to the 4th floor

This is the very first trip we have planned with no itinerary. Zero plans. Is that even Hart possible? We were just looking forward to time spent together as a family without a single care/no obligations to meet, kind of long weekend. It was refreshing to have that mindset. We only had a few things in mind that we thought we might do if we get bored/if we feel like it/if we change our minds.

Day 1:
We woke the girls up really early Friday morning to fly only an hour and 15 minutes away to Zurich. Amazing, huh?
We rented a car so we could drive to Liechtenstein on our way to Davos, Switzerland to stop for lunch and have yet another country crossed off our list.

Tim is quite proud that he can drive manually and on the left hand side here in England. He often reminds me that he can now drive anywhere in the world if needs be. But every proud moment must be matched with a touch of humility.
Upon leaving the car park Tim kept stalling over and over and over again. It was a little bit funny. He never stalls except for car parks every time we have rented a car overseas. His major stall was on an upward ramp to exit with many cars beginning to queue behind us waiting for us to move. Like, a lot of cars. Stall after stall after stall, we were only go backwards. Tim kept fiddling with the shift when the front of our car began to smoke and we start smelling burning rubber. Tim is completely flustered and upset now because gosh dang-it he knows how to drive a manual! A kind young man then came to his door to see if he could help by explaining to Tim how to drive a manual. Tim was annoyed because, hello, he had an "I know how to drive a manual" mentality while listening to him. Well, comes to find out, a Peugeot drives differently than other manual cars. Tim was trying to drive in 3rd gear not first and in order to reverse you have to push the top button and pull up the shift. We would have never figured that out. Thank you Swiss gentleman for being so kind to us Americans. You seemed like you have encountered many tourists with the same lack of knowledge. :)

After lunch on our way to Davos, we drove pass the Gutenberg Castle for a quick shot. That's really all there is to see in Liechtenstein.


Upon arriving to our final destination, which included Tim driving down a one-way road the wrong direction, we were taken back how cute our hotel was. It was nestled up against the Alps and looked like a quaint little ski village. Cute.
Once we were settled in, first things first, we ventured out to see Davos a bit and find the nearest grocery stores, potential restaurants, etc.



And it didn't take long to find Swiss chocolate! Chocolate squirrels from Schneider's!



Davos is a really small little village. Not much was open at the time we were wondering around. It seemed pretty dead actually which kinda added to our mentality for this trip. Slow and relaxed. When walking back to our hotel we got to see a train go by. Marisa was on Tim's shoulders waving at the conductor of the train which was approaching. The conductor happily waved back. This was the first of many of our cute moments on this trip which make traveling in Europe with my little family so special.



Day 1 was a success and what better way to end it with our indoor swimming pool. Oh how the girls miss the California pools!

Day 2:
We peacefully woke up the next day and much to our surprise we pulled back the curtains to our big window and we saw...SNOW!

Marisa yelled out, "It's Christmas!"




So with snow now in our forecast, what to do? Sledding of course! Off to Jakobshorn!







Is this real?? Am I really sledding with my little family down the Alps? What a perfect morning!





What's better than sledding in the Alps than swimming in our heated indoor pool afterwards, taking naps while the girls watch cartoons in German, going to the sauna and relaxation room with no care in the world? Nothing I tell ya!

Tim found a fantastic restaurant in town for dinner called Boccalino, where we got to try cheese fondue (a popular Swiss dish) and where I had a delicious vegetable soup. The girls were served an amazing dessert afterwards with all of us having more Schneider's chocolate to round off a perfect meal and perfect day. I'm craving this dinner and this day all over again just writing about it!...