We decided to add one more country to our trip and drove to Switzerland this morning. Lake Lugano in Switzerland  is about 45 minutes from Argegno so we thought it would be a good place to go for lunch. Before lunch, we took a funicular ride to the top of Monte San Salvatore, Switzerland. The forecast was calling for clouds and possible showers so we were pleasantly surprised that it was clear when we arrived in Switzerland. The funicular ride was scary. The tracks looked ancient but we made it up and down safely. The view was amazing. We could see Lake Lugano and the surrounding cities. There was a church at the top of the mountain that required us to climb many stairs to reach it and the top of it's tower. I was proud of myself for climbing to the top of the tower. It actually wasn't a bad climb, especially when compared to some of the earlier tower climbs we've encountered. There were real stairs and far less than 100 of them. The view was definitely worth the climb. 

After exploring the mountain top, I doubt I'll be using that term again any time soon, we headed to the city of Lugano. It is relatively large and and the Piazza we went to had an interesting mix of old and new buildings. The place was loaded with high end shopping that we did not enter. There were also a lot of restaurants. Jack was a little disappointed that they were all Italian. He was hoping for food more representative of Switzerland. Even though we were in Switzerland, everyone speaks Italian and the food was all Italian. They did have chocolate shops. We each had a chocolate dessert with lunch and passed on loading up on chocolates. The other indication that we were in Switzerland was that the currency was Swiss Francs. We didn't have any but fortunately, Visa does. Half of Lake Lugano is in Switzerland and the other half is in Italy.

We enjoyed walking along the lake and walked in one of the nearby parks that housed Herman Hesse's museum. The whole area is very nice but a little large for our taste. This is a city where people live and work which was nice to experience for a change. There were some tourists but it wasn't overrun which was also nice. 

                                                        the top of Monte San Salvatore






                                            Stop for an American and a cappucinno 



history of the church


                                                On top of the world

                                                        Lugano








                                            old and new mix, I prefer the old



                                            Herman Hesse Museum
                                                        park on Lake Lugano

                                        Random Sculpture-it is huge
Painting being completed at the ferry station across from our hotel. We saw her start this with a couple of the bricks around the edge.









Comments

  1. Mary DegelmanOctober 24, 2024 at 5:56 AM

    Tackling those fears head on allowed an awesome experience. I was wondering if you were going to get into Switzerland since it looked so close. Experiencing some of the normalcy of life there added to your overall connection with the culture you have encountered so far this trip. It's too bad you couldn't get Swiss food but fantastic that you got some of the chocolate.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 24, 2024 at 3:24 PM

    So glad you went into Switzerland and tackled those stairs. Breathtt! (Helen)

    ReplyDelete

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