#fondunnit

Normally travel days are simple and uneventful, but that doesn’t apply when the Wallamakers are at almost full strength.

We slept in a little this morning and had a virtually fruitless search for breakfast. After an interesting scan your own grocery experience, we ended up with snacks. Who knew that after scanning yourself you needed to scan your receipt to get out of the store with setting off an alarm? Not us. But now we do.

We learned from our questionable cab scheduling experience yesterday to order early today for our trip to the train station. We arrived within minutes of each other and started waiting as a group. Because our airbnb wouldn’t allow us a late check out, we had some time to kill.

We grabbed coffee and snacks for the train, and Rylie and Chloe learned the importance of not leaving the train station for Starbucks without telling their parents. We might have freaked out a little and made it clear when they returned that wandering off in a foreign country without letting someone know wasn’t okay. I may or may not have has flashes of being Liam Nessom.

On the train we let the kids sit together in one car while the adults sat in the other. Worked out really well and everyone was happy. The views on the train ride from Milan to Zurich were beyond compare. The valleys and mountains and lake views just kept going for hours. It was a good thing we had already done Como or it would’ve been less impressive.

Once we arrived in Zurich, we walked from the train station to our airbnb. When I opened the door it was like Spiccoli and his boys had camped out here and clambake the apartment. The smell of weed was overpowering. We aired the place out for a bit and all was fine, or we were just all so relaxed that we didn’t care…

We moved the kids into one bedroom due to an awkward layout of the unit. This was the first time they’d had wifi in days, so the result was somewhat comical.

On the train in, we had made a reservation at a restaurant well reviewed for fondue and other Swiss dishes. Much to our surprise, it was closed when we arrived despite my reservation being confirmed. Make a note: reservations through Google should not be trusted. This particular place was closed for over a month. The next place we found, same thing, despite Google saying it was open. Unreal.

Michelle found us a place called Swiss Chuchi with about a dozen types of fondue on the menu. Much to our surprise they were able to accommodate our party of seven immediately. We let the waiter help us order because we had no clue how melted cheese as a meal worked. Fortunately our server, Cubby, was able to get a plan together and we trusted him based on his nearly two decades as a Swiss person.

The next 90 minutes would’ve qualified for a segment on Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdon as we devoured bread, fruit, vegetables, and potatoes dipped in various kinds of molten cheese. We were loud and laughing and attracted some very judgmental looks from nearby diners, but we didn’t care. The fondue was fantastic, and Tim kept handing me his fork for dipping purposes claiming that I knew what he liked. That might have been related to the 2 bottles of wine.

Leaving the carnage of dinner behind, I sent the kids with ApplePay and directions for ice cream while the adults camped at a cafe for wine and coffee. We sat for a couple hours enjoying each others company and the music of street performers. Tim was so impressed he even tried to put a group of Portuguese economics students through college. They wanted us to buy their CD, but I reminded them that a healthy donation had already been made while they were singing.

So, we went back to our coffee.