From Lisbon we flew to Zurich for the last part of our Europe trip. We also rented a VRBO and while the place was not as nice as the Lisbon one, it was still a good option versus a hotel.
We all knew Zurich was going to be quite a bit ore expensive, but the initial shock was still high. Once we got over the shock of what things cost we really enjoyed our visit.
We got to Zurich on Saturday evening and hit the road running on Sunday morning. We decided to spend our first day there hiking. We took a train from Zurich
to Arth-Goldau and it was neat to see how the mountains got bigger and bigger.
Once we got to Arth-Goldau we had to take the Rigi Tain up the mountain. The pictures I am posting cannot do the beauty justice. It is absolutely beautiful and I wish it could be captured better.
About to board the Rigi train to take us up the mountain
En route up the mountain
We decided to go with the 4.3 mile hike.
Mount Rigi is surrounded by 3 lakes......Lake Luceren, Lake Zug and Lake Lauerz. The views from up to were breathtaking.
This narrow path with a huge drop off was a little nerve wrecking, but so gorgeous.
The views were spectacular and we had amazing weather.
Scott and Hannah took a different path from this point that involved a steep climb
Nora asked me what looks cooler? Taking the shades off or putting them on
At some point we were looking at the map to see where the path that Scott and Hannah took would come out of......these two took over and were guiding us
We just printed this picture and put it in a frame to hang in Hannah's room.....her collection of prints/paintings is getting bigger
We ended the hike at a restaurant with a playground and let the kids play for a while. They deserved a break. They all did amazing on this hike and little Nora had 28,000 steps that day on her FitBit.
From this point we took a gondola back down and then had to hike another 1.5 miles to get back to the train station.
The color of the lake water is so pretty
The gondola went pretty steep down the mountain
We ended up eating dinner in Arth-Goldau and then took the train back to Zurich. We were all exhausted by the time we made it back, but all agreed it was one of the best days of the entire trip.
The next morning after a nice breakfast (Oh how I miss the bread and croissants) we ventured into Zurich.
We ended up taking the River Cruise boat to a lake Swimming area.
On the river cruise
Good thing we had packed bathing suits just in case. We had a great time at the swimming area.
The water felt refreshing, but not too cold. They had diving boards and our kids went right up them and jumped in.
Evan didn't even hesitate to jump off the 5m board (16 feet). I have to admit I thought twice about it when I went up.
Nora did the 3 meter board (10 feet)....she needed a little bit of encouragement from brother the first time and then she wanted to go over and over again. Then Nora wanted to jump off the 5m board, but we told her she was not big enough yet. Scott told her she had to be 5 years old. Then she came to me and told me top put it on my calendar that when she turns 5 we need to go back to Switzerland to the same swim area, so she can jump off the big board. It is noted in my calendar now :)
Evan found some kids to play soccer with
There was also a slide that went into the lake. We all had a fun time.
After leaving the swimming area we spent the rest of the day exploring and wandering around Old Town. Zurich is beautiful and very clean. Oh yes and expensive :)
Everybody got their own table....
The progression of a family photo.....
The kids were getting pretty worn out by 6pm, so Scott offered to take them back to the apartment and let my mom and I stay for a while to enjoy the beautiful weather. We sat by the river, had an Aperol Spritz and just talked. Then we stumbled upon this great viewpoint.....
The next day was a little rainy, so we had to change our plans a little bit. Overall we were so lucky with the weather we had. We took it easy and walked around old town again and then took the bus and train out to the Lindt Factory store....
We bought our share of chocolate.....
They had a photo booth there that we messed around in....
Scott finally got to eat some Raclette for dinner
You may notice that Evan is missing from these pictures. He saw some people playing chess and just stood there and watched them. It's amazing how much he learned about chess from watching them.
One last selfie in Zurich
We spent one more night in New York and had a little time the next morning before heading to the airport again. We stayed in Brooklyn and decided to walk the Brooklyn Bridge in the morning. Due to the Jet Lag we were all up bright and early. Some earlier than others, but when you have 5 people in one hotel room we all woke up when Evan was up at 4:30am.
Its amazing what you can get done by 10am when you get up at 4:30am :)
Walking the Brooklyn Bridge is always one of my favorite things to do in New York
I wanted to get one last family pictures to remember the trip by
The city was just waking up when we were out there
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