On Saturday morning, we joined a large group of expats (mostly from Zurich) and headed to the French side of Switzerland for a wine “hike” (by hike we mean walk).  We have visited many beautiful Swiss cities/towns, but Chexbres easily takes the prize.

In an effort to keep this week’s post a little shorter, here are the highlights:

1. The views:  Oh man, the views.  Chexbres is situated on a hill on the western side of Lake Geneva and is actually part of the larger World Heritage Site of Lavaux.  The hills are lined with vines as far as the eye can see, the lake is perfectly clear and turquoise, and in the distance sit the majestic Swiss Alps (if you look closely at the pictures, the furthest peak is actually Mont Blanc).

Blindingly beautiful

View from our hotel room!

Post Card

2. The wine: We went to two different wineries, both of which had very tasty wines.  One was a little haughty for our tastes, but the other (Domaine Bovy) was an absolute blast.  We loved chatting with our wine expert and hanging out on their fabulous terrace while taking in the views.

Our wine expert

First tasting of the day

The best view of all

Cheers!

3. The friends: Mike and Mary were definitely our “in” with the expat group from Zurich, but we have since enjoyed making our own place in the group.  They are an absolute blast to hang out with and live by our personal motto of “work hard, play hard.” 

4. The Aftermath: On Sunday, everyone parted ways and did their own thing.  Some people checked out the hotel spa, others explored the town of Chexbres, while many headed home.  We decided to walk to Vevey (about 3 miles away but amazing scenery as you can imagine).  Here we had a lazy lunch and later caught a ferry back to Luassanne.  We were originally planning to hop on a train back to Basel; however, it was simply too lovely outside to be stuck on a train.  So instead, we found a park, laid down a blanket, and enjoyed some sunshine (and naps).

Homemade pasta, red wine, gnocchi, seafood, tiramisu, pizza, gelato … I could go on.  We had it all and then some during our 5 days in Italy.

The first stop on our trip was Milan.  Neither of us had been to Milan before, and to be totally honest, we had relatively low expectations.  That said, in order to get to Venice, we had to change trains in Milan, so it seemed like a natural stop to break up an otherwise long trip.  Chris, unfortunately, had to work the majority of the four-hour train ride and then for another hour once we arrived at our hotel.  Luckily, he was able to finish up in time to enjoy an adult beverage in the sunshine.  That evening, we met up with Mike and Mary (our traveling partners in crime from Zurich) and their friends (who were just passing through) for a lovely Italian dinner and (maybe one too many bottles of) wine.

Sforza Castle

Sforza Catle

Castle Ruins accompanied by many a stray cat

Gardens behind Sforza Castle

We feel pretty well versed in traveling but still generally enjoy (free) tours of cities.  Most of the tours we go on offer a good overview and are led by upbeat guides who provide both historical and local insights.  Sadly, the tour that Sarah booked for Friday morning had none of these qualities.  It was led by a rambling (though extremely nice) young artist and offered little beyond the obvious.  Midway through, we decided that we were better off exploring the city on our own and kindly excused ourselves from the tour.  The central parts of Milan were swarming with tourists, so we headed to the outskirts of town to explore the Naviglio neighborhood (known for its canals and sprawling restaurant scene).  Here we had a delicious pizza lunch and enjoyed wandering through this hip part of town – a “must see”, in our opinion, when in Milan.

Naviglio Neighborhood

Picture stolen from M& M – we forgot to capture Duomo

Some sort of ruins – maybe we would have learned if we stuck around for the tour …

Front of Duomo Cathedral (again stolen from M&M)

Chris has been in need of some new pants and (in want of) a few casual blazers, so since we had no real plans for the afternoon, we decided to do a little shopping.  One shop, in particular, caught our eye, and we decided “have a look” inside.  The shop keeper was extremely attentive.  She responded to our “we’re just looking” with “put on this dress shirt, you’re going to try these things on.” For the next hour, she served as Chris’s personal shopper.  Better yet, Chris served as her personal Ken doll.  Either way, the customer service was top notch and Chris walked away with two new blazers, two new pairs of pants, a new shirt, and a lot less money.  That evening, was pretty typical for our travels (cocktail hour followed by yummy dinner with a nightcap to top it all off).

On Saturday, we headed to Venice.  Chris has been twice before, but it has been on Sarah’s bucket list for years now.  We were anticipating a lot of rain while in Venice, so we were happily surprised by the sunshine when we got off the train.  Knowing that the great weather wouldn’t last long, we quickly checked into our hotel and headed out for a gondola tour.  It was a bit expensive but totally worth it.  Aside from the beautiful views, one of our favorite parts was the banter between gondoliers.  Our gondolier (fourth generation of his family in the business) spoke with every other gondolier that passed by.  Sometimes they just exchanged small talk and other times our driver was a subject for quips from the older gondoliers (lots of “where’s your dad?” type material).  Shortly after our tour, the storms arrived and delivered the anticipated rain.  We found shelter in a small restaurant tucked away in a little alley and indulged in pizza and wine while we waited out the storm.

Views from the gondola

Gondola Shenanigans

Bridge of Sighs

Gondolier

Saint Mark’s Square

Later that afternoon, we toured the inside of Saint Mark’s basilica. Given the Easter holiday, the line to enter was rather long, but luckily it moved quickly.  Saint Mark’s is one of the most colorful/beautiful cathedrals we have seen (both inside and out).  The outside is adorned by a plethora of arches, columns, sculptures, and mosaics.  The inside was absolutely breath-taking – gilded ceilings, elaborate marble floors, massive paintings, and intricate mosaics.  We had plans to come back the next morning for mass, but unfortunately, the line was dauntingly long.  Not wanting to spend half of our day trying to get in, we called an audible and explored a park on the eastern side of the island.

Saint Mark’s Square

Views from the Park

Grand Canal

I’m a little obsessed with the Wysteria

On day two, we did another tour – but this time in a kayak.  During the two hours, we explored many smaller canals (it was very tight quarters with other boats and made Sarah a bit uneasy at times), kayaked under the Saint Maria cathedral (the only cathedral actually built over a canal), and even ventured to cross the grand canal a few times (here we learned the hierarchy of water vehicles: water taxi > gondola > personal boats > kayaks). After all the pasta and ice cream it was great to get out and do something active.  Much like the day before, a huge stormed rolled through in the afternoon, so our group found a nice little cafe to pass the time and watch the rain.

Kayak shots thanks to Mike and his GoPro

No fewer than 100 people took pictures of us while kayaking

Action kayak shot

By day three, Chris was feeling pretty lousy due to his allergies, but he was tough and suffered through the very busy day Sarah had planned.  First up was the Guggenheim Museum.  Neither of us is a huge fan of modern art, but it was right beside the Wake House (Casa Artom) which we wanted to try and tour.  The Guggenheim actually exceeded our expectations – it was pretty interesting to see the work of famous artists (Warhol, Pollock, Dali, and Picasso to name a few) but there were also many moments when we asked each other, “How is this art?”  After the museum, we tried to tour the Wake House, but sadly no one answered the door or acknowledged our singing of “Dear Old Wake Forest.”

Casa Artom’s front door

Guggenheim Museum

Sculpture Garden at the Guggenheim

That afternoon, we decided to tour the islands of Burano (known for lace) and Murano (known for glass blowing).  The 45-minute boat ride to Burano was slammed with people but still offered interesting views of the city and many small islands (including the city’s cemetery).  We spent about an hour walking around the island (literally, we walked the circumference of the island) and admired the brightly painted homes situated along small canals.  We knew that we wanted to see a glass-blowing exhibition while in Murano, but we were pretty hungry and tired when we arrived.  After a late lunch and afternoon coffee, we tried to find an exhibition but came up empty handed.  Unfortunately, all of the shops were closed for the day (womp womp).  Even though we weren’t able to actually see how the glass is made, we still enjoyed a bit of window shopping to admire the beautiful works of art.

Murano Glass

Styling in Burano

Typical houses in Burano

Burano Loveliness

Our final night in Venice was marked by an absolutely delicious dinner at Local (a recommendation from Chris’s partner at EY).  We splurged for the chef’s 5-course tasting menu, and we were not disappointed.  The restaurant itself may have an unimaginative name, but they served some of the most creative and delicious food we have had (nori risotto with bonito flakes, sashimi mackerel with passion fruit compote, etc.)  Like most other nights, we left the restaurant a bit sleepy, a little fatter, but extremely full and happy.

Bathing suit weather is just around the corner, so it’s time that we hit the gym to work off all of the cheese, carbs, sweets, and wine consumed on our Italian adventure.