Hotel Federale Lugano

Lake Como photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album. php?aid=163676&id=613699523&l=b 0c583d265

Friday caught the train out to Como for a day trip.
Wandering around Como is really nice and can imagine it would be awesome in Summer, as well as being incredibly busy and crowded.
Caught the funiculare up to Brunate and walked up the ...

When I finally found Lake Como (after a train, then a bus, then a ferry and then a very confusing walk) I was surprised that it was so empty. It was raining (I think the rain is following me around Europe) and there was no one about so I was able to do my exploring easily. Lake Como is a very small place with not too many things to ...

... all the places in America, he chooses Kansas. The sun is setting by the time we get to unnamed cute little town, and there is this weird mist in the low parts (it's very hilly there, so every valley had this mist). It was pretty magical looking. As soon as we pulled up to the house, which is tucked in amongst all these vineyards, Meghan and I run out to the backyard to see the sunset. As we pass the swimming pool (have I mentioned that the family is rich?) my ...

... quaint with beautiful villas. We walked the gardens of the Melza Villa. The canons in the photos are not toys....they are from the Napoleonic period...used to defeat Milan. The keys are to the city of Milan from the 1700's.

The food here is terrific. We travel back to Milan tomorrow to pick up our friends and head to the villa in Montanione. Forecast is for thunderstorms...yeah!

Love,
R ich and Kara

... the world as an explorer and mountain climber. Through his travels he had collected art from Africa, Asia, South America and other parts of Europe. The Villa was a museum dedicated to his travels and collections. Very interesting!
Tonight is our last in Lake Como. We had originally planned to stay the last night in ...

... The balcony where Romeo and Juliet declare their love is a magnet to tourists and they allow people to write and pin love notes to the wall which are cleared every three months so the process can start again.

The relevance of Como for me ended up being from my childhood when Dad subscribed to a weekly series called the History of World War 2. I couldn't wait for each series to arrive and I remember one story of how ...

... Italian. Eventually I did return to reality, but not until after we visited Swiss Miniatur and San Salvatore. Swiss Miniatur is more or less self-explanatory, but I will say it was really cool to visit as a Swiss resident. It gave me and my friend some great ideas for future trips in the country. There are so many castles we never even knew existed! They really captured the great sites and monuments of Switzerland, including mountain ...

... we have a wonderful time. We're back in Como by mid-afternoon, and the rest of the day is free. I visit a little street fair along the lake where vendors are selling products from all over Italy. There are Sicilian olives, exotic dried fruits, spices, and cheeses of all sorts - with lots of free samples. I purchase some aromatic rice (it's supposed to smell like fresh ...

... Our Italian was getting better, and it was easier to get by than it was in Geneva. It's an adventure when we have no common language with other folks, but we're usually still able to communicate just fine. It gives me a little perspective of what some of my ESL students go through on a daily basis. For dinner, we wandered down to the area near Peter Pan to look for a restaurant. We picked one that looked well-attended, but realized ...

... But, somehow, it works with efficiency that has become a trademark, and as a nation continues to provide a standard of living for its residents envied by the world over. My first experience of the Italian part of Switzerland gave me no clearer answer – the architecture in the city of Lugano looked Italian, the people looked stylishly Italian, and, even with the low rain clouds closing in fast, Italy was plainly in view just across the other side of the lake. Lugano seemed ...