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lil_jodi · 10-24-06, 01:26 PM

Our trip, day by day:

Sunday – we arrived.

Took the train to the south where his mom picked us up. Found out his dad was in the hosp for some testing (he came home on Wed).
Monday – went into Bellinzona to do some grocery shopping in the morning. Walked around a little. In the afternoon, we went to a town near the Gottard (long tunnel through the Alps) called Giornico. It has two bridges and a little tiny island in between the river that has a grotto (family-run restaurant out of their home basically with small menu) on it. Walked up to the churches and checked them out. Churches in Europe really redefine what a church is. Actually, architecture in Eurpoe is just amazing. So much is so old and preserved (at least in Switz) and just amazing! Then we walked through the forest and a small hike.
Tuesday – Simon’s mom had to go to the hospital in the morning to learn how to wrap his dad’s legs so we walked around Bellinzona again and then went home and relaxed for a couple hours. In the afternoon, we went to a town farther south called Morcote. Very cute town situated right on Lago Lugano. We shopped and then walked up a million steps to the church, which was of course amazing. Then we walked down to this botanical garden and checked it out. It was very interesting. There were areas for different parts of the world (Asia, Arabia, India, Greek, etc).
Wednesday – We went for a hike in the morning above Claro (the town where his parents live). This was the scary hike! LOL! We started in Claro and walked along the river through the forest to a town called Cressano (don’t mind my spelling…I’m sure I spell some of the towns wrong!). The plan was to walk to Cressano, hike above and the down in Scubiago and then back over to Claro. Well, plans changed! The trails are marked by three lines (white-red-white). Well at some point the trail was marked only with a red line…which we decided later means HARD!!! The trail got so difficult that we couldn’t tell where it went and had to turn back. This is the hike where we had to cross the big boulder and slide down a smaller one into a tree. So we went back the way we came (which means we had to cross the boulder TWICE!!) and walked back from Cressano to Claro. So it was like a 4 hour hike. When we got back to his parents apt, the cat was missing. So we had to spend an hour or so looking for the cat and then trying to get him to come out from under the car he was hiding under. See, this old man came to fix the front door of the apt, so his mom put the cat in her room. Well the old man decided to check all the doors in the apt, and when he opened the bedroom door (with the front door open), the cat bolted…all the way down the stairs and out the apt! He was so scared and shaking when we found him! So that killed our afternoon, but Simon’s dad also came home from the hospital that afternoon, so we spent it at home.
Thursday – We went to Lugano in the morning and explored the city. Lots of churches to see. They also have stores like Versace and Louis Vouiton, but as you can imagine, I couldn’t have afforded to step in the door of those places! In the afternoon, we were supposed to meet up with his parents at his mom’s sister’s apt in Lugano. Well, that was an adventure trying to find this apt in a town we have no clue about! But we finally found it after hiking all over Lugano. Then we sat around while they chit chatted (very boring for me as I don’t know enough German) and then we walked back down to town for a little bit before we all headed home.
Friday – Simon’s sister came back this day. She had been traveling with her friend so the apt wouldn’t be overcrowded while we were there, but had to come home early due to a job offer in Hungary. So on Friday we went hiking again. Again we went above Claro. This time we ran into some very friendly goats on the hike! They were so cute! I took lots of pics of them! It was a very nice hike and we went for 2 hours up and 2 hours down. Then in the afternoon, Simon went up to his parents house (which is being torn down and rebuilt soon) and helped his dad in the garden while his mom and I started preparing for dinner as Urs (his mom’s best friend) was coming over for dinner. So the evening was nice as well because we always love seeing Urs.
Saturday – It was a little overcast and drizzly so we had an easy day. Went to Bellinzona in the morning to shop for the weekend (stores are all closed on Sundays) and then went back in the afternoon to a cheese festival. OMG I tasted some DAMN GOOD cheese!!! I love cheese!!!

Sunday – went hiking again. This time Michelle was with us as well. This hike was quite steep. We went about 2 hours up and 3 hours down (took a different path down). It was a great hike though and really nice. I called it the seasons hike because on the way up, it was like we were surrounded by fall and leaves changing and all that. And on the other path on the way down, we were surrounded by evergreens and it seemed so much more wintry until we got a little farther down and the forest went back to fall. I did, however, slip on this hike and fall in a bed of chestnuts. There are chestnuts EVERYWHERE in the south! And in case you didn’t know, chestnuts are like the porcupines of nuts.

They grow on the tree in a spiky outer shell. Very spiky. I still have spiky things in my hand from my fall. Michelle said “Wow, you jumped up FAST!” I told her to try sitting on the chestnuts and see how fast she jumped up!!

10-24-06, 01:26 PM	#1 (permalink)
lil_jodi Just a supermod Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 16,512 Thanks: 407 Thanked 777 Times in 604 Posts My Mood:	My trip to Switzerland (LONG) Our trip, day by day: Sunday – we arrived. Took the train to the south where his mom picked us up. Found out his dad was in the hosp for some testing (he came home on Wed). Monday – went into Bellinzona to do some grocery shopping in the morning. Walked around a little. In the afternoon, we went to a town near the Gottard (long tunnel through the Alps) called Giornico. It has two bridges and a little tiny island in between the river that has a grotto (family-run restaurant out of their home basically with small menu) on it. Walked up to the churches and checked them out. Churches in Europe really redefine what a church is. Actually, architecture in Eurpoe is just amazing. So much is so old and preserved (at least in Switz) and just amazing! Then we walked through the forest and a small hike. Tuesday – Simon’s mom had to go to the hospital in the morning to learn how to wrap his dad’s legs so we walked around Bellinzona again and then went home and relaxed for a couple hours. In the afternoon, we went to a town farther south called Morcote. Very cute town situated right on Lago Lugano. We shopped and then walked up a million steps to the church, which was of course amazing. Then we walked down to this botanical garden and checked it out. It was very interesting. There were areas for different parts of the world (Asia, Arabia, India, Greek, etc). Wednesday – We went for a hike in the morning above Claro (the town where his parents live). This was the scary hike! LOL! We started in Claro and walked along the river through the forest to a town called Cressano (don’t mind my spelling…I’m sure I spell some of the towns wrong!). The plan was to walk to Cressano, hike above and the down in Scubiago and then back over to Claro. Well, plans changed! The trails are marked by three lines (white-red-white). Well at some point the trail was marked only with a red line…which we decided later means HARD!!! The trail got so difficult that we couldn’t tell where it went and had to turn back. This is the hike where we had to cross the big boulder and slide down a smaller one into a tree. So we went back the way we came (which means we had to cross the boulder TWICE!!) and walked back from Cressano to Claro. So it was like a 4 hour hike. When we got back to his parents apt, the cat was missing. So we had to spend an hour or so looking for the cat and then trying to get him to come out from under the car he was hiding under. See, this old man came to fix the front door of the apt, so his mom put the cat in her room. Well the old man decided to check all the doors in the apt, and when he opened the bedroom door (with the front door open), the cat bolted…all the way down the stairs and out the apt! He was so scared and shaking when we found him! So that killed our afternoon, but Simon’s dad also came home from the hospital that afternoon, so we spent it at home. Thursday – We went to Lugano in the morning and explored the city. Lots of churches to see. They also have stores like Versace and Louis Vouiton, but as you can imagine, I couldn’t have afforded to step in the door of those places! In the afternoon, we were supposed to meet up with his parents at his mom’s sister’s apt in Lugano. Well, that was an adventure trying to find this apt in a town we have no clue about! But we finally found it after hiking all over Lugano. Then we sat around while they chit chatted (very boring for me as I don’t know enough German) and then we walked back down to town for a little bit before we all headed home. Friday – Simon’s sister came back this day. She had been traveling with her friend so the apt wouldn’t be overcrowded while we were there, but had to come home early due to a job offer in Hungary. So on Friday we went hiking again. Again we went above Claro. This time we ran into some very friendly goats on the hike! They were so cute! I took lots of pics of them! It was a very nice hike and we went for 2 hours up and 2 hours down. Then in the afternoon, Simon went up to his parents house (which is being torn down and rebuilt soon) and helped his dad in the garden while his mom and I started preparing for dinner as Urs (his mom’s best friend) was coming over for dinner. So the evening was nice as well because we always love seeing Urs. Saturday – It was a little overcast and drizzly so we had an easy day. Went to Bellinzona in the morning to shop for the weekend (stores are all closed on Sundays) and then went back in the afternoon to a cheese festival. OMG I tasted some DAMN GOOD cheese!!! I love cheese!!! Sunday – went hiking again. This time Michelle was with us as well. This hike was quite steep. We went about 2 hours up and 3 hours down (took a different path down). It was a great hike though and really nice. I called it the seasons hike because on the way up, it was like we were surrounded by fall and leaves changing and all that. And on the other path on the way down, we were surrounded by evergreens and it seemed so much more wintry until we got a little farther down and the forest went back to fall. I did, however, slip on this hike and fall in a bed of chestnuts. There are chestnuts EVERYWHERE in the south! And in case you didn’t know, chestnuts are like the porcupines of nuts. They grow on the tree in a spiky outer shell. Very spiky. I still have spiky things in my hand from my fall. Michelle said “Wow, you jumped up FAST!” I told her to try sitting on the chestnuts and see how fast she jumped up!! __________________