My European Adventure: Part 11: Down by the Lake Lugano, Switzerland

Hello Steemians! Welcome back!

On the last installment we left the valley of Laterbrunnen and climbed the cliffs to the mountain village of Wengen! If you missed it, check it out here: https://steemit.com/photography/@seangold/my-european-adventure-part-10-climbing-the-cliffs-to-wengen and if this is your first time, welcome and be sure to check out the series from the beginning on my blog!

Picking up where we left off last time, I had just caught my train out of Lauterbrunnen and towards Lugano. This will be my last and longest multi train ride of the trip, where I will be taking I think 5 trains! It would be a long evening of travel to say the least.

From Interlaken to Bern to Luzern an ending up at my destination; Lugano! After leaving at around 5pm and arriving at Lugano around 9pm, it was a long journey, but it also solidified my confidence in making my way through the euro rail system.

I leave the train station, and it's drizzling out a bit, so I'm in a bit of a rush to make it to my hostel. I use Google maps to navigate me, but it didn't seem to be working too well. After walking up this old path surrounded by lush palm trees, I finally see the sign of my hostel and make my way onto the grounds. This hostel is actually an 1800's mansion located right next to the main train station and it is gorgeous! Regrettably, I didn't take any photos of the place, as I was on the go so much, but there is 1 selfie I took with it that I'll post later.

I find the proper entrance and speak with the woman to check in. She was super helpful, she gave me some maps and coupons for the area, explained the rules of the hostel, and lastly, gave me my Ticino Ticket. Now this is seriously cool. So in short, Switzerland has multiple regions, Ticino is the Italian region of Switzerland, including Lugano, not surprising since it's practically on the border. So the Ticino region has a program where if you stay at any type of accommodations, whether hostel or hotel, you get a ticket for each day you stay, and this ticket gets you UNLIMITED FREE ACCESS TO ALL PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN THE REGION, EVEN LONG DISTANCE COMMUTER TYPE TRAINS! How amazing is that?! I already had a plan to put this to great use on my 2nd day here, but we'll get to that later.

I make my way to my dorm, which is empty, and setup my gear to charge. It's been a long day of hiking and exploring and travel, so I want to get a good night sleep to get up early to explore Lugano!

I wake up early, do my bathroom routine, pack my bag and head on out to see the city for the first time in daylight. Now, I had seen the weather and knew they called for rain the days I would be here, but it was mostly overcast and didn't seem to be raining, so I took my chances. I make my way to the train station, where they have a lift that brings you up and down from the city centre, and it's FREE with my ticino ticket! But before I get there, I get my first look at Lugano, and it is beautiful!

This beautiful city and architecture, surrounded by mountains that hug the lake, it's incredible! Oh, and I had to take a selfie here too, of course.

And this beautiful bell tower, that I would fall in love with it ringing in each and every hour, I can still hear it's chimes.

After admiring the view a bit, I decided I would walk down towards the city center to get a feel of the area and take the lift later. Walking down these beautiful stone streets, glistening from the early morning rain, it really did feel like Italy.

Once I reached the city center, it felt like an old marketplace, as I navigated these small corridors and alleys, passing by many store fronts that I would later use to know my way, to find my way out towards the lake.

Once I figured my way out towards the man street that runs alongside the lake, I got my first up close view of Lake Lugano!

I saw a boat launch nearby, and went out there for some better angles and compositions!

I had a great view of Monte San Salvitore right ahead of me, even though its peak was covered in the clouds.

And lastly, of course, a selfie.

Hmm. Okay, now what to do? Well, my plan is to visit the quaint on the lake town of Gandria by walking there along the lake, and also visiting the old city on top of Monte Bre. I guess we'll start with Grandria and see how it goes from there. I decide to follow the lake side and take in all the amazing views.

After a bit of walking, I came across a beautiful little park. I recognize it because the iconic gate that I saw many photos of before coming here.

Walking up a bit further and I approached this beautiful wooden walkway along the water, and some beautiful bird sightings.

And after looking around a bit, it seemed that this was a great place to bring out my little travelling companion!

I scoped out my spot, and we took to the air! Flying high above the lake getting a feel for my compositions, and filming a few clips. Then I saw it. One of the beautiful lake ferry's coming into port. This was the shot I needed!

After getting that, and some video clips as well, I grabbed a few shots of the area and the city as well.

After coming for a landing, there was a gentleman eyeing my drone, and he came over to ask about it. Turns out, he was a former film producer for what I understood to be the public broadcasting of Switzerland. He introduced himself as Guido Ferrari, like the car, as he said. I showed him a bit of the drone, and we chatted a bit about my travels and where I was going. I mentioned Gandria and Monte Bre, and when I mentioned Monte Bre and that I was planning to walk, he offered to drive me. I told him I wanted to walk to see more, and he agreed, but I would later see why he quickly offered me a ride, as I would learn just how steep these roads and streets are, especially up the mountain, but more on that later. After speaking with him, I made up my mind that Gandria would be my best choice to head to and focus on for the day. And before I left, I had to take a portrait of him.

It really is one of the greatest joys of travelling, meeting new people, and talking with locals and making these connections that broaden our understandings of each other. And also seeing how kind humanity can be around the world, helping strangers, it does give me hope for this world.

And before I moved out.... of course, you guessed it; a selfie.

And on that note, I think that is where we'll end today's installment, right before we make our trek to Gandria.

I hope you enjoyed our first look at Lugano, because we'll be seeing more of it and it's treasures such as Gandria and Monte Bre, and more of Lugano proper as well. Keep an eye out for the next installment!

And in the meantime, don't forget to follow along with me on Instagram! or check out my Website! for more of my work and to purchase prints to support my work! Thanks!

• Sean Gold