Thursday, June 18, 2009

Day 17; Lugano

Lugano was probably the least researched city on my part. I knew it was supposed to be beautiful but this place is off the chart. I didn't know the curreny (Swiss Franc), the language (Italian) or the address to where I was staying the first night but everything has worked out like clockwork.

Last night was great just getting to know the students here at Franklin University. My "roommates" in Lugano are Margaret, Allie, Liz (Allie's twin sister) and Jesse. All are a blast to be around and remind me so much of my University years and it was good to be around that influence again.

After a great sleep I woke up to the sound of birds chirping and the hot sunny sky here in Lugano, Switzerland (http://tinyurl.com/kjg7pj).

My balcony is crazy beautiful and I decided that today I was gonna tackle the downtown setting of Lugano. I didn't know how or what I really looking for but Margaret and others suggested some local spots and I headed on down the road. First stop- lunch.

I kept seeing regular lunch signs for nearly 15 Francs ($14) and all I was looking for was a sandwich/panini of somesort so that I could walk around and eat it at the sametime (plus, eating at a sit-down restaurant for every meal for 29 days doesn't really add up financially or very timely efficient with so much to do).

So I order (in my best Italian) the panini that looks the best. The sandwich as a whole was good but I guess I missed a small ingredient...olives. Yuck! (mom like them) I think they are disgusting and were actually located IN the bread. I am sure that sounds great to some olive lovers out there but it was a gross part of the trip for me. I coped by picking the olives out of the bread and sat on this bench (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30796964@N02/3639137635/) and ate the panini and drank my Coke Zero and smiled.

I proceded to find a shady tree to lie under and listened to Coldplay's Viva la Vida album and doze off. Yes, birds woke me up again except this time because they were about 4 feet from my head...almost as if they were asking me to scoot over so that they could get a certain worm under me.

I got up, silenced the iPod and immediately made a new friend with a swan (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30796964@N02/3639952812/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/30796964@N02/3639954258/). I don't know if I've ever seen a legit swan up close but it sure was captivating. It looked at me for quite a long time and cleaned its feathers right in front of me almost as if to show me how its done (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30796964@N02/3639150355/). I snapped a large amount of photos; so much that the battery light started flashing...photo session over.

After a stroll through the park I eventually came back to the apartment to absolutely just sit around in this fairytale-like town. It was pretty hot and a shower was calling for me loud enough that ignoring it was no longer an option.

Shower accomplished and all electronics charged and ready to go for the next city (Liverpool, http://tinyurl.com/ongnw). I have been told by my Liverpool couchsurfer that he will pick me up at the airport (instead of taking the tram which is 45 min trip into Liverpool). Actually, I recognized that my flight doesn't arrive into Liverpool until 11:20 p.m. and when I expressed my thoughts on getting a hostel instead of having anyone wait til 1 a.m. for me to arrive his repy was,

" Dude, I am a night owl. Don't bother with a hostel. You're trying to couch surf your way around Europe (I read your blog) so there's no way you're doing a hostel.
Let me know your flight number. I'll be there to get you at Liverpool Airport no worries."

Yes, I love couchsurfing.com.

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