Anderson/Stanger Marathon - Part 1

Chelle, Ron, Anthony (18), Andrew (15), and Lizzy (12) arrived the day after Christmas and we had a marathon of sightseeing planned over the next eight days.  Thursday, December 27th was a low key day where we headed to Callier Chocolate Factory and Chillon Castle after the kids opened their Christmas gifts.

Sydney, Aaron, Hailey, and Lizzy waiting to open Christmas presents.

Hailey is way excited for the LifeSavers!  American food was a huge hit.

All Sydney wanted for Christmas was Goldfish.

The kids and I skipped the castle as we had been there several times so we headed home while the others went to Chillon.  I don't think the kids will ever tire of Callier since the end has an endless tasting room!!

Anthony and Andrew - look at all that chocolate!!

Andrew, Anthony, Chelle, and Lizzy inside Chillon Castle.

Lizzy, Ron, Andrew, and Anthony outside Chillon Castle.

On the way home they stopped at Coop to pick up a few groceries.  Anthony is 18 and purchased, legally : ), an alcoholic beverage which he enjoyed later.  I am sure they wondered what in the world are they taking a picture of someone buying an alcoholic beverage.  And yes he was carded!  A little fun fact - you can smoke when you are 16 and drink when you are 18.  Eighteen is also when you can start driving in Switzerland, that may include Europe, but I am not sure.

Anthony at Coop getting carded for his big purchase.

The next day we were up and on the road by 8am heading for Genoa, Italy.  Randy and the boys were in one car and I drove the girls on our car.  We made it through the mountains without anyone getting sick, but Chelle and Sydney weren't feeling the best and glad to be out of the mountains.  We stopped at a gas station for a picnic lunch before arriving into Genoa.  We made it to Genoa without any problems, but finding the hotel was truly an adventure!  The roads are quite close to one another and run on top of each other so it was very difficult to see which road the GPS wanted us to go on.  We passed the recycled tire dinosaur sculpture twice and almost drove down a pedestrian walk.  Oh the joys of exploring and giving everyone a good laugh ; )

The recycled tire dinosaur landmark we passed twice while finding the hotel.

The crew down at the port.

Anthony and Andrew exploring the pirate ship.

After finally making it to the hotel and getting checked in we headed down to the port to explore and see if we could find some gelato for the kids.  There were some massive cruise ships in the port!  We had reservations at a restaurant close to the hotel before turning in for the night.  The next day we headed back down to the port where Randy took all the kids to the Aquarium while Ron, Chelle, and I walked the streets of Genoa.  It is a very quant town with the little streets weaving throughout the town.  We stopped at the cathedral where there is a bomb from WWII that never detonated.  We met Randy and the kids and grabbed a late lunch before heading back to Lausanne.

Looking back at Genoa from the port.

Cruise ship in Genoa port.

Genoa, Italy port

Laundry was hanging out everywhere and you needed to watch where your stood unless you wanted to get a little wet.

Inside the Cathedral in Genoa.

WWII bomb that still sits inside the Cathedral.

Ron and Chelle outside the Cathedral

Ron and Chelle getting a close up view of the fountain.

That takes us through Saturday or day 3 of the Anderson/Stanger trip to Switzerland.  Stay tuned for the remainder of their marathon trip!