April 29 - A drive around Lake Lugano, & Porto Ceresio

Most of this week has been rainy and more rain was predicted, but Tuesday there was sunshine. Rick and I wanted to go to Porto Ceresio, Italy, which is on the southern end of the lake across from Morcote, but public transportation was going to make for a difficult day. In the morning we went over to the Smart Rent office and drove off with a Smart car for the day. 

 The route we took was to go along the lake by Paradiso, to Melide, then past Bissone and over to Capo Lago, which is at the southern end of a another finger of Lake Lugano. This was our view north from Capo Lago. The town along the left is Riva San Vitale. The mountain in the background is Monte San Salvatore. 

I had read somewhere that in an old church in Riva San Vitale there was the most ancient stonework Christian monument in Switzerland - a baptistry from the 6th century! 

We first went to the main church we could see in Riva S. Vitale, but it was actually in a small, very old church just on the southern edge of the towns nucleo. 

Here is the unusual, octagonal shaped building. A plaque outside said it was the oldest Christian church in Switzerland. 

 Inside, the stone baptistry - it was very awesome and definitely worth the effort to find it! 

 It is quite large, and there is an open space underneath it. Maybe to put a fire to warm the water?? 

The frescos on the walls in side are from the 12th century. 

More views of this incredible baptistry. You can see how it is sitting up over this open space. 

 As we continued around the lake, at this point we were below Monte San Giorgio, facing north. Lugano is in the distance between  the two mountains. 

 Here is a panoramic of the same shot, but here you can also see the rougher mountains on the right - that is Monte Generoso. Actually, Monte Generoso is so high and steep that the first town we visited, Capo Lago, was mostly still in the shade of the mountain even at 10:30 in the morning! 

We rounded the base of Monte San Giorgio and on the west side of this finger of the lake is the town of Brusino-Arsizio. It's a quiet town that is almost at the Swiss border. 

We continued driving towards Italy - the next town is just a few minutes away at the southern end of this finger - Porto Ceresio. I would recommend this as a beautiful, flat walk along the lake - from Brusino to Porto Ceresio - another option if you can't get public transportation. 

 Here are several views of Morcote, Switzerland, from the other side of the lake as we make our way to Porto Ceresio, Italy. Morcote is a wonderful town on the edge of the lake with a great hike up to its church, and wonderful views from the cemetery up there! It seems like in Switzerland, you get the best views when you're dead! 

 The oldest part of Morcote is below the church, where you see the trees along the lake. The brown above the trees are the rooftops of the old nucleo, which is VERY charming. Behind the trees are the porticos which have several shops and restaurants - a WONDERFUL place for lunch! It's usually sunny and warmer in Morcote than in Lugano. 

Above Morcote, what looks like a castle is a large private vineyard. 

 Just outside of Porto Ceresio, looking at Morcote. There is a little town just up to the right of Morcote - that is Vico Morcoto. 

 A zoomed in view - here is what you see: On the water right in the center is the bridge with the local road, highway, and railway across the lake. The mountains in the center are Bré in front of Monte Boglia (with the meadow on top). The town of Bré is sitting on that upper ledge below Monte Boglia. We live down on the left side of Monte Boglia, and one of our hikes is up and over to the town of Bré.

Another view of Morcote, Vico Morcote, and the vineyard. 

Hint: To walk from the lakefront up to the church and cemetery in Morcote, seems very easy in this photo, but believe me, it's not a long hike but steep! Tougher than it looks. 

 Having lunch in Porto Ceresio. I've included several photos. This town put in a boardwalk about 10-11 years ago and they did a wonderful job. Many of these buildings along the lake were coming  right up from the lake, with shelters for their boats below. In order to enjoy the charm of this lakefront, they built a boardwalk over the water to you can enjoy it all, with many restaurants. Unfortunately for those with boats, it cut off their access to their boat shelters. 

 Looking south down the boardwalk in Porto Ceresio. 

By the way, Lake Lugano is often called Ceresio (mostly by Italy). It got that name from all the cherry trees that blossom on the mountainsides in spring. 

 You can see right behind Rick where our patio ends, there is water, so you can see where the boardwalk is in relation to the buildings. 

 So we had a nice lunch and then I HAD to have some gelato, from the shop I feel has the absolute best! It's called Gelateria Il Golosone, and it's located just off the main piazza on the corner along the main road through town. Wonderful huge chocolate pieces in the Stracciatella! 

 There are a number of old, charming buildings that have been abandoned along the lakeshore. It's really a shame that someone doesn't renovate them, but the Italian economy is in a tough state right now. 

This house had a great balcony with statues, etc. What a great BnB and restaurant this could be! 

 Panoramic from the center point of the boardwalk. 

 Another view back to Morcote from a little further down the lake. 

In these sheltered areas between the boardwalk and buildings, there were several bird's nests. We found some swans! 

 "Next stop! Lake Lugano!" I couldn't find any info on this rail track ending at the lake, but apparently rail cars were ferried across at one time in history. There also used to be a rail station in Porto Ceresio which went to Varese, but it has been abandoned for some time. 

 We are continuing along the lake, so now here is a view of Morcote from the other side. The tall mountain in upper right is Monte Generoso. 

 Once we got to the Italian town of Brusimpiano, we headed uphill. I remember from one of our earlier hikes, where we were on the Swiss mountain across the lake... I had see an Italian town, Marzio, nestled high up in the mountain and... well, I just wanted to go there and see what life was all about there! 

In this photo we are heading uphill, and this is a view of Ponte Tresa .

The road was very narrow and winding- we had to honk around corners, otherwise it could be a head-on! Once in the town, which was quite large for being so high up there, we walked up the road and asked an elderly woman if there was a lookout to get a view. She told us to follow the road and then take a path up - a 10 to 15 minute walk. Always takes us twice as long! 

There was also a Casa di Accoglienza up there - and we saw several African people there - I am assuming the Casa was to house them until they are ready to live on their own in Italy - refugees?

We met one black family walking down when we approached a fork in the path. We began to ask them which path to take for the view, but they didn't speak English. They spoke French. No problem! I love these opportunities where my languages come in handy! 

We are very high up! We found our view through the trees. You can see the Lugano Airport with its one runway.

 Another view from a bit above Marzio, Italy. The airport is still in view on the left, and then the town of Cureggia is along the mountainside on the right - the town by itself surrounded by forest. We live in the town just below it. 

 The town of Marzio as we walk back down. 

 A back yard in Marzio with beautiful flowers all around the fence. 

I'm adding in this picture we took in March from Collino d'Oro in which I saw the town of Marzio, Italy in the distance - this is a zoomed in picture. Just to show you better where we were! 

 We've made it to Ponte Tresa, Italy. Time for a drink at one of my favorite places. It's called Johnny's, and it's a cafe and gelateria. Here is the view from their terrace. They are located just after the dogana (border customs), after the parking lot, and along the lake. And I think Johnny's has the second best GELATO around! Both gelaterias in Italy charged 2 euros for one scoop. 

Lakefront walking path in front of Johnny's. This building also used to be the train station in Ponte Tresa which is no longer there. 

April 27 - Lakers Win in Basel! but Team illness :-(

Football update....

Early this morning, at 5:30am, both the junior and senior Lugano Laker teams got on the bus to head to Basel, where they played 2 games against the "Mean Machine". 

The juniors won easily - 63-0 - poor Basel! 

Then the senior team won 25-8. 

Now, I was debating whether to go or not, and since it was a rainy day, I decided to stay here in Lugano instead of standing outside for 2 games. It was probably a good idea, because unfortunately, many of the the coaches and players came down with diarrhea! The thought is that it came from the water bottles, which probably contained old water. Needless to say, the trip home consisted of numerous stops. 

The bus they chartered was from "Romantic Tours". Yes, I'm glad I decided to stay home. It surely would not have been a romantic tour coming home on a bus full of football players with diarrhea! 

Fortunately it's not too serious and everyone should be fine. :-)

April 26 - Visiting the lakefront in Bissone, Walk Lugano Day

We decided to go somewhere closer, to a town we've never been to before. We had passed through Bissone on the local road in the past, and I remembers a pretty lakefront with restaurants and cafes under many arcades. 

But this poor town of Bissone....when the train line and road was built on a bridge over lake Lugano, it literally cut the town in half. The old nucleo is a small area between the lakefront and the train tracks and autostrada. To make matters worse, there is only one bus stopping here (with an inconvenient schedule), and for some reason, the train does not make a stop - there is no station. 

So to get to Bissone we took the train to Melide, at the other end of the bridge. 

 We got off the train in Melide and one sign in the underpass of the tracks pointed to the lake (lago). We wanted to walk on the north side of the bridge because then there is an unobstructed view of Lugano. Here is our view from the center of the lake. 

 Now, this is not the main path to walk across the bridge, but we took it anyway. The autostrada is just behind us behind the trees. 

Once we got to the middle though, we realized that there is a passageway for boats and we couldn't continue on that side. We walked under the road and railway to the other side, where a nice, narrow, lakefront park made for a peaceful walk. 

 We reached Bissone and their lakefront park. You can see the old buildings and arcades in the background. 

Here are a couple of very old park benches, along with a typical stone table and chairs. 

 Rick with a statue of doing laundry by the lake in the old days. Monte San Giorgio is in the background. 

 We choose this nice cafe under the arcades. I'm sorry I don't have the name. It was a bit chilly in the shade so Rick made use of the blankets offered on the chairs! We enjoyed a nice cappuccino, and here's a tip: they had one of the nicest bathrooms I've seen in Switzerland! Plus, the cappuccino was only 3 francs each, as opposed to 4 to 4.50 in Lugano - but don't forget the trek to get there! 

Walking back to Melide to get the train, we walked the south side of the bridge. The lakefront park area in Melide is very nice! 

April 27 - A very chilly, rainy day in Lugano and everywhere in Switzerland. It happens to be Walk Lugano day, to promote fitness, with several courses around the city and through the mountains. One course passes by our house, and there were many die-hards out there in the rain! 

The Lugano Lakers are playing in Basel. I didn't take the long trip because the weather wasn't any better there! 

April 24 - Hike and lunch in Caslano, Aperativo with friends

Rick and I were both still tired and sore from our long hike up in Cimadera the previous day, but as it was another beautiful day, we decided to try a shorter, easier walk. 

In the town of Caslano, down the lake near Ponte Tresa and the border with Italy, there is also Monte Caslano, or also called, Monte Sassalto (Mt. Tall Rock). It is a 500 meter high mountain jutting out into the water as a peninsula. It was formed this way because its rock is so hard that the glaciers just went around it. It is a Swiss natural park, as it has almost every type of plant found in Ticino. 

My only previous experience with Caslano had been 10 years ago, when we visited the Alprose chocolate factory in the industrial area of the town. My advice is to bypass a visit to this chocolate factory! Did not have a good experience. So.... I thought Caslano was mostly industrial and nothing special - oops! I was wrong! We had a wonderful day! 

We took the Ponte Tresa train (FLP) from the Lugano station and got off in Caslano, about 20 minutes away. The station is not near the heart of the town, like in most places. We had to walk about 15 minutes to the lake. 

 The lakefront in Caslano was beautiful, with a park and also restaurants with outside seating. There is a tourist office there and we picked up a map and began our walk - it's 1 hour 10 minutes around the mountain alongside the lake. Warning - - no bathroom stops available around the lake! 

 The path around the mountain. The lake is down on the right. The cliffs are quite sheer and high around this mountain! 

 Another view of the path around the Monte Sassalto. It really was an enjoyable walk, with only a little up and down. 

At this point, Italy comes very close to Switzerland. That is Italy on the other side of the lake. 

 We are at an area on the other side of the mountain called Torrazza, where the lake becomes like a canal between Switzerland and Italy. This town right across the straight is Lavena. A bridge was never built because if there were a bridge, they would have to have a customs station. It's much closer than it looks in this panoramic! 

 As we continue around, the lake opens up a little more. This is the end of Lake Lugano at Ponte Tresa, across the lake in this view. If you continue through the valley straight ahead in this picture, you will come to Luino, Italy, on Lake Maggiore.

 This area is called Torrazza because there is this old tower furnace, which was used in mining lime. 

We arrive back in the old nucleo of Caslano, where I found this cute courtyard scene. 

 This restaurant - Osteria Debarcadero, along the lake in Caslano was so inviting.... we decided to have lunch! They had their menu of the day posted, which is usually a good price - in this case 19 francs. (remember, that includes tax and tip). There were 2 choices, so we each took a different choice. Oh boy, and they say meals are large in the US!! Well, we finished everything - it was absolutely delicious and we hope to return for another lunch! 

We each had 3 courses. My course were: penne pasta with a tomato sauce with olives (so so so good!), then I had a breaded veal with roasted potatoes and zucchini. Then a dessert of caramel panna cotta. Rick's first course was a large salad with a great mixture of ingredients (I say this because it's often hard to find a good salad with variety here). Then he had a large Hawaiian pizza, and then also the panna cotta. 

After all that it was a good thing we had a 15 minute walk back to the train! 

Later on the same day we had been invited to the home of our friends, Roberto, Giovanna, and Damien. We were having an aperativo on their back patio when we noticed a group from the Swiss army hiking by! At about 19-20 years old all Swiss young men are required to complete 1 year of army training. 

I guess we were well protected that evening!