My Weekend in Switzerland

Ciao Ragazzi!

So this past weekend was definitely one of the best ones so far. I had the chance to spend the weekend in Locarno, Switzerland with my good friends Scot and Vera. It was an incredible time and I had a lot of fun. I first started my journey on a train from Torino to Milan.

A view of Locarno.

Of course, this being my first time experiencing the train system in Europe, I purchase my ticket for the fastest, most expensive train to Milan haha. I believe it took me just under an hour to get from Torino to Milan which is definitely FAST. When I got to Milan, it was easy to understand how this place is the second largest city in Italy. The train station was packed and I must say that it was quite an amazing station as well. This place was HUGE. I'll have to take some pictures of it next time I'm there, which I definitely plan on doing soon. I had a short layover in Milan when I then took another train to Bellinzona, Switzerland, then from Bellinzona to Locarno.When I arrived in Locarno, I was greeted by Vera and Scot and we then went out to dinner. This was the beginning of the feast that would take place during my stay in Switzerland. I ate SO MUCH that weekend! When we got to the restaurant, I had the opportunity to meet some of the locals that Scot and Vera are friends with and I tried some "Tartare." It's basically raw beef mixed with some spices and herbs. I would take a piece of toast with some butter and then spread the Tartare onto the toast and man IT WAS GOOD. This was my first taste of Switzerland and I was loving it already. After that awesome dinner I was pretty stuffed and we headed to Scot and Vera's house in Lodano (about a 15-20 min drive from Locarno).

A view of the village of Lodano.

They had a really nice house and even had a guest room with a queen sized bed I slept in! It was really nice and I couldn't believe I was actually there. On Saturday, they showed me some of the sites around Locarno. Unfortunately the weather wasn't too great and it was cloudy for most of the weekend, as you can probably tell in most of the pictures I took (check Facebook). But the village Scot and Vera live in is really cool. It's like out of a movie as it depicts the classical small European village at the base of the Alps. On Saturday night we went to the neighbor's house to have dinner and this place was MASSIVE. These people are good friends with Scot and Vera and their family partly owns the village, so they inherited the largest house there. This place was definitely big enough to get lost in and I could not believe I was there. The dinner was amazing, as usual, and I had a lot of fun that night. On Sunday, I got the opportunity to play Tennis with Vera's brother and that was a really good time. We played at a really nice indoor facility with a "carpet-like" surface that tends to be pretty popular there. I never thought that I would ever play tennis in Switzerland and I can't believe I got that opportunity. After that, it was time for me to go and I headed back onto a train (that was much cheaper), and after a little delay in Milan, I was finally back in Torino. This was a truly incredible weekend and I had an amazing time there. Scot and Vera were great hosts and they welcomed me back whenever I wanted. I would like to hopefully visit there during the Spring or Summer time when the weather is a little better and from the picutres I saw, the town looks pretty amazing during that time. You can check out all of the pictures on Facebook as usual, as I also have a couple posted here as well.

Until my next adventure,

Arrivederci!