Switzerland - Part 1

I have to do Switzerland in 2 parts otherwise I'll have to title this the longest blog ever about Switzerland and how boring is THAT after I JUST did the longest blog ever about Prague? So, to keep my blog nice and spicy we're doing a 2 part series of our Labor Day weekend extravaganza...

Day 1
I was pretty impressed with our ability to leave town nearly perfectly on time. We said 10AM and were out the door and on the road by 11AM. When does THAT ever happen when there is a Johnson planning the trip?

So we drove....


and drove...


and drove...


and drove.....


And about 7 hours later after a couple of stretch your legs-potty break stops we finally saw the most beautiful sign...the one we'd been expecting and waiting for...


We're here and JUST IN TIME FOR DINNER! What else do you eat your first time in the Italian part of Switzerland than PIZZA? Exactly. So, we connected with Ila, Ben and Aurora and headed out to eat some real pizza...the kind that has a nice thin crust and just the right amount of toppings that you can fold in half and let it just dissolve in your mouth.

Oh gads...I'm hungry now.

Ila and Ben hamming it up for the camera.


Aurora and Maddie became great friends. They shared a pizza...but I'll bet they could have each eaten one all on their own.


As we were eating we discovered something...little Munchie likes pizza.


A LOT


In fact, she wouldn't leave it alone. She just kept eating and eating and eating the pizza. She grabbed giant handfuls and chunks of it and stuffed it in her mouth. It was quite amusing to watch....she didn't stop until we made her stop. I'm raising my daughter right! Italian pizza...her first favorite food. :)

The next morning we woke up to the smell of...Pizza? Uh...Maddie searched for it and discovered it in Bella's diaper. We laughed and laughed. She smelled like pizza for two days.

We got dressed and headed into Lugano Centro to see the city center and take a walk along Lungo Lago (lakeside walkway). After parking our car in a lot we walked out and discovered we'd happened upon a free buffet put on by a condo complex that was trying to sell condos. We were going to just walk on by, but in typical Italian/Swiss fashion they INSISTED we come in and eat some of the food....so we did...

We ate


We danced


It was the PERFECT way to start our day and really...does it get much better than free food, drinks, music and CLOWNS?


After eating our fill and probably more than our share (hey...it was a free buffet.) we headed out along lungo lago to take in the beautiful sunshine of southern Switzerland...


It was almost like I'd never really left...it all looked exactly the same along the lake...but I recognized almost nothing about the town center!








We eventually met up with Ila, Ben, Aurora and the Vedani family. The last time I saw the Vedani's was almost 8 years ago! Paola and Alain looked almost the same as I always remembered, but their daughters were 13 and 10 now! AIYA! So grown up! I remember meeting Elise (13) when she was just a toddler of age 2ish...

Paola was smitten by Munchie. She was so loved on that she forgot who mama was...this is the first time she's ever let someone else other than her dad or I hold her while she takes her sippy cup.


We went up to the top of Monte Bre and enjoyed the view of Lugano and surrounding area. It also helped with the digestion of ALL THAT FOOD we ate at the free buffet. I just stood and soaked in the beauty of it all...



Hangin with my two best girls...Ila and Paola


The mile or so hike up wore us all out so we recharged the kids with icecream....(just what they needed....more sugar.) :)








We adults had a drink and relaxed while the kids played for a little while.



Ila and Alain


Giada took a million pictures of Bella and then would make funny cartoons out of them with her mom's iPhone...


We finally looked at our watches and were shocked to see that it was nearing 7:00PM. We ended the day at a restaurant where I think everyone was feeling a little bit weird...



Our heads hit the pillows and we were out.....dreaming of Part 2 and the castles we'd see in the morning...