After leaving Venice, we got on the train and headed towards Switzerland. I got off at the Riva stop and my parents continued on to Lugano, where they were staying. The next morning, I walked back to the train station to meet them and bring them to Riva.
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| Lake Lugano in the background |
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| Me and my parents :) |
I gave them the tour around Riva itself, showed them the 3 bars, ristorante, pharmacy, bank and stopped at the lake for a photo shoot. The lake is Lake Lugano, where we went during the warmer months to hang out and swim after class. They have a swing set and slide in the little "park" there.
After the park, we headed to the Casa where I showed them around, and we had another photo shoot in the garden. After being at the Casa for awhile, we walked back to the train station.
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| Bellinzona |
This is when my dad had his infamous temper tantrum. He went to go buy the tickets for the train, but it wouldn't accept his credit card. It kept asking for a PIN, and my dad kept screaming at the machine that he didn't have a PIN. Then he didn't have enough Swiss Francs on him to pay for it all in cash, so I had to run back to the Casa (literally, run) and get my debit card to try it. I thought he was going to have a heart attack because his blood pressure was so high. After I bought the tickets, we got on the train and headed to Bellinzona.
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| With Bellinzona's castle's in the background |
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| Castlegrande |
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| At Castlegrande |
Bellinzona is known for it's castles, there are 3 of them. Castlegrande, Sasso Corbaro, and Montebello. We walked around the castles for a bit, inspecting the outside of the castles and enjoying the view. We then went inside to go through the museum and see the medieval artifacts and learn how Bellinzona has grown. It was cool to learn about how they dug through the Alps (Bellinzona sits at the foot of the Alps) in order to make the tunnel.
After touring the castles, we went down to the village to eat at a local cafe and get some really good pizza and wine.
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| Train ride back to Lugano |
After lunch, we got back on the train to head towards Lugano. There were people smoking weed in the compartment in front of us, and I think we all might have gotten a contact high because we started giggling and could not stop. Uncle Joe went to stick his head out of the window to get a picture of the countryside and almost got in taken off as we whizzed into a tunnel...which set off more giggles.
After our train ride, we got back into Lugano, where we walked around the Casino and the Lake for a little bit and then went to dinner.
After dinner, it was time to say good-bye. My parents and Aunt and Uncle were off to Milan the next day and I had to start classes again. I had an amazing time with them, and got to experience some amazing stuff (thanks Dad for spoiling us!) and was sad to see them go. I just kept in mind that I would be back stateside in a few short weeks...
To be continued...Next Up: European Tour: The Casa
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