March 13 - The uphill hike from Cureggia to Bré, mountain meadows, park trees & funny grocery item

We have still had beautiful, sunny days here in Lugano, but there is a haze in the air so the mountains are not quite so clear. I wanted to take Rick on the hike between Cureggia and Bré, but today we went the other direction - more of an uphill hike. We took the bus to Cureggia and began from there,

 Rick along the switchbacks going up hill

 This is becoming our lunch spot! Overlooking Lugano.

 Coming around the mountain, the town of Bré comes into view. 

 One of the trails that will lead up to Monte Boglia (with the snow in the distance. It's about a 3 hour hike from here. I want to go up there someday! 

 That's Rick playing on the playground's zip line! 

 We are in a meadow near the town of Bré. The mountains in the distance are on the other side of the lake and are part of Italy. 

 Direction: Switzerland

Rick enjoying the view!

March 14
We took a walk down to the lake, following the main river there. 
Down at the Parco Ciani, there are some magnificent trees. They are HUGE! These pictures don't really show how large and old they  are, but I wanted to share them with you. 

 This tree is very old. There are two trunks going in different directions, and they have to put supports underneath. It's a real treasure! 

The trunk of this one was massive!!!

I found this at the Migros grocery store today. It's called Horse Chips. Now, what in the world are horse chips??? but hey! they are on sale!