As we near the end of our time here, it occurs to me that all I've written about is trips we've taken. That's the glamorous part! I thought I'd give everyone a look at day-to-day life here in Lugano. Since it's a couple miles each way, on foot, to town, we don't go too often! The biggest part of our time has been spent in our little dorm room. If you go to college someday, your room might look something like this:
We've enjoyed cooking nearly all our own meals with one tiny skillet and a small pot with the handle broken off!
The view from our window is indeed fun to look at:
When we walk outside, we see the front of our building. Notice, more stairs to get to our room after the uphill walk from town :( !!
This picture shows what we always see if we look the other direction: construction equipment.
One of our biggest challenges in this month has been nighttime. They do road work overnight, so each night from about 10 pm until 3 or 4 am, we hear jack hammers or trucks scraping up smashed pavement. Ahhh, relaxing...! (You can click on the little movie at the end of this post, taken from outside our room at 11 PM, if you dare. But be warned: it's noisy.)
As we walk downtown, we pass lots of interesting signs. The first warns cars of an upcoming street crossing for pedestrians. Notice that the pedestrian is wearing a suit and a hat!
The next shows a path that is only for pedestrians, not cars. Again, the father and daughter are both dressed up.
In this sign, which warns drivers that a school crossing is ahead, two very happy children run off to school!
Finally, the sign we seem to see most often: road work. The weather here is such in the winter that road work must be done quickly in the summer. It's EVERYWHERE!
It is fun to look around as we walk. The houses here are beautiful. In this first one, you can see both the beautiful colors of local houses, and the friendly pets that are often there!
As we walk on a path near our house, up through grape vines and a beautiful, old catholic church, we meet a little cat who always comes out to say hello!
We also meet many, many lizards, often outside our door. This fellow actually stopped to get his picture taken.
Nearly all houses have lots of brightly colored flowers. One local house has a collection of statues of Snow White and her pals in the garden.
One absolutely critical thing that Switzerland and Italy have are many drinking fountains. They are often both beautiful and welcome sights, when it's very hot. The first one is 2/3 of the way to our room. It tells us we are nearing home, and quenches our thirst until we get there. (And, of course, notice the construction warning tape nearby!)
The next one is near the train station--or halfway home. Also a welcome sight!
Speaking of trains, since we don't have a car here, transport is really important. Trains play one big part, helping us to take all of our trips this summer.
If we aren't taking a train, we walk in a large tunnel under the tracks so we can get to town.
By the time we are done in town, facing 87 big steps, 15 small ones, and two steep ramps often sounds like too much. Then we take a "funiculare," or small train-type car, up from town to the station. It's a great way to miss at least a bit of the steep climb, and takes only about 2 minutes.
Funiculares aren't ALWAYS a way around the climb. When I took my crazy climb down Mt. San Salvatore, we took a large funiculare up the mountain to begin with. If you look closely, you can see the red car beginning its climb. Most smart people will also take that car DOWN...!
In the end, the most common type of transport we see in Lugano is motorcycle. (though we don't have one. Darn!) They are fast, fuel-efficient, and help folks travel the small, curvy streets here.
We have, indeed, had some fun in Lugano, too. We've been to several outdoor concerts, which happen late every Friday and Saturday night in July, as well as some day time shows. The first picture is a mandolin orchestra from this area, which was a quiet, daytime concert.
The next picture is a jazz group named Marcus Miller Band, from Brooklyn, New York. Lugano has a huge jazz festival each summer, and lots of different famous bands play here. The concerts are on a huge stage outdoors, and the street along the lake is closed. Kids ride bikes and scooters up and down the street, people dance to the music, and the concerts last until 1 or 2 am!
The last concert photo is of a group from Milan, Italy, named Figli di Madre Ignota. They call their music "spaghetti Balkan." (It's a LONG story! If you want to learn about the Balkan region, look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkans . It's really interesting!) Their music is a lot of fun, and very energetic. You'd love dancing to it during our dance circle!
Finally, the very best thing in this part of the world is still gelato, and this is our favorite gelato stand near the Parco Civico in Lugano! "Uno biscotto, per favore!"
At last, our journey home from town is over. This sign is the one we treasure most, because we actually live in the village of Sorengo, and it means we are only around the corner from our room. We are hot and tired, but usually have had fun in downtown Lugano.
Wow, if you are still reading at this point, you are quite a reader. (If you are a room 6 student--past or present--and you have read all this, come see me when school starts. I'll let you choose a free book from the first book order, because you've spent a lot of time reading here!!)
Coming up this Friday, we leave Lugano and fly to London for a week before we come home. Cheers!
I leave you with a night at Franklin College...!
