Lugano - A Taste of Italy in Switzerland

It's hard to believe that in a country the size of a U.S. state, you could have such different terrains and cultures. But that's the beauty of Switzerland. And a few weekends ago, we explored one of them. We headed down to the Italian influenced region in the south called Ticino. We took a 3-hour train ride and spent the weekend in Lugano. It's situated on Lake Lugano and has Switzerland on one side and Italy on the other. In fact, Lake Como is right over the hill. (Alas, we didn't have any George Clooney sightings). We went on the best hike that Saturday -- we walked from the town of Morcote up the mountain and then back down to Lugano (roughly 12 kilometers). The weather was amazing. The scenery overlooking the lakes around the region was incredible. But our favorite part was a surprise oasis at the top of a long trek uphill. Sweaty and looking for lunch, we discovered a gourmet Italian restaurant nestled on a small piece of farmland. Since it was only a half-way point on our journey, we had to force ourselves not to spend the afternoon there indulging in a 4-hour lunch. We opted for a 2-hour feast instead. We figured we had earned the right to the calories.