. Great!

          

We rode a train and then took a small hike up to Uetliberg.  It was a beautiful day and you could see the mountains and all the Zurich area--beautiful!    And of course we ate ice cream cones:)!                    

You can't visit us without a trip to Zurich.  We rode the train in to the Hauptbahnhof, took a scenic       walk through the city, lunch at Zeughauskeller, saw the Fraumunster and the Grossmunster, ate Moven-                                                                                  pick ice cream, rode the ferris wheel, & then headed home on the ferry!  Fabulous day!

                                  

 You can't tour the Lindt Chocolate Factory, but you can walk the grounds and buy lots of chocolate and take lots of pictures!

  

Florence!  First stop was the amazing Basilica of St. Mary and the Piazza San Giovanni.  The green           marble and detail was amazing.

                            

The kids loved seeing the "David" by Michelangelo in the Accademia.  This is a replica, but still breath-taking.  The kids loved knowing the story behind the statue.

 

A quick photo at the end of a very busy day in the middle of the Ponte Vecchio bridge.  The only bridge that lasted through the World Wars.              

 The 5 of us climbed the St. Mary Basilica bell tower.  You could see all of Florence from there! 

And it is beautiful with all the roof tops!                                   

We spent an afternoon & a very long evening in Pisa (We got a flat tire on the way home & had to wait for help with the spare & then drive home slowly).  But it was worth it!  The Leaning Tower was wonderful to see and yes I took a picture with everyone acting like they are holding it up:).  George, Elene, Sammy, & Alex climbed it, while I stayed down with the little ones.  The baptistry had some amazing acoustics.  The kids loved running all over the big grassy fields.  A great side excursion.

                           

Venice!   After finally getting a new tire put on the car we headed to Venice.  We checked in our hotel and then spent the late afternoon and evening wandering through the streets.  It was amazing!  We found this wonderful restaurant and had our best food in Italy!  I think this was my favorite night of our trip.  The next day we headed to Murano (the Glass making island).  It was Easter and very crowded so it took us while.  It was fun to watch them create things.  They even showed us how they can make a horse out of glass.  Then the rain started.  So we wandered through a church, took a quick picture, & headed back to Venice.

  

We waited in a short line to walk through St. Marks Basilica...absolutely amazing!  The time  it must have taken with all those small tiles...the ceiling looks like it is completely covered in gold and shines from the lights.  We visited the treasury  and saw items dating back to before Christ.  And the Piazza was neat to see and eat by.                        

                   

You can't visit Venice without a quick photo on the Ponte di Rialto (bridge).  You can barely tell we are on it...it was crowded.  But we are!  The only thing we didn't do was a gondola ride...maybe next time.

On the way home we stopped in a little town called Verona.  It was great!  We visited the colosseum.   The kids posed with a roman soldier for a quick photo op.  The inside was huge.  It is incredible to think that something that grand could be built long ago without the tools and equipment we have today.  The walls were thick and arches large.  It was a great thing to see.  There were two more levels back in the day, so one can imagine how huge this things was.  They use it now for Operas during the summer months.  I am hoping to go back:)

                            

They say that this is where Romeo and Juliet come from.  So we visited Juliet's home and kissed in front of the balcony.  For luck with love you are to rub the right breast of the Juliet statue.  Alex & Sam thought they'd try it.  We got to see the Roman ruins 6 feet under this city.  And of course there was food and piazzas and fun!

  

Now with Italy we can't forget the one thing we did the most of...eating gelato!  Nothing like a cone of gelato to make a family of 7 happy again, so we had it twice a day:)! 

 After recuperating for a few days from our trip to Italy we visit Lenzburg Castle.  The kid had a great time showing grandma around and playing in the kids area.  A nice rainy day activity.

Elene loves waterfalls, so we headed to Rhine Falls near the Switzerland/Germany border.  We hiked down the carefully placed path stopping at each look out.  At some points you could feel the spray from the water.  At the bottom we took a short boat ride across the river and ate some lunch.

 

There was a lovely park where the kids played while the adults could enjoy the beautiful view.

 

Lastly, we headed to Stein Am Rhine a quaint little town minutes from Germany.  We ate pastries and strolled along the main square window shopping.  A very relaxing afternoon!

We are so lucky to have grandma Gourley come visit and hope she enjoyed our Spring Break adventure!