Christmas, in Switzerland and Venice



For christmas all I wanted was Janette! :) So we got her a ticket (delta miles) and Janette flew in from the US on Monday, Dec. 19th. Here is the happy sister reunion picture!:


The Christmas Lights in London are spectacular!! Worth a visit just to see the lights!




Norway spruce at Trafalga Square:


Chinatown:


Christmas Market in London:


Then we flew to Switzerland to have Christmas with my family.  It has been over 25 years since I've had Christmas with my family the Pangs, so we were long overdue to have a Pang Christmas together again! So there we went!!

The Christmas market in Switzerland was nice but pricey!! Quite more expensive than England!




Ting-Wai got us the residence day train passes for 45 SFR (about the same as $) and we decided to take the Bernina Express from Zurich to Tirano (Italy). It was stunningly beautiful, but very long ride on a train. However, Janette wasn't feeling well, so sitting on the train with her worked out nicely. 

                                         


Christmas Eve dinner with the Gesslers at Lenny's house: Fondue Chinoise. One of our favorites. 


The cousin look-a-likes:


King Christian and Queen Ting-Wai:


With my mom:


On top of the tower near Lenny's place:


All Pangs and Wongs:


Janette helped us with fixing up a bit of a mess with our records in family search - lots of duplicates, unlinked people, wrong genders, etc.etc. Her Mandarin and tech skills were very helpful for that, and she even found out that we are related to an emperor named De Bing Bong Bong (haha, that is his name!)




Of course we had to have our standard Racclette: love eating in Switzerland!! Unfortunately, Sarah got sick now too with the flue, so she wasn't enjoying that meal very much. We played a lot of games, and it was so fun to be together again.  


Ice skating at a nearby rink. Hey, we all learned to go backwards better!!


After Christmas we flew to Venice! It was gorgeous and not too crowded. Janette and Sarah were still not feeling their best, but good thing walking around the city wasn't too strenuous. 


Loved seeing the Christmas lights in Venice. 


Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal - so beautiful!







We did not go on a gondola ride, but we did get to sit in one!


At the Libreria Acqua Alta: "The most beauitful bookstore in the world" Wth a stack of books to stand on, and wall-to-wall stacked books, magazines and maps, some of them in bathtubs to protect from water damage. 



Here we are at the Doge's Palace. Pretty impressive interior:




And in the inside of the Bridge of Sigh:



At the Grand Canal:


One highlight of our trip was a day boat trip to 3 islands: this one is called Burano and is famous for the multi colored homes and lace making:




Murano is famous for glass blowing


And the Island Torcello had an old church, but not much else. 
Well, Venice was awesome, just have to find the right time without the crowds. 





 

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