"This lake [Como] exceeds anything I ever beheld in beauty." Mary Shelley
I do not attempt what James describes as the impossible, but I do appreciate remembering the details of my travels and for this reason am posting on my blog, where I can not only record those memories, but include photos to share. I will warn you that this post is largely for my own record-keeping and the details may be treacherous to plow through, so please enjoy the photos and skim at your leisure!
Jeremy doesn’t have many breaks in his school schedule over the 3 year period of grad school. Even his summers are filled up with clinical internships. We are really trying to make the most of every break he gets, and have set a goal to have at least one “big” trip each year. Along with rent and Jer's tuition, traveling is a financial priority for us. If you see my car, you’ll understand what I’m talking about. Last year was Jeremy’s dream trip to Costa Rica. This year for spring break we went on a vacation that I had been dreaming up for the past year. We went to Europe, to experience what I’m convinced are some of the most beautiful places on earth. Luckily neither of us has any problem fulfilling each other’s dreams this way! I was so excited for Jeremy to experience Europe for the first time. I scheduled some of the time in places I had already been and fallen in love with, because I wanted to share those places with Jeremy, but we also went places I have never been. We flew in and out of Milan, Italy (2 different airports, and we never really spent time in the city itself). Our first stop was the Italian/Swiss lakes of Lugano, Maggiore, and Como. We then headed down south to the French island of Corsica and then back inland to Tuscany and Umbria to spend our final days. Having taken classes in both Italian and French in the past, the language center of my brain was throwing sparks trying to flip back and forth between the languages. I think the result usually ended up being sentences like,”Je voudrais changer la prenotazione per la voiture ritourner a quinze heure e mezzo invece huit heure.” Of course this was followed by blank stares as the receptionist tried to piece what words she could understand from that into some sort of clear statement. Instead of my language skills improving, I’m now left completely muddled as to which vocabulary in my head is French and which is Italian. Anyway, we got by.
Since we had only a limited amount of time, we kept our travels to a pretty small geographical area and I worked really hard to plan everything out so that things went smoothly and we didn’t waste time figuring out the logistics while we were over there.
Friday, April 6th: Our Flight
Emily dropped us off at the San Francisco international terminal at about 5 pm and we checked in without problem (only a little annoyed that the seat selection we had made online, with tons of leg room got taken by a family with small children). But all in all, I have to say, British Airways is the way to go. Our flight was direct from SFO to London Heathrow. We were served a really pretty decent fish meal (complete with a snack sized Crunchie bar) and enjoyed the delights of our own personal TV with a selection of like 30 movies. And they weren’t crap movies! I watched The Queen and then used the eye shades and ear plugs they passed out to sleep quite peacefully until we were over England. I highly recommend seat #29A on BA overseas flights. Lots of legroom. Jeremy wasn’t so lucky and didn’t sleep much, but this worked out to his advantage in the end.
Saturday, April 7: London- Milan-Lugano
Our short layover in London was quite thrilling to me because I got to go to the shops and indulge in all my favorite Brit treats. Memories flooded back just seeing aisles of British goods, British brands, funny Brit lingo. I promptly selected Walker’s Salt and Vinegar chips, a pack of hula hoops, Rowntree’s fruit gums, and a toffee crisp.
Our next flight from Heathrow to Milan Malpensa was quite short and we got sore necks from craning to see out the windows of both sides of the plane as we flew over the Swiss Alps and tried to identify rivers in France etc. We touched down at Malpensa at about 5 pm. We headed straight for our luggage and found that security is fairly lax in Italy. They didn’t even look at our faces to see if they matched our passports! We marched on through, grabbed our bags in record time, got ripped off at the airport money exchange office, bought our shuttle tickets and promptly found our Star Bus shuttle destined for Lugano, Switzerland. We flew into this airport because of its proximity to the Italian Lakes. It was only an hour drive to Lugano. Jeremy had been feeling like it was so surreal that he was actually in Europe, and I could sense his disappointment as we drove through the Milan suburbs. That area is quite industrialized and represents none of the romantic ideal that is Italy. As he looked out the windows of the shuttle I could just see his little brain thinking, “What is the big deal about Italy? We might as well have gone to Fresno!” But as we passed through a tunnel into the Como area I watched his eyes widen. The transition was incredible from silk industry buildings and ugliness to mountainous landscape towering over a sparkling Lake Como; the buildings classy and picturesque. As we approached the Swiss border, our shuttle stopped but to our surprise the border patrol waved us on through without checking our passports (so different to what we’re used to!!)
We got dropped off in what seemed to be a pretty random location in Lugano, and random it was. I had seen a sign pointing in the direction of the train station and I knew our hostel was on a hill above the train station, so we started in that direction. We were quite hungry, carrying 50 lb packs, Jeremy was sleep deprived, and it was getting dark. Eventually it became clear that we were quite lost. The map in our travel book only showed a small section of Lugano. Eventually we happened upon a lit display of the town map and Jeremy’s affinity for maps and figuring out directions was put to good use. We found our place, Hotel Montarina, without incident after walking another 15 minutes. When we got to the place the receptionist informed me that our reservation had been cancelled because we hadn’t showed up by 6 pm or called to confirm that we were on our way. She said that it was clearly explained on our reservation email. I pulled it out of my chronologically organized reservations folder and showed her that it in fact wasn’t explained. Turns out that amidst all the English, there was a random German sentence on there, explaining this rule. She was slightly abashed. I don’t know what the big deal was anyway, because luckily for us they still had room. We stowed our stuff in the lockers and then set out to get some food. By this time it was almost 10 pm. The receptionist had told us that the major grocery stores would be closed by now, and the next day too since it was Easter.
We went to the train station grocery store and grabbed some bread, cheese, yogurt, muesli and bananas. Jeremy was so excited to try Swiss yogurt. It was hilarious watching him ogle over the vast selection that even this small store offered. We walked into the main part of town a little way and found a beautiful little spot that I later deemed my favorite corner of Lugano. It was enchanting that night, but continued to make me happy over the next 3 days every time we passed it during the day.
Jeremy was not disappointed by the yogurt. We filled our bellies and then walked around town a little more. As we headed back to the hotel we heard a choir coming from one of the churches.
We ducked into the church and stayed a while listening to the Easter eve program. Upon our return to the hotel Jeremy crashed, but I lay awake for a while. It hadn’t been that long since I had slept on the plane to London. Eventually I got to sleep but then awoke again at 2:30 am and couldn’t sleep again for 2 hours.
Sunday, April 8: Lugano, Switzerland
Easter morning was beautiful. We were thrilled by what we saw in daylight. We were awake before anything was open so we went on an easy jog around the town to get our bearings and see what this place had to offer. The town and gardens were gorgeous. Both of us were completely content. Flowers and tree blossoms were in full bloom, at their prime--not still peeping out of their shell, but also not even close to having that wrinkled, weathered look that flowers acquire towards the end of their short lifespan.
When we returned to our place we showered and dressed for the day and headed down to the main town square (Piazza della Riforma). The Lugano philharmonic was playing for Easter and there was also a market of fresh foods. We had previewed some of the goods offered on our earlier exploration, and were anxious to taste the wares of the Luganese. We weren’t disappointed with our Bombolino(?) (Italian donut), our pizzetta or our pain au chocolat. We also bought some salami, cheese and bread to take for a picnic. The philharmonic orchestra in the town square set the perfect tone for this classy town. My heart was quite carried away. I also got a kick out of watching a little Swiss boy wielding a plastic guitar, trying to go up and join the orchestra playing. His mom had to keep running after him to keep him off stage. He soon became satisfied by standing just beside the stage strumming away.
We had decided that today we would walk up Monte Bre, one of the foothills of the Alps in town. Upon leaving the marketplace I was delighted and enchanted by this Haribo stand. I love gummis, and this stand had it all. I selected some lovely little morsels and along we went.
The flowers continued to dazzle us, along with some funny little vehicles, so typical of Europe. I was quite taken aback by this futuristic sink/ toilet combo available for public use. It was sparkling clean and I couldn’t get over the cleverness/ resourcefulness and having the sink basin and toilet be one and the same! Jeremy was a little grossed out.
We enjoyed seeing all the different beautiful houses on the trek up Monte Bre and fantasized the whole way up about our vacation home we would like to have here. My favorite home was made of stone work that had been shaved smooth. It had huge windows looking out over the lake and valley, and a balcony and garden on the roof!
The top of Monte Bre had excellent views, but a funny bright mist that hung over made the photos unable to do it justice. We ate our little picnic on the top and found it quite difficult to manage our little stick of salami without a knife. I have to say, chunks of salami aren’t nearly as appetizing as fine slices.
Wandering through the small village of Monte Bre was a highlight of the day, as this town has works of art scattered throughout for the public’s enjoyment. The village in itself was lovely, surrounded by peaks, with the lake below.
We descended the mountain but decided to branch off at one point in search of a place called Parco degli Ulivi or the Park of the Olives. It is a place that has a little subtropical microclimate of its own, where all types of plants are able to grow. As we walked towards where we thought it was we realized that we were also on a trail to the village of Gandria, which is next to Lugano. So after passing through the gardens we just kept on going. The main part of this town is only accessible by foot and boat. It is right on the water—quaint, serene and virtually silent. We decided against wearing our feet down to stubs on our first full day, and planned to take the ferry service back to Lugano. While waiting for the next ferry to come we walked around some more, sat on a bench and soaked up the peace that this little village offered. I loved the picture perfect view of this town from the water.
We also enjoyed the different vantage point of looking at Lugano from the water. As we walked back into Lugano from the ferry ride we passed some local men playing a huge chess game. Where does one purchase chess pieces this big?
We also treated ourselves to a chocolate crepe, and I was maybe a little more excited than I should have been to see my family’s traditional Easter egg dying method on display at the crepe stand. It was evidence of what we’d always been taught—that our natural method of egg dying came from our Swiss ancestors (Toblers). When we got back to the hotel we went out onto the hotel balcony and ate a dinner of muesli and yogurt—simple but nourishing and delicious. We were so tired after a long day and fell asleep quite easily. But I awoke again at 2:30 am and lay awake a while, but it took a little less time to fall back asleep.
Monday, April 9: Lugano- Bellinzona-Locarno-Lugano
The next day was Easter Monday, another holiday in Switzerland. A lot of stores are closed the streets are much less busy on holidays. We had decided that this day we would take the train up to Bellinzona to see the UNESCO-protected site of the 3 castles. But first we went down to Piazza della Riforma to get more breakfast pastries, bread and cheese for lunch. This time we remembered to pack our knife. Bellinzona was about 30 minutes away by train. It was quite a scenic train ride with nice views of the green valleys and surrounding peaks. After getting off at Bellinzona we found the first castle, Castello Grande, without problem.
I thought the structure of this castle was simply lovely, with a tower section and long thin walkway/ underground tunnel out to one side. There was a nice vineyard just off of it and below. We cracked up that there were apartment buildings merely feet away from this structure. How would it be to be a kid with a real castle in your back yard? I loved the views of the 2 other castles, although the bright sun made it so photos were unable to do it justice.
After exploring the first castle to our heart’s content we descended the hill to check out the town. We looked in the church off the central piazza and then walked down the street to see some more historic buildings. This town seemed somewhat abandoned since it was Easter Monday. Most of the shops were closed and there were few people out and about. We passed a lone gelato shop as we walked down the street and decided that now was the right time for Jeremy to taste his first authentic gelato. We waited in line behind some 12-13 year old kids who bought 2 huge tubs of gelato costing 50 Francs ($40). Later we laughed as we saw them on a bench finishing off the last bites. What a lunch.
Jeremy was blown away by his introduction to gelato. He got coconut (“this is insane,”) and thoroughly enjoyed it, along with the interestingly spelled graffiti next to the shop. I found my lemon to be quite refreshing on such a warm day.
We hiked up to the next beautiful castle. This castle had a couple interesting drawbridges. As we hiked up towards the third castle we continued to be thrilled by the perfect weather, the greenery and the blossoms that were everywhere. I fell in love with one particular peak that you could from everywhere in this town. The timing of this trip could not have worked out better.
After visiting the 3rd and smallest castle we sat down to our picnic lunch outside a funny little hut next to the castle.
On the way back down the hill I noticed wild chestnuts on the ground everywhere and was able to peel and eat a couple. We debated on what to do next, considering sticking around to watch the finals of a soccer tournament (which happened to be hosting the Santa Cruz team) in Bellinzona or go to see another Swiss town on a different lake –Locarno on the banks of Lago Maggiore. We decided upon the latter and bought a ticket up to Locarno, returning to Lugano.
Our first priority for Locarno was to hike up to the Chiesa Santa Margherita, high up on a hill overlooking the town and lake. After a couple wrong turns we eventually found it and were quite taken by the majesty and deep color of this building.
The views from the church were just as exciting.
We enjoyed sitting in on the mass that was taking place. I was pleased that I was able to understand some of the Italian sermon. Because this church is so high up the hill, there is a funicular train that runs up from the town. We found that in this mountainous region it was common for a town to have 2 or 3 of these. It allows the citizens to not be dependent on a car for transportation. Apart from the steep hills these towns were very walkable.
After descending into town we walked around a bit, seeing some interesting buildings and churches.
We were also scoping out the restaurant and gelato scene since our tummies were growling. We enjoyed the lighting of the setting sun on the lake.
We found a restaurant right across the street from the water’s edge—Lagolungo. It was a lively place full of locals (just as our tour book had described). We were initially seated outside but then realized that everyone around us was smoking so ended up sitting inside. It wasn’t as scenic or breezy inside but we enjoyed watching the cooks toss the pizza dough, spread the delicious ingredients and shovel them into the wood-burning oven. Jeremy ordered a pizza with hot peppers and olives. I ordered pumpkin (zucca) gnocchi topped with porcini mushrooms in a buttery sauce. Both were delicious. The gnocchi melted in my mouth. Jeremy was a little uncomfortable at first with the European custom of having to ask for your check and we ended up waiting quite a while to see if she would just bring it.
After dinner we walked a little further by the lake’s edge and then returned to the central piazza to get the gelato we had been eyeing earlier.
I was thrilled to get my favorite flavor—melone (cantaloupe). Jeremy was hooked on coconut and found this one enjoyable, but it didn’t measure up to his first. There’s nothing like the first time...when it comes to real gelato, that is.
We walked along the lake again in the opposite direction and then headed to the train station. We transferred trains in Bellinzona and shared the car with a group of profane army boys. We returned to Lugano and our hotel once again beat, but very satisfied.
Tuesday, April 10: Lugano- Menaggio, Italy- Como- Savona
We knew we needed to arise early to pack up and go into town for food and to change money before catching our bus to Menaggio to catch the Lake Como ferry to the town of Como, from where we had train tickets.
Now that it was no longer a holiday we were able to get some picnic wares at a dream-like deli. We saw what I’m sure had to be the biggest salami in the world.
Jeremy picked our goods (I always enjoyed hearing him try to use his Spanish with Italian speakers) while I went off to the bank to get some Euros since we would be crossing back into Italy. Jeremy came back with some gorgeous bread, cheese and salami. We also bought some beautiful cherry tomatoes from the produce market (came straight from the garden).
We had wanted to go to a Swiss grocery store to buy some chocolate bars, and I had remembered Emily’s ardour for a chain called Migros. There happened to be one close to where we needed to catch the bus to Mennagio. We bought some apples, yogurt, chocolate bars and bread with our remaining Swiss francs. We were cutting it a little close but still had 20 minutes until the bus. We were a little nervous because we knew the area, but not the exact pick-up spot that we would be picked up. It was in the same random area in which we were dropped off.
As we headed to that spot, thinking we would see the bus from there, I saw a blue bus (as this bus had been described) on the opposite side of a huge parking lot from where we were. I started walking towards it with Jeremy following not too far behind. We still had 15 minutes until bus departure but as I walked I saw the bus doors close and the bus start to pull out. I broke out into a sprint (well, as much of a sprint as I could muster with the big pack). Luckily, the driver noticed me and slowed down before pulling out of sight. “L’autobus a Menaggio?” I panted. “Si, si!” Why they were leaving so early, I don’t know. I was just grateful we made it. We couldn’t have arrived at that parking lot 2 seconds later than we did. We knew we needed this bus because the ferry ride down Lake Como was 2 hours long, we had train reservations at 3:30 pm, and could not take a later train because we had an overnight ferry to Corsica with non-refundable reservations and infrequent trips.
It was with great relief that we took our seats in that bus, relaxed and munched on our Migros breakfast. The bus ride was great with some interesting maneuvering through narrow town streets along the way. It was quite the process when our bus encountered another bus of even greater size coming the opposite direction. This time as we crossed the border into Italy, there were officers who checked our passports.
In the little time we had in Menaggio, we found it to be quite charming and beautiful.
Our ferry ride down the enormous Lake Como was a perfect opportunity to relax and enjoy the scenery. There were some spectacular homes and interesting lakeside towns. Each seemed to have a character of its own—from the uppity Bellagio to the few that had colorful tenements terraced up the foothills. I couldn’t help but keep my eyes peeled for George Clooney. No sightings to report, but I had a couple guesses as to which home might be his.
The town of Como was quite nice – we only spent time within the old town walls. There was a market full of delicious-looking goods in the square right off the ferry port. But we already had our picnic and quickly found a waterfront park bench on which to enjoy. This was our tastiest picnic yet. The dream-deli did not disappoint and those cherry tomatoes were absolutely bursting with juice and flavor (sounds like a starburst commercial). The nutritionist in me felt a little more at peace with diet having included some vegetables for the first time in 3 days. The park in which we ate had an impressive structure dedicated to Como’s own Alessandro Volta, inventor of the battery. We found several streets, piazzas and statues honoring him throughout the town. We saw much of this town in our quest to find a restroom. It took a while but eventually we found a place. We took turns ditching our packs with the other and ducked into a restaurant. We managed to use the toilet undetected since most of the restaurant servers and patrons were in the outside eating area quite a ways from the dining room and kitchen. We were then able to enjoy the town much more comfortably. We were impressed by the town’s duomo (cathedral) but it was unfortunately closed at the time of our approach.
I bought some gelato (perhaps Jeremy feared he had already had the best) and then we headed in the direction of the train station, which was adorned by a pair of giant hands (see tiny Jeremy in the background).
We had no problems picking up our reserved tickets and finding our seats. I spent most of the train ride reading up on the highlights of the places we would be traveling in Corsica. We switched trains in Milano Centrale and went on to Savona. During a long stop in Genoa I became alarmed when I noticed that the train number had changed. I wasn’t sure if we were supposed to change trains again in Genoa but reasoned that we would have been issued a third ticket. As the train pulled away (in what seemed to be the opposite direction of where we should have been heading) I clarified the route with some friendly Germans who were familiar with the area. Phew. We were on the right train.
The port towns and areas surrounding were nothing to write home about. So I didn’t. And I won’t. The Savona train station was a wreck. There were only like 2 people in the building and the whole front entrance and pick-up area was closed down for renovation. I knew that there was supposed to be a shuttle from Corsica ferries coming by the train station 1 hour before departure (8 pm) but I had no idea where. It seemed the most logical place would be the front of the train station, which didn’t exist. I asked around a bit in broken Italian and finally a policeman showed us where he thought it was. Still nervous and skeptical, we were relieved to see a shuttle bus pull up. It was unlabelled, but upon inquiry our hopes were confirmed that this was our ride. We were starving at this point, and concerned about getting dinner before our ferry embarked. I had been hoping there would be a little pizzeria close to the station but no such luck. It was a good thing we hadn’t missed our shuttle, because there is no way we could have got there walking. It was quite a ways. When we drew close to the ferry port we were impressed by the enormous ferries, or cruise ships, rather waiting to embark. We were even more shocked to learn that one of them was ours!!
When expressing our concern about dinner the shuttle driver and ticketman assured us that there was plenty to eat on the ferry. I was blown away by this ship. It was so fancy and huge! It was like a small town. It had a movie theater, playground for kids, restaurants, piano bars, pool, a few other bars, disco, etc. A lot of those novelties weren’t running because we were traveling in the off-season. The ship felt nearly empty, it’s true. We had saved a lot of money by foregoing getting a cabin. We had our sleeping bags and sleeping pads so were excited, but a little nervous to sleep on the deck. But we soon realized we didn’t have to sleep outside—quite cool on the ocean and potentially wet. There were some padded benches to the rear of the ship and we were happy to notice we weren’t the only ones too cheap to get a cabin. People were saving the padded benches by laying out their sleeping bags. So we rolled ours out too. It was a great spot, right by some very clean bathrooms where we could brush our teeth, wash our face and change. There were also electricity outlets where we could charge our camera battery. It was a little annoying to have to carry our stuff around with us while we were still awake, but definitely worth the savings. We ate a decent meal in the cafeteria and I felt like an excited child exploring the ship and then watching the bubbles from the propellers turn in the water as we pulled out into the night sea. I loved the thought of traveling across the sea at night. I loved staring at the sea, which was dark as the sky above but distinguishable from reflective light from the ship. It was a little creepy, but thrilling to imagine all the creatures down beneath that dark water, even though I was completely secure up on the deck of the ship. Jeremy enjoyed a hot chocolate on the deck while I stared off over the sea and looked at the stars. It felt so magical to me.
I loved that we were in sleeping bags on the ferry. I drowned out the instrumental music playing over the speakers with earplugs, and blocked the lights with my eyeshades (courtesy of British Airways) and was able to sleep very well. The next morning we emerged out on deck to a beautiful sunrise, and watched the boat pull closer to the island of Corsica.
