Lugano

      We moved into our new place last Wednesday night.  Our new place does not have Internet, but just tonight Keith got it worked out.  Unfortunately we will not have our home phone until we move to our new place the middle of September.  Wednesday Keith took as much as he could fit in a taxi to our new place.  Later that night we headed over with our last load.  The problem was we had to take two buses, it had just begun to pour, and our umbrellas were at our new place. We waited for the rain to lighten up but by 10:30 we were all so tired we just walked in the rain with all our stuff.
     Thursday started out as a disaster.  We were showed the wrong laundry room so my laundry card wouldn't work.  I finally found someone who showed me the correct room , then after doing a load I opened the washing machine door and water just poured out.  It took me a few tries to get the door shut again and by then there was water all over and no drain.  We spent a long time mopping up, still don't know what happened, then headed to my friend Monique's house.  We had a lovely afternoon again, eating and visiting while the kids played.
     Friday at 8:00 in the morning we took a four hour train ride to Lugano.  Lugano is a small town on Lake Lugano that is right on the border of Switzerland and Italy.  We checked into this quaint hotel that my friend Carmen recommended.  It was a short bus ride from town, then a short walk down this cobblestone path before you get to this out of the way place right on the water.

This was the view from our terrace.

View of our hotel taken from the boat.

The street on the way to the hotel.

   After we checked in we made our way back to town.  We walked around a bit, then got groceries and went back to our hotel, had dinner, and played cards on the terrace.

     Saturday, we took a boat ride to a cool town called Gandria.  After walking around there for awhile, we got back on the boat and took it to Paradiso where we rode a funicular to the top of San Salvatore.

Gandria

The amazing 360 degree views from the tallest hill in Lugano - San Salvatore

     We had smuggled enough food from the breakfast buffet to provide us with a nice lunch and then topped it off with a gelato when we got back to Lugano.  We took a long boat ride back to our hotel and by the time we got back we were all excited to throw our suits on and jump in the lake.  Next to our hotel was a private beach area that had a diving board that was fun for us all.

   Saturday evening we walked through the rain into town and had a great Italian dinner.  Side note - there is a smuggling museum that we didn't make it to, but it shows how they used this border town to smuggle things into the country.  At dinner, we asked for tap water and later asked the cost of this very small flask of water.  $6.00 - and the same to refill it.  Having already refined my smuggling skills at breakfast, I took Kelly's sweatshirt, draped it over my arm and filled up the flask in the bathroom sink.  I know I sound pitiful, but really, six dollars and it barely filled up our glasses a third of the way.  Keith was appalled, yet half way through dinner he used the sweatshirt technique himself.