Advertisement
Published: December 1st 2008
035 - Switzerland - Lugano
11/12/08 - 11/22/08
Banking with the Brooks in the land of chocolate watches
Okay, the title is misleading since we didn't really do any banking, eat any chocolate, or buy any watches... but we did hang out with our friends Jane and Darren Brooks, and newly born Matthew, a.k.a. 'Lil' Baby Nug', in scenic Lugano, Switzerland.
First, Hannah and I flew into Milan and unanimously decided that Italy IS our favorite European country. People are what make a place for us, and Italians are the type of people we love: friendly, warm, grateful, and with an exubarance for life that is unique from other European countries we've been to. We only spent a couple of days in Milan but here are some photo highlights: click
here. Lugano is a short hop from Milan and, although located in Switzerland, people speak Italian. Of the four official Swiss languages (German, French, Italian, Romansh) Hannah and I comprehend and speak a bit of Italian so it was nice to practice our language skills.
Lugano is located right next to a lake and a couple of mountains and, much like many cities in Switzerland,
makes for some amazing views. Sadly, the people aren't nearly as warm as Italians (especially to foreigners) and the prices are about double those of the States. Luckily, Jane and Darren let us stay with them so we saved on the exorbitant hotel costs.
We checked out a large dam that was used in the bungee jumping opening sequence of the James Bond flick Goldeneye. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it!) the company that offers the 220 meter bungee jump was closed for the winter so neither of us were tempted into jumping!
Hannah and I also checked out Zurich, the banking capital of Switzerland, on a two day excursion from Lugano. The temperatures were low (just above freezing) but the city was full of energy and life. If you want to live in a big city in Switzerland, this is probably your best bet.
Back in Lugano Jane and Darren took us to an amazing gourmet restaurant called 'Seven' that made for one of the best meals we've had on our trip so far, and probably one of the best of our lives. The dishes were extraordinary and were matched by a
fantastic presentation. Some of the more exotic plates were made with grilled horse meat, wild deer, scallops in a mushroom sandwich, and my personal favorite dessert: ice-cream wrapped in the shape of a cigar with ground tobacco and served over a custom ashtray with a shot of single malt whiskey! It was phenomenal, and Jane and Darren graciously covered the tab that would have otherwise set us back a few weeks on our backpacker's budget!! Thanks guys!!
We said goodbye to the Brooks and flew back to Athens for a couple of days of wrapping up our Greece experience. After over two months of living in Athens, I'll certainly miss hanging out with Yiayia and the rest of my family, but it's time to move on.
Next, we take advantage of a 'free' stop in Cyprus in order to spend a few days with my uncle Mike and his family on our way to Israel. Next stop, Lefkosia, Cyprus!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.179s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 7; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0656s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
DB
non-member comment
Please come back
This is Darren and Jane - let me say to anyone that has Nico and Hannah come visit them, that you are in for a treat. They are the best house guests and we enjoyed every minute with them. I'm sure Nico's family in Greece did not want to let them go. Neither did we! We all had a blast, even little Nugs. PS - Nugs is short for Nugget, which was Matthew's "official" name prior to being born - looks like it is a name that has stuck! Have fun in Cypress!