June 9 - Undefeated Lugano Lakers! and few last thoughts....

On Saturday, June 8, the Lugano Lakers senior team played the Zug bouncers. This was a make up game from April 20th, because there was too much snow on the field back then! The field was in a park area which didn't have any specific parking available. I rode with the team on the bus - a full size comfortable tour bus. He followed the GPS to the address, which brought us to a dead end street with a few wagons being pulled by horses to give families a ride. This was a narrow street, with cars parked on one side, and also periodic parts of the sidewalk jutting out into the street to slow down cars. There was no place to turn the bus around. Our poor bus driver had to back the bus up almost 2 blocks. The guys in the back of the bus watched out the window for obstacles. Success!

It was a warm, sunny day, so while the team was warming up before the game, I hopped on the train nearby for a couple of stops into downtown Zug. Rick and I were here earlier in the year. It wasn't the best day to walk around Zug. Not only was it hot, but it seemed like there was a children's triathlon going on which made for a quite a maze to get around. Back at the field I enjoyed a great game in which the Lakers won 33-21! The senior team took the bus home, and I chose to take the train. I would have been the only girl on the bus, no coaches, just the guys.

The juniors had a game today, June 9, in Geneva. Not exactly right down the street. After the Zug game Saturday evening, the coaches drove to Geneva where they met the junior team to spend the night. I got a message from Rick after the game that they won 23-13! Both teams are undefeated. Yeah!

So I am spending the day packing to go home. A real trick since Swiss International airlines only lets you bring an 8 kilo carry on and only 1 checked bag! Fortunately we are going to be able to leave some things here, as we will try to come back next year for the Laker team.

A couple last minute thoughts about life in Switzerland. Here in Pregassona (as it is in many towns in Switzerland), the church bells ring - not each hour, but they ring for about 20 gongs, at 6:30am. This is a tradition from earlier days when there were just farmers who didn't own a beautiful Swiss watch. The bells served to wake them up to work on their farms. I don't understand why this can't be changed, since there are no farmers left within earshot of the bells. Thankfully my earplugs kept me from waking up at 6:30 every day! Now, by contrast, the grammar school across the street, instead of having a typical school bell ring at 8:30, it is a very quiet and pleasant ding-dong-ding. But who cares that the school bell is soft and unobtrusive? Everyone has been awake since 6:30!

We have also noticed that people will still throw garbage on the ground. This is real sad, since this is such a beautiful country, and Swiss homes are traditionally spotless. But there are cigarette cartons (they totally smoke too much), cigarette butts, candy wrappers, bottles, newspaper, etc. scattered here and there in the city. I would love to see this mentality change - it's so uncalled for. This is typically just in the cities and not in the countryside.

So I am ready to go home. I can't wait to get back to: my family, microwave, garbage disposal, 24 hour grocery store, stores open on Sunday and holidays, my building's elevator, a CAR, our DVR (I keep wanting to rewind the live TV here), my bed, and as I think of anything else for final thoughts, I will surely add them!

Arrivederci Ticino! See you next year!

June 7 - our time almost coming to a close....

Our last days in Lugano..... we have met with friends for lunch, dinner, aperativos, or for coffee. I need to go on a diet, seriously. This past week has been the longest stretch of decent weather since we arrived, but it is time to go home. With the nice weather I think of so many places I would like to hike, but it's time to clean and pack and also time for us to chill out and enjoy the moments.

Nevertheless, we will have a busy weekend! Tomorrow we will travel to Zug, to play a football game for the juniors that was cancelled in April due to too much snow on the field. Then on Sunday there is a game in Geneva for the seniors. Both of these will be tough games. A lot of traveling before our Monday morning departure. Another reason it was important to relax and chill this week!

Here are a few pictures from this past week.

On one of our walks.... the flowers are so beautiful. These were growing in someone's garden.

While eating dinner on our balcony the other day, I noticed hang gliders floating around Monte Bre. This is the first time I've ever noticed them on a mountain here in Lugano!

The hang gliders were landing in a field just downhill from our house. We went over to watch!

Last Thursday we were given a tour of the TV studio for the Italian canton of Ticino. It is located in Comano, which is the town we lived in for a year, 8 years ago. One of the coaches of the Lugano Lakers works there. Here we are in one of the control rooms. (then I was told not to take pictures).

June 1-2 Weekend in Glarus, team pizza party

This past weekend I visited a friend in Glarus, Switzerland. If anyone has been watching the news, there has been so much rain in Europe and many places began to flood this weekend. We were actually having a sunny, warm weekend south of the Alps in Lugano, but my plans took me to rainy Glarus!

In the meantime, the Lugano Lakers had a football game in St. Gallen, which is north of Glarus. Originally we were going to go to Glarus after the game, but plans got all messed up so just I went to Glarus by train and didn't attend the game. Good thing.... the team rode up to the other end of Switzerland, played 1 quarter of the game in the rain (and were winning, 16-0), when a player hurt his ankle. Under Swiss rules, a doctor has to be present at each game. The doctor was there at the beginning of the game, but when the player got hurt early in the 2nd quarter, the doctor was no where to be found. The referee had no choice but to stop the game! A long ride there and back for a few minutes of play. Good news is that both the junior and senior teams are still both undefeated! :-)

Despite the rain I had a wonderful time in Glarus. Fortunately, even though it was raining on Saturday, the clouds were high enough to see the spectacular mountains - although it only gave me a peak. My friend and I still managed to take a one hour walk in the rain along Lake Klontal. I enjoyed a 5-star home-cooked dinner of osso bucco, homemade noodles and sauce, sauteed Swiss chard and zucchini, salad and heavenly wine from my friend's vineyard. The next morning I had a super delicious breakfast of homemade rösti potatoes, ham, and onions with a fried egg on top!

On my way home on Sunday, my friend dropped me off in the town of Einsiedeln, where I saw the Einsiedeln Abbey, which is a site of many pilgrimages. It sure seemed like the largest and most ornate cathedral in Switzerland! It was quite splendid! Unfortunately it was still raining outside. I then took the train back to Lugano, where I could see so much flooding that was taking place over the weekend. Even some of the train lines had interruptions from mudslides or falling boulders. Fortunately I was able to make all my connections just fine.

In the evening, I was looking forward to a quiet, relaxing evening, while Rick was going to attend a pizza dinner party with the coaches and the football team. Just as they were about to leave I was told that the dinner was for all the coaches wives and families too! I had taken a hike when I got home, I was hot and needed a shower and was TOTALLY unprepared to go to a "goodbye" dinner which we thought was just for the guys. Well, I had to go and make do with a quick change of clothes but was far from looking my best. Gee, I wish someone would have told me! It ended up being a very nice evening and all the coaches and team have been so nice to Rick and I!

We are on our last week here. This coming weekend there is a game on Saturday and Sunday and then we leave Monday morning. :-(  But at the same time I am ready to come home. :-)

Checking the weather report for Glarus... what is "unknown precipitation"? Is it raining cats and dogs???

Lake Klontal - I must come back - in beautiful weather I'm sure it is even more spectacular!!!

On our hike to one of the many waterfalls. I'm wearing my new rain jacket I had to buy in Lugano, because of all this rain! I'm wearing my light down jacket under this rain jacket - just lovely weather.

On our spectacular mountain ride, fog rain fog.

An amazing gourmet dinner. The large windows give the impression we were eating outside.

The Einsiedeln Abbey

Fog and rain on the train ride between Einsiedeln and Arth-Goldau.

Flooded lake below as the train comes down into Arth-Goldau. 

At the football team's  "All you can eat" pizza dinner party!

One of the odd pizzas - with french fries on top! There was even one with seafood - mussels, shrimp, and calamari - no cheese.

A wonderful dinner out on our balcony. We are taking advantage of every moment without rain.

There is just something about the name....funny products in Ticino!

 On this page I collected pictures of things here in Lugano that I found to be funny! It's like the Jay Leno Show where he shows real life products or places with bad names. I've saved the best one for last! If I find any more before we leave, I will make sure to add them.

The water heater on the wall in the bathroom. The brand name is called "Junkers". Now that's a product you can trust!

This company makes panties and bras. I found this at the Manor department store. I don't know, but Sloggi just doesn't sound very feminine and appealing!  Sounds like they are baggy and wet! Ugh!

This is the Migros (a Swiss store) brand of toothpaste. I don't know if I want to brush my teeth with something that may be a yeast infection!

A bar in downtown Lugano called "MILK". I bet this place really swings at night! It might be for the under 5 year old crowd.

Locarno, Switzerland. Their city bus system is called FART.

This is a locally made cheese, and it's very good. The name is in the Ticinese dialect. That's not the problem. I just wonder why this guy would want his picture on the front WEARING A HAIRNET!!! OK, you're trying for sanitary conditions, but what about your beard??

Here is Rick in front of another bar in downtown Lugano - the TRAMP bar, and the employees where shirts that say TRAMP.

I put this on a previous blog page. We found these CDs at the Ponte Tresa market in Italy. That group actually called themselves i Dik Dik!

Yes, I see the TITS truck go by now and then. They do heating and air conditioning, etc.   Guys, there are no big breasted women at the wheel. Sorry!

May 24-28 Visitors, Lakers, Bre & Porlezza

Well, I know it's been a long time getting this next post up. The reason being either rain, rain, rain, visits from friends, or bad internet. Mostly bad internet.

On May 24 and 25 our friends Dani and Carmen came down from Zurich to visit us. We walked the train path hike with them because the weather was cold and windy and the mountain woods were wet. We thought this would be the best route. So we went almost as far as Rick and I went a few days earlier - only uphill!

Then on Sunday the Lugano Lakers were to play two different teams here in Lugano - Lausanne for the junior team and St. Gallen for the senior team. St. Gallen canceled because they didn't have enough players, but the junior team won, so both teams are still undefeated!!!! Go Lakers!

May 27 - I went out for my own adventure. I took the bus part way up Monte Brè where I met the funicular and took that to the top of the mountain. It happened to be quite clear - I need to take advantage of that because more rain was coming in for the week. There is a restaurant up there with a great terrace and view, which I enjoyed thoroughly while sipping a glass of rosé.

On the back side of the mountain lower down, there is the town of Brè, which is a very old, quaint town. It took me 30 minutes to hike down to the town. It's always interesting to see how things have changed in the last 8 years. I then took the bus back down to town - it is always a fun bus ride - such a narrow road with so many switchbacks - and a bit scary! But I know those bus drivers do this route all day long. What is amazing is that when they have to pass a car coming the other way, it's a slow process because the road is so narrow. It takes your breath away because I am SURE that bus is going to take off the side view mirror of the car. But I have yet to see that happen. It's great excitement!

May 28 - eat eat eat. We had lunch at the Hotel Ceresio in Lugano where our former neighbor from Comano is the director. We ate with him and his wife and had a delicious meal! Then at 5pm another couple we know came to our house for an aperativo. The husband is flying to Chicago on May 29 - too bad we are not there, we are here! And then at 7:30 our friend Berny took us to Porlezza, across the border in Italy and at the end of Lake Lugano, to have a pizza and pasta dinner - at much lower prices than in Switzerland! We figured out the the prices were 50% less.

We had forgotten how narrow the road between Lugano and Porlezza is. It is so narrow that in many places only one car can fit, but not only that, there are houses right along the road in which the front door opens up directly on to the road! I think it would be impossible to live there - very dangerous! Although now a new tunnel has opened up underneath them which bypasses this area. I enjoy the local road because it is so charming.

Once again, I'll give more detail in my picture descriptions. I really struggle to put the pictures in order (even just to upload them! Blogger wants to choose where things go - it's aggravating).

From Monte Bre, looking across Lake Lugano to Mt San Salvatore

Looking more west - snow covered Alps in the distance. This would be where the Matterhorn is.

A zoomed in view of the Alps in the distance. Matterhorn somewhere in there, and no, even if you know which one it is, it doesn't look like the normal Matterhorn from this angle!

View looking south over Lake Lugano from Monte Bre

At the top of Monte Bre, a school field trip to learn about the surrounding mountains and geography. I wish I had field trips like this!

Coming down the back side of Monte Bre, looking east along this arm of Lake Lugano. Just about everything in the picture is Italy, other than the town of Bre in the foreground. The town of Porlezza is at the far end of the lake. These mountains in the distance are normally not snow covered in May. Shows you how much rain and cold weather we have had!

Cow grazing along the path down to the town of Bre. They put cows (or sheep or goats) in fields here and there to eat the grass instead of mowing. They put a temporary "fence" consisting of a couple of strings. Swiss farm animals just don't cross that string!   Now, a funny thing happened right after this picture..... one of the cows jumped on the back of another - it was the perfect angle, but I missed the shot of the year for "Switzerland Is For Lovers"!

Coming down closer to Bre

Within the old nucleus of Bre. More wisteria. Love these old towns - so full of interesting little passageways.

More of the old center of Bre. It's a very "artsy" town and there is public art everywhere.

This picture belongs at the end of this page, but blogger refuses to leave it there. It keeps changing it to this position. Anyway, this is a view from Porlezza in the evening when we went for pizza

Back down from Bre, Rick met me along the lake where we enjoyed gelato. I opted for the big 3 scooper!!!

May 22 - Walk back from Sonvico, Hotel California, and road obstacles

With the first day of sunshine in a long time here in Lugano, Rick and I decided to hike around in a few towns, since the mountain paths would probably still be too wet. We took the bus along our side of the mountain and up a bit to the town of Sonvico, where we got off just above the old town center.

After exploring the "nucleo" of Sonvico, we wanted to stop for lunch. It just happened that inside the old town center, we heard some music and saw some umbrellas, so we made our way to the entrance to an Osteria. We sat down for lunch outside in the back (where we had seen the umbrellas), even though it was a bit cool - we just kept our jackets on. We were told what the special of the day was, and I asked if there were any other choices, since we weren't given a menu. No, that was it! In a small town like this, the little "Osteria da Davide" makes one thing each day, so that's what we ate! It was called Pizzoccheri - a kind of pasta and well, I can't even really tell you what was in it, but we thoroughly enjoyed it! It was warm and filling and just what we needed.

Since we began our day up high, all we had to do was keep walking downhill. We found paths that led to the next town, Dino, where we found the very end of the line, the final station, of the Lugano-Cadro-Dino train which is no longer there - I talked about this train line which is now a walking path in a previous post.

We ended up following the path all the way back to Pregassona! We probably walked more than 5 miles, and we were totally wiped out by the end of the afternoon! Here are some sites from our walk:

View when we got off the bus, from above the original nucleus of the town of Sonvico. In the distance is Lake Lugano, the city, and Mt. San Salvatore.

Rick in the old town of Sonvico.

I just love all the climbing rose bushes! This one is in Dino.

At the end of the train line in Dino, we saw this plaque. It says "The ex Hotel California, behind the 3 majestic 100 year old pine trees. It was contructed by Ercole Polli, who came back in 1906 after the earthquake in California. Maybe this is THE Hotel California!!!!!

And here is the ex Hotel California

I posted another angle of this bridge before - it was an old bridge from the train line. What I find funny in Switzerland is that you never know what obstacles you'll find. This is just after a curve, and OOPS! watch out for the wall sticking out into the road!

May 19 - Medieval Times at the castles of Bellizona

Every year during the weekend of Pentecost, the town of Bellizona holds a type of medieval fair called "La Spada nella Rocca" - The Sword in the Stone. Even with lots of rain in the forecast, Rick and I thought we'd take the train over and hope for the best.

In the center of Bellizona is a large castle called Castlegrande, and then up the side of the mountain is another castle called Montebello. Further up the mountain is another small castle called Sasso Corbaro, but the fair was held at Montebello. This castle is what you would imagine a castle to be. It is a great place to explore, and having people in costumes playing music, selling medieval goods, and practicing their craft makes it an awesome experience at a real castle!!!

We managed most of the afternoon without rain, and during just one heavy downfall, we popped inside the castle tower. The inside has been renovated into a museum and we climbed each of the 9 floors to view artifacts recovered in archeological digs around this area of Ticino.

After the rain we continued our exploration of the castle and what the fair had to offer. It was not crowded at all because I'm sure most people stayed home because of the weather. We were able to stay long enough to watch some of the activities with horses, like jousting exercises. We were really glad we went, as the day was not a total washout. That evening we enjoyed dinner at the home of some dear friends, Mary & Edgardo & Chiara.

And for the record... I'm writing this on Tuesday, May 21. It's been raining hard day after day. Fortunately we have had a few moments of no rain where we have managed to get outside a bit, before it pours again. Yesterday we were down by the lake, and the lake was just ready to overflow - I'm sure it is by now. :-(

And once again - iPhone pictures. I'm just tired of being bogged down by a camera.

This is AXE THROWING target practice. That is a girl who just threw the axe - it is in mid-air. We saw her time and again hit the block of wood right in the middle! Don't mess with her!

Musicians inside the walls of the castle. The metal fence along the top of the wall is so you can walk up there safely.

The people in costumes came from all over Switzerland and they actually camped out on the castle grounds for this 2 day fair.

A Medieval procession entering the castle over the draw bridge.

Tents set up along the outer wall.

View from the catwalk.

Outer wall view of Montebello and then you can see Castlegrande in the background, which is up on a huge rock in the middle of Bellizona.

Castlegrande and the grounds around the castle taken from Montebello

View looking into Montebello castle. The large tower in the middle housed the museum.

View down the valley from Montebello. In the distance is Lake Maggiore and Locarno. There are beams of sun on the lake and the valley.

The medieval campground. They were also cooking their own food as would be done in that period.

Watching the horse activities

This horse is down on purpose. At one point they had 2 horses lie down and their handlers stroked them and calmed them where they stayed down for about 5-10 minutes.

Running to capture the ring