Day 8 - Monday, July 24 - Boat Ride on Lake Lugano & the town Morcote

 

Wayne and his two best friends

We had the morning to ourselves, at least until 10:45 am, so I took a walk around town on my own.  I keep getting told that we're in Switzerland, but this Italian Cantone, is so much more like Italy than Switzerland.  It has narrow streets and confusing bends in the little alleys.  You come upon a big square with lots of outdoor restaurants and have no clue how to get back to where you started or, better yet, how to get where you really want to go.

I wanted to see the church, built between 1499 - 1500, Santa Maria degli Angioli, that our guide told us about.  There were some beautiful frescoes on the wall painted by Bernadino Luini, a student of Leonardo da Vinci.  It was less than a 1/2 mile from the hotel and well worth the little walk.  The fresco is his portrayal of the "Passion and Crucifixion".    I had to wait a little while for it to open so I walked down the promenade by the lake for a few more pictures.  

The new art museum on the promenade in Lugano Switzherland

the little church with the famous frescoes, Chiesa Santa Maria degli Angioli

After my visit to the church, I meandered back to the hotel and stopped at the Coop, a department store which also hosts a supermarket.  I bought a few short sleeve shirts; the weather and my packing skills and the weather coming into a direct disconnect.   I have a suitcase of long sleeve shirts and it's 75+ degrees and 80% humidity.

The hotel is right in the middle of some very expensive shopping.  I had to take some pictures of the stores surrounding the hotel.

  

We left as a group at 10:45 am and walked back down to the lake front for our boat ride.   It rained on and off most of the day but that didn't stop us from taking the ride.   We had a very nice boat captain on our private motorboat ride down the lake who had very good narration of the little villages along the lake.  It was about an hour ride to our lunch stop, in Morcote Switzerland.  If you looked directly across the lake, you are looking at Italy.

Lunch at the Ristorante della Torre was delicious.   I don't usually go into detail on the meal, but the Veal Osso Bucco was wonderful.  So, was the green soup I had; not exactly sure what the soup was but it was very good.  It had the taste of a vegetable soup, but bright green?   Dessert was a delicious panna cotta.  So, what if it was the second in two days.  It was just as tasty.

Whatever this green soup really was, it was good

Veal Osso Bucco and dessert - Panna Cotta

Our almost alfresco restaurant

I had to take some pictures of the inside of the restaurant

If you remember some of my Mediterranean pictures, I find humor in some of the bathrooms I've had to visit.  The toilet seat in the restaurant bathroom is a hoot!

We were given about 45 minutes to do a little shopping in the midst of some rain.   I found another tote bag I can make a quilt block out of.  Wayne is definitely going to have to give me some of his suitcase for the flight home.

The boat ride back to Lugano was wet, but, again the narration by the captain was good.  I stopped, on our walk back to the hotel, at another department store, the Manor.  This too had a supermarket in the basement and I found it fun to walk around and look at labels and things we just don't find in the states in my Arizona supermarkets.

Navigating my way back to the hotel.   Sometimes I think I need a trail of breadcrumbs.

Octopus for sale?   Any takers?    Large shrimp!   feed more than one, right?

More octopus, smaller pieces

a beautiful pastry shop in the supermarket in the basement of a department store!  that would be floor -1.  In Switzerland, the ground floor is 0.  the basement is -1 and the 2nd floor (the first floor with hotel rooms is 1).  I'll stop there.

An entire Biscotti section in the supermarket

Back in Lugano, we were on our own for the remainder of the day including dinner on our own.  Wayne and I are going to try a place, Ristorante Cantinone.  

Tomorrow, it's luggage out the door at 7:45 am and on the bus at 8:30 a.m.   We're leaving Switzerland and heading to Austria and higher elevation.  While the hotel doesn't have air conditioning for the next two nights, hopefully the elevation will help.