Ticino, Ticino! (Switzerland)
Ciao ragazzi! It's been a while since I've posted a travel-focused blog, but it has also been a while since I've done any traveling, what with all the starting a business stuff.
D and I finally got away for a three-day weekend (my boss gave me Friday off, aka: I gave myself Friday off. Ha!) and we headed to the Italian part of Switzerland: Tessin, or Ticino if you're fancy. We left Thursday night for a long drive - four hours. In Switzerland, a long drive is basically anything over 30 minutes, which still seems so silly to me because you can go to an entirely different European country in four hours - ONLY FOUR HOURS in a car with one of my famous playlists to get to Germany, France, Italy or Liechtenstein. I mean, four hours in the U.S. gets you where? A different county? Maaaybe a different state... okay, if you're near Canada or Mexico, you could get to a different country. But not a European one!!
What brought us to Tessin was the Moon&Stars concert in Locarno. The headliners on that Friday night were Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. I've seen them three times in Switzerland and one time in Bellingham and whenever I see them I feel a.) proud to share their hometown and b.) simply happy. I will admit it, I am that annoying girl who sings (screams?) all the lyrics when everyone would much rather hear the people they paid to see. #sorrynotsorry
The concert was amazing, the location was perfect and beautiful. The Moon&Stars festival is about 10 days long with one concert every evening, and if you're around, I definitely recommend it. Pro tip: become friends with someone who has an apartment looking over the piazza because then you can get a spot on the balcony above/almost level with the stage. I bet it's a great view - but honestly, nothing beats being in the audience, groovin' to the music you all love, bonded by your shared fandom and listening to me belt all the words to "and we danced."
On Saturday we went for an unexpected hike. D's brother and his girlfriend sold it as a two-hour walk up a hill to a nice, new viewpoint built by a famous architect. Ahh... sounds leisurely. I can assure you it was not. I assumed that my Converse were totally fine. Turns out it was actually a very steep 3.5-hour hike. The views on Monte Generoso were, however, worth it. The restaurant at the top in the Fiore de Pietra (stone flower) were closed, so we had to settle for a fluffy, melty, yummy, totally-earned-it slice of pizza. Poor us. And then we took the train down (thank God!).
The next day, we continued our outdoor adventure with a little less uphill climbing and a little more bathing in freezing water in natural pools. The Verzasca River has this dreamy blue-turquoise color that you see in pictures of paradise beaches, except it's not as warm. But it is stunning! And on a beautiful weekend like the one we were enjoying, the smooth rocks that break up the river are popular tanning spots for lots of groups. This landscape goes on for a few kilometers, so it's possible to find a good spot on a rock even with the crowds, but I recommend getting there a bit earlier in the day to make sure you can snag a good parking spot. When we left at around 3 p.m., people had gotten pretty creative with their parking on the sides of the roads, even taking over a bus stop bay.
Despite all this outdoor adventure and beauty, I have to say my highlight of the weekend was on Saturday night when I dove headfirst into a two-scoop-on-a-waffle-cone gelato. You see, I was just coming off of the whole30 program (look it up) and hadn't had sugar for a whole month. Eating that ice cream while standing on the edge of Lake Maggiore, surrounded by Italian and palm trees and a warm breeze, oh man, that was heaven.
And it just goes to show, sometimes all you need to do is go for a short drive - or a long one, depending on who you ask - to get out of your world and surround yourself in that vacation feeling. Monday came quicker than I wanted it to, but with that glow/borderline sunburn that I got while people-watching on the Verzasca River rocks, how could I not be happy?
