Lugano, Switzerland
/Following our month long excursion in Italy, Samantha and I headed north to the lakeside town of Lugano in Switzerland. We stayed with my friend James' parents, who both work at a school there (The American School in Switzerland). They have a lovely basement apartment and were gracious enough to let us stay for a while. I love having dinner with Samantha every night, but it was really nice to have a few more English speakers around to dine with! They also were able to suggest some really lovely restaurants and hikes to really soak in the culture.
We spent one day here wandering through the downtown area and then taking a walk along the lake to a cute little town of Gandria. We even found a little craft brewery on the lake and stopped by for a few pints. We also spent a day travelling to Bellinzona, about 30 minutes away, to check out three medieval castles. Unfortunately we left the camera at home and don't have any evidence of the trip. On our final day here, we drove about an hour into the mountains to the Valle Verzasca. On our way up we saw the dam from the opening scene of Goldeneye, which was super cool. The Valle Verzasca is a river valley up in the mountains. We brought a picnic with us and ate alone the river, then spent a few hours scrambling on the rocks along the river. There are some really beautiful waterfalls along the way, and an old Roman bridge where we watched some locals jump into the river below, probably about 30-40ft.
We were so thankful James put us in touch with his parents because we likely would never have seen this beautiful area. Enjoy the photos below! Next up, Germany!
