A Few Days in Lugano

Hello again, it has been a while! During the spring holidays, Alessio and I hot footed it down to Lugano. I have been there on numerous occasions, but it is a beautiful place to see. We took the train down on a Sunday and caught a bus to our hotel.

Since right next to the hotel was the Monte San Salvatore Funicular, we decided to go up. Monte San Salvatore is 912m above sea level and has wonderful views of Lugano, the lake, and the mountains. We also had our lunch there at the restaurant Vetta. We had a short wonder around and Alessio went up to see the church and the higher views.

Once back down we walked the promenade, the views of Lugano surrounded by the hills are quite dramatic. As it was quite a hot day, we retreated back to the hotel for a rest. Later on we went out to find a place for dinner and then a night walk by the lake.

The next day was quite overcast and a bit rainy, so we took a boat trip and got off at Gandria and decided to walk back to Lugano. It takes about one hour but it is a lovely walk. Gandria is situated on the northern shore of Lake Lugano. It has lots of stairs and narrow alleyways, it is very charming and it is definitely worth a visit.

Once back in Lugano we looked for restaurant for lunch and had another walk around the town again. There is lots street art so we decided to try to look for it. We found 5 or 6, I really enjoy seeing street art. We also noticed lots of beautiful and colourful flower displays. 

Tuesday dawned and it was a much rainy day than Monday, I mentioned to Alessio we visit the dreaded M word, museum and an art museum at that and he said no thanks! So we decided to head back to Zurich once we checked out.

All and all it was nice and short trip away and the first once since last August. I have since had two more short trips to Lausanne and Montreux, which I will hopefully post about at a later date.

Hope you all had a good start to the week!

Emma

A Girls Weekend in Lugano

In the middle of July I had a girl`s weekend in Lugano with Riikka, Hannah and Linda. The girls stocked up on food and drink and then we set off. We decided to go via the Gottard Pass which is 2106m above sea level, to avoid any queues in the tunnel. When we got to the top we stopped for 10mins and it was certainly chilly up there!

The flat which belongs to Riikka`s husbands family is just outside Lugano, once we arrived and unloaded the car, settled into the flat, we had a drink or two! In the evening we had dinner in the flat and enjoyed ourselves until late into the night.

The next day after breakfast we headed off to the lake for an afternoon of sun-bathing, swimming and reading. We got a few more supplies and then went back to the flat and got ready for an evening in Lugano. We had a really lovely meal and then sat in an outside bar drinking lethal moijtos for the rest of the evening, enjoying the lovely view of the lake and hills.

The next day, we packed up and before we left to return to Zurich we headed to Monte Brè which is 933m above seal level. We drove nearly to the top and we stopped for awhile to enjoy the amazing view it afforded us, then it was time to head back to Zurich.

We went this time through the San Bernadino Pass which is just a little lower than the Gotthard Pass at 2066m. We stopped at the Kiosk and had our sandwiches and drinks while enjoying another great view.

It was a really great weekend and it was also great to spend time with the girls, and look forward to next year. We got to see lots of beautiful places all over Switzerland and amazing views too!

Photo of the Week -

In the middle of July I went to Lugano with 3 friends Hannah, Linda and Riikka. We stayed in a flat very near to Lugano. This vehicule was parked where we had parked the car and I thought it looked quite interesting. The whole weekend was really great fun and more of what we got up too, is still to come!

Not sure what to call the title of the post, any ideas!

W is for Water

The next letter is W and water seemed like a good word to choose, I have lots of photos with water in them, from lakes, rivers, waterfalls, streams to seas.

The first photo is from Zurich, then we are off to the Isle of Skye, then it is the famous water jet in Geneva, then Lake Brienz and finally Lake Lugano.

Lugano to Tirano by bus

In the middle of June I went for a long weekend with Aimee to Lugano,where we stayed overnight, then by bus to Tirano in Italy on the Sunday. This is a very scenic route which takes you along the northern shores of Lake Lugano past towns such as Gandria and Porlezza. The onto Lake Como where the first two photos are taken, not sure which of the lovely villages it was, as they were all beautiful. Just a trip to those villages would have to be another excuse for a trip! We stopped in Sorico for 15mins and then on to Tirano which is practically at the border with Switzerland. It had many lovely places to see but with only one hour until our train left and feeling rather hungry we did not see that much. The whole journey takes 3 hours and the driver explains some of the places on the way. Then we found our train, our seats and awaited a fab journey through some wonderful places in Switzerland, post to come later!

Lugano by boat

Last weekend I went with my lovely friend Aimee to Lugano where we stayed overnight, the next morning we went with the Bernina Express bus to Tirano in Italy and then we took the Bernina Express train to Chur. I will post more on all that at a later date, but we were dead lucky with the weather. June had been a mixture of rain and shine but on our weekend it was hot, hot and hot!! We went by train to Lugano a little detour because of the rock slide near to the Gottard but we arrived around 3pm. Once we checked into our hotel we walked around the town and decided on a small boat tour. I had already done this before but ages ago and with it being hot, it felt like a good way to cool down. The boat passed the village of Gandria which looks lovely, and then onto the other side. One of the other stops is at San Rocco which also looked lovely, which we passed by on the bus the next day.

I will be back in Lugano in August so will do more posts on it then, but it is always lovely to come to the Italian part of Switerland for a weekend. You really feel like you are getting away from Zurich as it is so different.