Traveling to Switzerland

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let’s jump back in, after my post on barely seeing berlin. it has been brought to my attention that i made it sound like we miscommunicated with my husband and he missed the flight and we left him in germany haha!

actually, there was miscommunication with the client and he had a nighttime event, nor morning as he planned. therefore, we kept our original flight plans and headed to switzerland without him! he met us the next day.

i was still dealing with a pretty bad cough so my amazing in-laws had atlas sleep in their room after we landed and got settled.

the next morning we awoke to a chilly but sunny day in geneva! we headed down to the water to see the famous 300ft fountain thing. fine, it’s call the jet d-Eau literally meaning water jet. it was once used to release pressure that would get built up overnight. it was created in 1886 and relocated to this part of the lake to now serve as a tourist attraction.

i wasn’t expecting geneva to be so heavily french but it makes sense because it’s so close to france. i pulled out some of my high school french and heading atlas say, “merci beaucoup” was seriously cute!

i am so grateful for the relationship i have with ravery’s parents. they are so helpful with atlas and more importantly, kind and loving individuals. plus, how cute are they (celebrating 45+ of marriage)!

because it was so chilly, we opted for breakfast and some hot drinks. this is when atlas experienced her first hot cocoa. can her face anymore perfect in experiencing this?!?


ravery eventually made his way to geneva and we had about two hours before his next event.

added bonus when you travel with grandparents…they will nap with your kid and then the two of you can go explore!

we went to this restaurant that solely serves steak and french fries (two servings for everyone). i had already eaten so pour me some more wine and i’m happy!

after walking around some with ravery, he went to deliver his keynote in geneva and i went back to the rest of the family.

we took a one hour boat around lake geneva and it was so pretty! i don’t know that’d i necessarily recommend this with a two year old. she was not impressed by the mansions and scenery for very long.

the next day we took a 3 hour train ride from geneva to zürich. we didn’t have a ton of time in geneva so we already want to go back!

totally recommend train rides around europe rather than planes (depending on how long the ride is). it’s so much easier not to deal with security, liquids, boarding and all that. plus atlas could stand up in our little area AND there were designated kid train cars should you want to hang out there!

upon arriving there about noon, atlas, ravery and i took a 15 minutes walk from the train station to our hotel (sent the luggage with my inlaws via taxi).

and that’s when i fell in love with zürich:

we stayed in the perfect location (zürich marriott), about a 10 minute walk to “old town” zürich where all the food, fun stores and cute atmosphere lives!

the interesting thing about switzerland is that it doesn’t have its “own” language. because zürich is closer to germany, everything is in german here (like now everything was french in geneva)! i found it super fascinating.

the next day, my in-laws took a day trip to the alps and it looked spectacular!!! we decided it wasn’t fair to a two year old (or my mental health) to make her sit on a bus for 6.5 hours total to get there and back. we shall be back!

while they were finding heidi on the swiss alps, we were exploring around zürich. this included, pastries, shopping and more eating!

“go drink a bottle of yourself, evian!”

oh and in case you were wondering, “what essential items did chelsea pack to bring to europe?” i’ll show you:

i know. it had to be done! #wheninzürich

the next day, we took a trip to zoo zürich. it was not cheap to get in ($25usd per person) but it was a pretty zoo. atlas had many many tantrums at the zoo so it wasn’t the most fun but it was an experience!

switzerland is known for fondue but i’m not a huge fondue fan and zürich was SO expensive that we didn’t find it worth it. instead we ate ahhhmazing pasta as our last dinner there and it was perfection!

the flights home were overall fine. we went through iceland again and then home to denver. i’m glad we used this thing again because atlas eventually laid down. example of how strong willed she is:

she usually asks one of us to pat her back when she’s falling asleep. i started doing this as she was getting drowsy and then said “no mama!” so then daddy offered, to which she said “no! i pat back myself” and then reached around to pat her own back. hahah

ravery booked a keynote the following day in las vegas (queue wifely eyeroll) so he took off to catch that plane and atlas and i headed home. i don’t recommend soloparenting on top of jet-lag but we thankfully survived and ravery wasn’t gone too long.

i am super grateful that we were all mostly healthy for our time in switzerland. it’s seriously such a gorgeous (and outrageously expensive) country! can’t wait to come back!

ps. we lugged our carseat with us this whole trip and do you know how many times we used it? zero. none. not once. all of the taxis and cabs we called were able to provide us with carseats so there’s that tidbit of info should you go there!

5 Comments

  1. Audrey

    October 17, 2018 at 7:57 am

    UGH. You already know I love that country SO much. I bet your in-laws’ trip to the mountains was INSANELY gorgeous. I love the mountains in that country. All the Atlas stories are the best! The photo of the coco and the train pic between grandparents is so adorable!! I’m glad you guys had a fun time!! We need to get back there soon…
    Audrey recently posted…28 Things (because I’m turning 28)

    • chelsea

      October 23, 2018 at 12:29 pm

      ummm i TOTALLY get why you love switzerland so much – it was magical! i already can’t wait to go back! and yes, hope you get to go back like soon (and let me stow away in your suitcase)

  2. Love Charmaine Uychoco

    October 22, 2018 at 4:23 pm

    Beautiful story! Thanks for sharing Chelsea!

    • chelsea

      October 23, 2018 at 12:28 pm

      appreciate you reading <3

  3. Sonya G Klassen

    November 4, 2018 at 10:53 pm

    Chelsea, Your story brought back wonderful memories of my trip to Switzerland earlier this year. You and Ravery must check out Lausanne next time you go. I spent 6 days there while my husband was on a seminar. Loved the city and touring around was so easy. Right on Lake Geneva with gorgeous walking plus a beautiful aquarium and very cool wooden spiral tower on a hilltop (incredible views of the whole land). Not the easiest walk to do with a stroller and toddler but the tram and bus system is pretty efficient and easy way to get around. I loved Geneva too but didn’t get to spend as much time there.