Family Trip - Austria/Switzerland 2022 [part 2]

On Saturday, we had to leave Laurentius Kinderhotel and head to Zurich. We packed up and then R got to choose a toy from the treasure chest - he chose a lion. 

The fog was pretty thick along parts of the route. Along the way we stopped in Lichtenstein. R will have visited 3 countries this trip (4 if you count connecting through London Heathrow). We paused in the visitor's center to have our passport stamped, apparently not many people do this!

We drove up to the Vaduz Castle to see where the prince lives.  We were only allowed to view the exterior from outside the walls. The views from the castle area were great and would be even better on a clear day.

After a quick lunch at Berg, we hit the road. Ian dropped us off at the Zurich Crowne Plaza hotel so we could get checked in and settled. We had Ooki ramen/udon for dinner. It was hard going from the amazing suite at the kids hotel to having a crib in the hotel room. I hid in the restroom until he fell asleep.

crib in room

Then next morning R and I ventured out to hunt for breakfast. We got McDonald's. They did not have the sausage biscuits I was craving - guess that is a US specialty. Then we stopped at a park with a really tall slide. 

After a bit we walked to Ian/Leyla's place for a Swiss brunch and the boys played until nap time. 

The afternoon's activity was to head to Üetliberg for the views of Zurich. It took a bus then train up a mountain to reach the top. Ian's sister and family joined us there. They were not able to join us in Austria because of some obscure COVID rules. 

As the sun set, temperatures dropped quickly so we headed down the icy trail to the playground/train station. R played for just a bit, then his feet got really cold and he was upset. We caught the last train down and I had his icy toes on my stomach to warm them up. 

Headed back to Ian/Leyla's for pizza and playing/chatting.

R's cough worsened overnight so we went in search of meds. Thankfully he slept ok. We found a giant slingshot statue near the hotel. 

The first big adventure of the day was a 2 hour boat ride on Lake Zurich. While waiting for the boat, we had lunch at Tibits (vegetarian buffet) where they had awesome high chairs and a play area. 

walking to the boat ride

It was a beautiful chilly day and we could see the mountain from the night before.

He did not like the hot cocoa (not a chocolate lover).

The tower is where we were last night at Üetliberg.

Next up was the Tram Museum (R called them crams at first). All of us enjoyed it. One car had a train table where kids could play an as you could imagine, we spent a ton of time there.

Then we stopped at the Grossmünster (a church) then walked along the rive up to the main train station. R had a power nap in the stroller as we walked since we were at the museum during naptime. 

After a pit stop to see trains entering/exiting the station, we headed back to the hotel and ordered Domino's to round out the day.

On our final day in Europe, we took a day trip to Luzern/Lucerne to visit the Swiss Museum of Transport.  It was huge and had so many things to see.

A robot served us lunch in the cafe!

While there was still more to see, we ran out of time and needed to head back to Zurich. The scenery along the drove was beautiful in the cold and clouds.

After one last hangout with our friends in the hotel, it was time to sleep since we had to get up around 4a to catch our flights home. Connected through Heathrow again to then one last flight to Austin. This was such a great family/friends trip!

de-icing to leave Zurich