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Published: March 7th 2007
Wknd #2: Lugano, Switzerland! No matter how much fun it is to live and work in the city, I always come back to my Maine roots in the end... I love the mountains and the lake and air that smells fresh. For these reasons, I absolutely adored my time in Lugano. That, and also my sweet (and handsome for all you single ladies!) host, Constantin. Constantin is from Germany and was an exchange student in my home town. Although I was in college at that time, he became close friends with my brother. He's studying economics and business and is abroad in Lugano (1 hour from Milan by train) this past semester.
Because everyone finished exams the day before I arrived, everyone was still in the mood to party. Sooooo, have a perfect meal of pizza and wine, I got snazzed up
stilettos and all. That was around 9pm. We walked to the university party which was actually in the university next to the computer lab that had a deck overlooking the lake. No one was there yet, so we (Constantin and about 6 of his friends) proceeded to walk about 15-20min part way up a mtn
on the way up
love the contrast of the swiss flag in this one...to his friend's house. There, I learned how to make "the perfect cuba libre"... the secret is... actually, I'm not telling... we'll make one together. We ended up going back to the university and then to a Discoteque where we danced until it they kicked us out around 4am. Then, we walked to another bar and did more dancing and before I knew it, it was almost 6am and my freaking feet in my STILETTOS were about to fall off. omg. this was SERIOUS! ha... well maybe not that serious, but I can tell you, I have never been happier to take off my shoes...
OH! and something else random! At the discoteque, a friend of cons' friend came up to me without warning and deliberately dumped half his drink down my shirt! Ummmmm, what the heck? what kind of drink was it? still don't know the answer to that... only that it didn't stain one of my favorite shirts, thank goodness. but yeah, interesting.
Also, I discovered that one of Cons' friends was leaving sunday in a real retro VW shaggin wagon! light blue, scobby do style. HOT STUFF.
Despite a *very* eventful night/early AM, we
me and my hiking buddy
fantastic view of the city of Lugano down below. we're on the way up... were up by noon and proceeded to hike up Mt. Bre, the tallest one in Lugano (912m, about 3000ft). The day was perfect for hiking: gorgeous and sunny with a breeze, and a temperate climate. Because part of the city of Lugano is essentially built into the mountain, the hike consisted of tons of stairs, some winding around the road, and some trail stuff... amazing views of the lakes and snow capped mountains in the distance. Initially our pace was such that we kept commenting on how Justin (my younger bro) would be disappointed how slow we were after one night of drinking. So we became our own cheerleaders and kept on trecking. All in all, it was about a 5 hour, 10 mile journey. The pictures don't do it justice, but they're still so beautfiul!
On Sunday the weather was again gorgeous, so we walked around part of the lake to some surrounding towns. Truth be told, we were planning to go to a place that had a "mini Switzerland" in model form... so we walked all the way there, maybe 3 miles or so, and the damn place was closed for construction. We were PISSED! So we
walked to the lake and watched the swans instead 😊 There was also some big time bike race, so we caught a bunch of that as well.
And what would a trip be if I wasn't living on the edge and running to the train in order to make it. No fun, right? ha. yeah, so we ran up the hill to the train station and I did make the train. I didn't get SEARCHED by the freakin border patrol this time like on the way over (yep, the sifted through my suitcase right there on the train!), but lots of dogs came on- drug search, I guess? Anyway, I listened to my new Italian music on the way back and read my book,
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver yes, so I had a wonderful, refreshing time in Switzerland and can't wait to go back... hopefully MANY times in the future.
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Lori
non-member comment
Frickin funny!
What a great story! Gee, I wonder why the guy spilled a drink on the front of your shirt...self-explanatory! The pictures are beautiful!