European Tour: Lugano, Switzerland

To Riva, with almost 3,000 people, the town of Lugano is the "big city." It has 54,437 people, lots of restaurants, Gelato places and most importantly an H&M. We decided we needed to explore Lugano shortly after arriving in Riva.

It was our first experience walking to the train station, buying our tickets and waiting for the train. We had been told that trains in Switzerland are on time, ALWAYS. (However, not true for Italian trains). So if the train is 2 minutes early, that is not your train...your train will be there in 2 minutes, the time they said it would be.

Girls on the train; @ the train station in Lugano; The Capalago/Riva Train Station

After getting to Lugano, we made the discovery of "the hill." Anyone that has taken the train to Lugano knows about "the hill." Not so bad going down, but coming back up...death. It is lined with shops, and places to take a break when you're out of breath, so at least it has that going for it.

The infamous hill

After taking a mental note of how much walking up the hill was going to suck, we made our way down to the Lake Lugano Park. Where we took pictures and stood in amazement that yes, this is where we would call home for the next few months.

Fountain in the park; Men playing chess; Park and Lake; Ladies enjoying the Park

After taking a rest in the park, we made our way to H&M. I know there are H&M's in America, but they're really not the same as the ones in Europe. And it made it even better that with the conversion rate from dollars to Swiss Francs, you got more bang for your buck.

• First ride on a train: check
• Take in the beautiful scenery of Switzerland: check
• Buy cute clothes for less money: check

All in all, a good trip I'd say :) 

To Be Continued...Next Up: European Tour: Zurich& Lucerne