Closing Time in Lugano

My final 12 days in Lugano went by in what seemed like 12 hours. As you may remember, I arrived in Lugano just before 8am on Monday the 14th of April after spending the night on the floor of the Milan Airport.

While I loved my time in Spain and Portugal, I was particularly excited to return to Lugano to see my family who was arriving that afternoon. I met them around 4pm at AnaCapri, the restaurant by the train station where I celebrated my birthday exactly three months prior. Having not seen them in months, our reunion was incredible. I had so much to tell them before they left for Zermatt the next morning.

Within a matter of minutes of meeting with them, my mom noticed the large purple bruise on my left forearm. It was then that I told my family about my incident in an ambulance a week before. Having survived it, I didn't want to concern them by telling them via text while they were enjoying their time in Italy. Following a light snack, I took my family to the Montarina to show them around my home and introduce them to my Lugano Family. 

Disclaimer: Arjan is standing on his tiptoes.

I later took them to the castle for a view of the city from above and later the newspaper tunnel, just for fun. We ended our evening at the Spaghetti Store, where Molly, Cat, MK and I enjoyed one of our first meals in Lugano when we arrived in January.

I met them again the next morning for breakfast before they caught their train to Zermatt. My hope was that they would see the Matterhorn clearly after we missed out due to snow on our first weekend of travel. Within minutes of their arrival, I received a photo of it. That afternoon I took advantage of the lovely weather and explored Lugano with some of the ladies on the trip.

Professor Brinberg welcomed us in as part of his family for Passover. Led by Jenny and Dana, we were taught about the traditions of the Passover Seder. We celebrated the evening together as a family and it was wonderful.

Dana, Professor Brinberg, and Jenny at the Passover Seder

Wednesday was the last day my Eurorail was active. I made a quick trip to Riva San Vitale, where Virginia Tech's other Swiss campus is located, to meet up with Jenna Zschaebitz. Jenna made a trip back to Blacksburg for Ring Dance a few weeks prior, and returned to Switzerland with a gift from my SGA friends. From Riva I got back on the train and went to Bellinzona. I figured there was no better place to end my a Eurorail travels than where I started them. With David's card in hand, I made my way back to Montebello, one last time. On the way the train stopped in Lugano and eight other members of the Lugano family boarded. The nine of us spent the afternoon throwing a football and enjoying the weather in the beautiful castles of Bellinzona. As you may recall, the first two times I visited the capital of the Ticino canton, it was snowing. 

Back Row (from Left): Kyle, Jenny, Kaitlyn, Susan
Front Row: Ashley, Logan, Mary Katherine, Trip, Me

Bellinzona was even more beautiful on this clear day. Mary Katherine, Trip and I made a visit to the top of Castelgrande before returning to Lugano.

Enjoying the view atop Castelgrande with Mary Katherine.

That night we celebrated both Professor Brinberg's birthday and Trip's 21st birthday at dinner. We moved our celebration to Coyote Ugly after dinner. As the celebrations came to an end, a handful of us took a dip in Lake Lugano.

On Thursday morning we spent the day at the pool before going paddle boating. Logan and I invested in 750 water balloons at the 2-franc store and had filled most of them in preparation for an epic water balloon fight at the castle set to take place after going to the lake. About twenty of us rented boats. Once we were in the middle of the lake, Trip started jumping between boats, stealing shoes and taking them back to his boat. Who knew there were pirates on Lake Lugano? When we returned from paddle boating we were devastated to find our water balloons were all gone. Where they disappeared to is still a mystery.

Coyote Ugly was hosted a thirty-two team beer pong tournament on Thursday night. When we arrived there was room for one team left. Trip and Taylor were our best bet. They needed a little bit of time to adjust to the strange rules of European Beer Pong, but after narrowly winning their first game they went on to win it all. They hoisted a large trophy and each got medals for winning.

On Friday night we went to the carnival located near USI. We spent a while playing in the bumper cars, which were way more intense than any bumper cars you will ever experience in the US. After the carnival, we made a trip to Oops Bar directly next to USI. A group at the table next to us had a delicious looking pizza on their table. Logan and I started talking to one of the guys at their table, while eyeing their pizza. He told us he would offer us a slice, but since it was a vegan pizza, he didn't think American's could handle it. I explained to him that I've been a vegetarian my entire life. With that, he walked to the back of the bar and returned minutes later with an entire pizza for us covered in vegan meat. It was delicious. Hands down, one of the best pizza's I've ever had. We thanked him profusely, and enjoyed the pizza thoroughly. We also came across a stick on mustache at some point, which made for some fun photos.

Kaitlyn, Logan, and Trip showing off their mustaches.

Lugano was a happening place over the weekend. An Easter festival took over the town. Saturday morning you couldn't walk ten steps without being handed free chocolate samples from people in bunny costumes. As I walked around town while doing some last minute souvenir shopping, I ran into Molly and her parents. As it turns out, this was not Mr. Piffath's first time in Lugano. He had returned with a mission: to find the mysterious George Washington statue near the lake. Molly had told me about this earlier in the semester, but I had never seen the statue myself. To my delight, we were just a few minutes walk from the statue. I joined them in their hunt for the presidential bust. It was a nice treat to see Mr. Piffath's journey complete, and it reminded me of the last thing I needed to do in Lugano. My Uncle Farid had been to Lugano before and insisted I find Cafe Minerva, a hot spot when he was in town.

Giorgio Washington

I said my goodbyes to the Piffath family, and made my way back up the hill to find Cafe Minerva. I was told that it was near the Hotel Colorado, which was visible from the soccer field we frequented. As I made my way to the Hotel, I was delighted to find Cafe Minerva was still there. I treated myself to a celebratory beer and took a few pictures to show my uncle when I returned.

On Sunday morning, our friends who were teaching in Kenya for two weeks finally returned to Lugano. The highly anticipated reunion was tear-filled and much needed. We spent the afternoon listening to the stories of their time in Africa, including their experiences teaching at Bambakofi Academy and their safari. Later that afternoon we played soccer at Franklin University and enjoyed Easter dinner by the lake.

A photo of Kenya taken by Marissa Forte 

On Tuesday we were treated to a fancy dinner by the owner of the Montarina as part an end of semester celebration. We enjoyed dinner outside with wine made on the property. It was there that the winner of the promotional video contest for the Montarina was announced. It was no surprise that the video produced by MaryKate Goff won the grand prize.

On Wednesday we took the train to Riva San Vitale, to take a hike up Monte San Giorgio. The hike itself was arguably the most difficult hike we've completed while in Switzerland, even more so than Monte Boglia which is directly across the lake and almost 500 meters higher. Kyle, Trip, Nick, Molly, Marin and I completed that hike about two days before our trip to Spain. The view from the top of both mountains were incredible.

All smiles atop Monte Boglia! From Left: Marin, Molly, Trip, Kyle eating a snowball, me, Nick

The view atop Monte San Giorgio

When we returned to Riva, Professor Brinberg took us to the Riva campus to show us around. We saw a few of our friends and got a feel for what their campus was like. After our brief visit, Professor Brinberg treated us to gelato. That delicious cup of banana gelato was the last cup I had in Europe.

On Thursday it finally started to sink in that our time in Lugano was almost up. We gave our final presentation and finished packing. That evening Nick, Trip, and Taylor hosted the 2014 Lugano Superlative Award Ceremony. I was honored to take home the award for Best Blogger. Thanks to everyone who has been keeping up with the adventures!

At the end of our award ceremony we presented Professor Brinberg with a Swiss flag that was signed by every member of our 2014 Lugano Family.

Immediately following the award ceremony, we took the Smiley Train a few towns over to Bioggio, Switzerland for "The Last Supper." We enjoyed an appetizer buffet followed by a risotto dish. As dinner came to a close, Professor Brinberg gave a speech that brought almost everyone to tears. Our time together really was coming to an end.

Following a sentimental dinner, we made a stop at the newspaper tunnel before our last visit to Coyote Ugly. We closed down Coyote Ugly to the tune of Closing Time by Semisonic, before making our way to Club One. Our plan for the evening was to avoid sleeping. We stayed at Club One briefly, before heading to Lake Lugano, to jump in all together, one last time. We did exactly that.

We returned to the Montarina just hours before our bus left to take us to the airport. At 5:30am we were loading the bus and by 6am we were on our way to the airport after saying our goodbyes to the wizard himself, Professor Brinberg.

We arrived safe and sound in the USA on Friday around 4pm. While my European adventure has come to a close for now, this blog has not. Stay tuned. Ciao!

München in Munich

Fourteen of us ventured to Germany this weekend after an exciting week that included another soccer game with the locals, and a snow day trip back to Bellinzona. It took over eight hours, but we finally arrived in Munich around 11:30 Friday night. We explored the town a bit before calling it a night. In the process we found Finespitz's Fine Quality Hot Dog and Eatery, a small establishment that indeed made fine hot dogs. I ordered a veggie dog topped with guacamole and sprouts. It ranks high on the list of best hot dogs I've ever had, bested only by the veggie dog I had in Sweden a few years back which was covered in mashed potatoes and caramelized onions.

We woke up early Saturday for a walking tour of Munich. Our tour guide noted that it was unusually warm in for this time of year, as the temperature reached the high forties. Regardless, I was still cold. Our guide took us through the city showing us all of the highlights, including government buildings, royal palaces, churches, and lots of beer halls. The architecture of the buildings in Munich makes the city look far older than it is, as the city was almost completely demolished during World War II. Very few structures in the city remained in tact after over three million bombs were dropped on the city during the war. Our tour concluded outside of the royal palace, which completed reconstruction just over a year ago. If you have a chance to visit Munich, I highly recommend making time for one of the free walking tours.

Following the tour we got lunch at Augustiner Bräu Munchen where we tried our first German beer. The beer in Munich is incredible. As I learned on the tour, by law Bavarian beer can only contain the following ingredients: water, hops, barley, and yeast. It was delicious.

We explored the city a bit more, passing a NATO protest outside of the Glockenspiel in Marienplatz, before venturing to the world's most famous beer hall, the Hofbräuhaus. About three thousand drunk people fit in the Hofbräuhaus at a time, making the atmosphere unforgettable (or forgettable depending on how much one has to drink). The lederhosen wearing band played German music and the locals stood and chanted as we got a taste of life in Munich, including giant pretzels and beer. Nick & I made a trip back to Finespitz's Fine Quality Hot Dog and Eatery on our way back to our hostel.

On Sunday we visited the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. Nothing I write can explain the atmosphere. Visiting the Memorial Site is an experience that cannot be described. As we took our tour, I couldn't help but think of the poor souls who spent countless days in the same spot being worked to the bone in the frigid cold air. I had read a lot about the camp in school, but being there brought on another level of understanding.

We returned from Dachau with about two hours until our train left. Kyle and I wanted to make the most of our time in Munich, and made a trip across town to another beer hall. We enjoyed a light lunch surrounded by FC Bayern Munich fans who were preparing for the team's 5-0 route of Frankfurt. Everyone in the bar was decked out in checkered red and white.

We caught the train back to Lugano in time for our first ever Super Bowl Monday! At midnight we went to Franklin College down the street to watch the Seahawks and Broncos play for the Lombardi Trophy. Our professor moved our usual Monday morning class to one in the afternoon knowing that we would all be up until around six watching the game. While it wasn't much of a game, it was nice to watch football again.

This week should go by quickly as we prepare for our Italian midterm and Marketing and Consumer Behavior final before getting on a plane to London Thursday night. Next week marks our first spring break during which I'll be traveling in London, Dublin, and Paris.

Ciao!

Mission Accomplished!

The forecast called for rain all day today. When I woke up, I was pleasantly surprised to find three inches of snow on the ground instead. Strangely, snowy palm trees are becoming a normal sight here in Lugano. Conditions were perfect for castle hunting. Since arriving in Lugano last week, I have spoken with a lot of locals to try to find the castle. The language barrier made it slightly more difficult, but the overwhelming majority of suggestions pointed towards Bellinzona, Switzerland.

Bellinzona is located twenty minutes outside of Lugano by train, and is home to three castles: Castelgrande, Sasso Corbaro, and Montebello. In the early 16th century, the cantons of Bellinzona were united politically, but weren't particularly friendly otherwise. Each eyed control of the St. Gotthard, Lukemanier, and St. Bernard passes, and thus built the castles.

I got on a train from Lugano to Bellinzona at 1:15 this afternoon. Within twenty minutes, I was in Bellinzona, carrying the card David made me from the Card Isle, in search of the castle. I walked through the town, and saw glimpses of the castles up in the mountains. In an attempt to get more information, I went into a local cafe, Botega Caffe Cacao, to ask a local for help. After exchanging basic greetings in Italian, it became clear to them that Italian is not my strong suit. Luckily, one of the women in the cafe spoke English and was able to help me.

I went to Castelgrande first, as it was closest and largest. Castelgrande has two gigantic watch towers. I climbed to the top of the tallest tower to get a view of the town. It was there, that I spotted my castle.

The castle on the card is the Montebello. It took me about twenty-five minutes to walk up to it. Bellinzona had about six inches of snow covering the streets. I took my time touring the snow-covered castle and finally found the exact spot that David took his picture last summer when biking through Europe. I am so glad I got the opportunity to explore Bellinzona. While it is very close in proximity, I doubt I would have made the trip had I not been lead there by the mission. Thanks for encouraging me to adventure, David!

After a great day in Bellinzona, I headed back to Lugano to prepare for my next adventure. Sixteen of us are headed to Zermatt, Switzerland for a ski trip tomorrow morning. Next stop, the Matterhorn!

Ciao!