We have mainly lucked out with the weather during our stay in Lugano, Switzerland. The only exception was our arrival and departure nights, when it rained heavily. It wasn’t a problem for our departure night, because we were content to stay in the hotel, packing and resting. Arrival night, however, was another story. After checking into our hotel, we took a brief orientation walk. We got DRENCHED! No photos — just imagine what 15 wet rats looked like!
Luckily, the next morning was breathtakingly gorgeous, so Susan and I took advantage of our group’s 10 AM departure to take an early morning walk around Lake Lugano.
But wait…I almost forgot about our drive TO Lugano. As is usually the case with OAT trips, our drive was broken up by stops in interesting places. The first was Candelo, a very old walled village that was used as a refuge and to store food should marauding bands try to rape, pillage and plunder. Today, it is a refuge for shoppers and hungry travelers.
Our next stop was this small winery. If my sister, Sandy had been with us, she would have instantly fallen in love with the owner before the end of the tour.
As for me, I was far more interested in the wine and its beautiful labels.
Of the four wines we tasted, my favorite was the last — the Gattinara, of which the winery only makes 3,000 bottles per year.
I decided it was the perfect gift for my favorite chef. When I get back to New Jersey, he promised to delight me with his excellent polenta, which is far more delicious than any a I’ve had here in Italy.
So once we got to Lugano. How did we spend our time?
One day, we hiked along the “olive trail”, a beautiful , narrow mountain path along the lake. It was well worth climbing the 270 steps (yes, I counted, but only the steps UP; like my Apple Watch, I figured the down steps weren’t worth counting). Our reward? Four different kinds of chocolate, supplied by Luca.
According to my Apple Watch, I climbed the equivalent of 28 flights of stairs that day! (Thank you, Somerset Hills YMCA).
This isn’t a great photo, but I’m including it because Luca told us that on the OAT trip he guided last summer, the travelers stripped to their underwear and jumped into the lake right here! I imagine that was quite a sight. Fortunately, it wasn’t so hot, and I suspect none of our group was so inclined.
Good thing, because we wouldn’t have had time to dry off before our funicular ride to the very top of Monte Bre.
To be more accurate, we actually rode TWO funiculars to get to the top, where we enjoyed this majestic view ( and of course, took a group photo).
Jodie and Dan very graciously shared the food they had purchased earlier at the supermarket in town with Susan, Luca and I. To walk off the calories, we strolled down and back to the villa we spotted below.
I know everyone is curious about the day’s step count: 21,157 steps, just a hair under 10 miles!
For our last full day in Lugano , 8 of us chose to take the optional trip to Lake Como. This was a particularly great day for me, because our ferry sailed by Tremezzo. Let me tell you, I was absolutely thrilled that I remember — and spotted the hotel where I stayed in 2018!
I recognized the hotel’s tower, which brought back memories of our wonderful trip to the Dolomites before Covid rocked our world. If you are interested, click on the underlined word in the paragraph above to access the 2018 post, which includes a photo of the tower’s interior.
THIS time, we visited a different villa, the Villa del Balbianello.
This absolutely gorgeous villa was the setting for scenes in Casino Royale and Star Wars II.
It is also a very popular spot for photos, with the “models” queuing up, patiently waiting for their turn, including these ladies. It wasn’t hard to figure out which was the photographer and which was the photographed.
There was a bit of drama, when a photographer asked a bystander to move out of the background. I was relieved to hear that the entitled, bitchy bystander had a German accent, not an American one, when she berated the photographer for what I considered to be a polite, reasonable request.
The last owner, Guido Monzino, never married, so he bequeathed the villa and its contents to the Italian National Trust when he died in 1988.
Our tour ended with an incredibly delicious lunch, that was SO filling, that even I who never misses a meal, skipped dinner that night.
These last photos are designed to have you scratching your heads, thinking “what the …”
Here’s the story. I had thought that the shower head was in the same position I’d left it the day before. But no. The maid had turned it so it faced the ceiling. As a result, the entire bathroom got drenched, including the floor, door, mirror, toilet seat, etc. What a memorable way to end my stay in Lugano!
Destination NOW 