Zurich to France

Sorry for my absence as of late.  The trip from Zurich through Italy and into Vence, France was hectic and without a reliable internet connection.  Nonetheless, here are a few tidbits from our 1-night stays in Lake Como and Genoa, Italy.

We left Zurich mid-morning on Monday and about ½ hour into the ride, both mommy and I started snoozing.  At around noon, daddy woke us up. “You gotta see this,” he said.  We opened our eyes to this:

Woah!

You don’t see that on I-95. The drive from Zurich into Lake Como was absolutely breathtaking!  We quite literally traveled over the Swiss Alps.  At one point in Switzerland, we drove through a mountain-enclosed tunnel that was approximately 13 miles long!  To put this into perspective, before we entered the tunnel all of the signage was in German.  As soon we exited, the language transitioned to Italian. 

We really enjoyed our overnight stay in Lake Como and wish we had stayed longer.  Check out the view from our hotel room:

Room with a view

I really enjoyed taking the ferry to and from each lakeside village. We definitely got our exercise in Bellagio as we climbed up the hillside steps to the shops and eateries that were nestled within the mountain.  And of course, I had my fill of pasta and gelato…yummy!

Lake Como, Italy

Lake Como, Italy

I climbed these stairs all by myself.

Mommy has gotten a few requests to take pics of the food.  Here's the tastiest salad she's yet eaten - Caprese w/ fresh fruits.  Yummy!

(Editorial note from mommy: Lake Como was a lot of fun, even with a toddler, but it’s the perfect getaway for couples on honeymoon or those looking for a romantic locale.  I highly recommend it!  Oh…and alas, no sighting of George Clooney.)

From Lake Como, we traveled towards Milan and eventually landed in Genoa late Tuesday afternoon.  From afar, it looks a lot like San Francisco, with loads of houses and churches stacked up along a very steep hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.   Aside from that, it’s your typical busy Italian city – people running around like crazy, piazzas and cathedrals on every block, too much traffic and graffiti and a gelateria and/or espresso bar every 50 meters.  It’s not the prettiest city, but it has a very neat Old City area featuring a maze of narrow pedestrian/shopping streets.   There’s also loads of history in this city, but it was tough for us to take much of it in on such a brief stopover.  But I was able to play in a big fountain in the city’s central piazza.

Splash!

Besides salami, Genoa is famous for its pesto dishes, and mommy and daddy were able to enjoy some pesto pasta for lunch before we headed out to France. 

Speaking of France, we arrived in Vence (10 miles from Nice) on the Cote d’Azur on Wednesday afternoon.  Vince’s friend Stefan has a lovely chateau in the hills above Nice with a great view of the Mediterranean Sea.   This will be our home base for the rest of our trip – we are very happy to be able to settle in for an extended period.   For now, we will leave you with some photos of the property and follow up in the coming days with some details of our early stay.

Vence, France

Vence, France

Actually, it’s time now to go see Aunt Penny, Uncle Dave and cousins Erin and Kylie who have come to Nice for their Spring Break.  I can’t wait to spend time with them this week in France.

So, with that, I’ll sign off for now.  More stories and photos in the coming days.  I will do my best to post something at least every 2-3 days.