We then headed downstairs for a quick breakfast on Alessandro's balcony (table still slightly prosecco stained), and Matt was feeling smug because he'd brought his own granola. Bit awkward when Alessandro's mum popped out and he thrust it in front of me while I was distracted by the cat. I coerced Alessandro into posing for this winner of a photo, before hastening down the road for the bus to Como. Which didn't come. And then still didn't.
The other guy waiting at the stop told us in broken English that we had all missed the bus because it had been too full to stop anyway. Cheers. He suggested we hitch and make 'some good friends.' Hmm. It was only a 5-10 minute drive, but about an hour and a half to walk, down really narrow high speed windy roads with no pavement. And the next bus? Two hours later. And likely also full. While we hesitated, he smiled boadly with his thumb out to the road. One car actually pulled over, and he seemed to know the guy because they were talking and joking in Italian. The bus stop guy waved us over and said, 'This is my friend- he take you to Como stazione. I get next friend car.'
I was unsure about the idea, having watched too many episodes of Law & Order, but seeing he had a baby seat and we had no real alternative, Matt nodded and we hopped in. He didn't speak any English really, but I sort of got by in Italian, and we chatted all the way down. He was actually a really nice guy called Paolo, with a two year old baby Judita, and just wanted to help out some tourists and do a bit of promotion for his own B&B down the road. He dropped us right at the station we needed and unloaded our bags. Champ. We then got on the 11:45 to Lugano. Except that the famed and reliable Swiss rail service we've always heard about was late for the only time ever and the :45 was actually the :39, and we were on the wrong train. We switched at the next stop, bolted through the station and straight past customs (no one seemed to care) and just made our actual connection.
Along the way we saw from the window an awesome-looking pool and tennis courts, etc, right on the beach of the lake. Excellent concept. We resolved to find it after we'd checked in and dropped our bags at the hotel. Arriving in Lugano, the first thing we saw was the green/blue lake and the church dome of the town. We paid for our Bernina Express tickets for the next day (ouch) and found a bus that said Paradiso, which we thought was where our hotel was. Why not? We jumped on. Luckily at the end of the route, I spotted our hotel sign, we hopped off, checked in, and were changed and on our way to this pool/beach/Lido di Lugano/heaven.
It was awesome. 10 francs entry to paradise. Clear, hot, sunny day. Cold, clear lake with mountains on every side. Big sandy beach. Outdoor bar. Pools. Table tennis. Real tennis. Another bar. And a huge grill area. Does something like this exist in melbourne??!! Someone point me in October, if so. Matt talked me into the freezing lake water one meter at a time ('No goosebumps? Another meter') and we swam around with some wild swans for a bit (why not), before drying off and laying out in the hot sun to read with some mojitos and snacks.
As the evening wore on, it really filled up. There was a big group of Italian friends and their kids in front of us, with one baby, no more than two or three years old. He wandered up to the bar behind us and asked in Italian for 'un acqua' about four times, but the bartender couldn't see him below the level. Enterprising little guy then started throwing his cup in the air to get their attention all the while chanting 'acqua acqua', until we took pity and went over to help.
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| Matt lined up for 10 minutes with kids under age 8 to make the jump below |
Five hours later, we packed up and decided to walk home along the lake front, grabbing burgers on the way, which we ate on park benches overlooking the water.
Early morning tomorrow and travel day through the Alps on the Bernina Express!
Looks absolutely fantastic!
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