Two weeks ago I met my family and one of my friends in Switzerland! We had been planning this trip for a while as, despite their very different schedules, my mom’s spring break (she’s a teacher), my sister’s (in law school) and my friend’s from my university in Philadelphia all aligned perfectly. They decided to come visit me across the ocean. We met in a beautiful lake town in southern Switzerland called Lugano. Everyone there spoke Italian because it was only about a 30 minute drive from northern Italy. The sun was out the whole time we were there, and we were able to rent a small motor boat for the afternoon to explore the lake a bit more. Although Switzerland is known for fondue and other cheesy dishes, the cuisine in Lugano is primarily Italian because of its close proximity to Italy. One afternoon, we took a funicular (a little tram/train that goes up and down mountains) to the top of a gorgeous mountain and had lunch with a few of the lakes below us. We "hiked" around the peak of the mountain, although the word hike might be a stretch – more so we walked around the mountain since it was a pretty flat pathway.
