Gais, Schweiz.

 

Last week marked the end of an era at ICON Worldwide. Daniel Hernandez and Daniel Sabio (#DD), both graduated from the internship. Together, they were a design/programming powerhouse; check out the website they built for Project Firefly, a platform for academics worldwide to share their ideas. Their obscure references and unflagging sense of humor will be missed. To celebrate their last weekend with us, and to escape the wretched weather predicted for Gais, we hopped a series of trains to Lugano after work on Friday.

 

 

 
Lugano is a hilly city on the coast of a big lake in southern Switzerland where language, architecture, and food are greatly influenced by Italy, which it borders. Shielded by the Alps, the climate there is much milder than the blustery Switzerland I’ve gotten used to, and when we awoke in our hotel the next morning we were greeted with sunshine and relative warmth, as promised by Lori, our boss.

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday was spent weaving through the cobble-stoned streets with leisure, admiring unique shops peddling everything from handmade paper, to impeccably curated clothing, to impeccably cured meats. In the afternoon we regrouped at the Hostel Montarina, our markedly more affordable accommodations for the second night. The hostel is near the train station, overlooks the city, and is very well managed.

 

 

 

 
Then, in summary:
A long walk to dinner at a traditional Ticinese resto tucked away from the Luganian bustle.
Bomb spare ribs, okay pasta, local wine, and the promise to reunite there in 10 years.
A tepid attempt at partying all night ($19 vodka cranberries will keep a girl sober.ish.)
A long uphill journey back to the hostel.
Slumber.
A rude awakening by the deep rumblings of flatulence by some guy in our dorm.

 

 

 
Sunday graced us with more perfect weather. We soaked it in as we ambled along the lake following the Olive Grove Trail, dotted with ancient olive trees. After about eight miles of walking round-trip, we gave our legs a rest on the red benches of Lugano Park, where the people- and bird-watching is top-notch. Sabio noted, quite aptly, that the majority of park-goers had one, if not all, of these three things: a small dog, a child, or really, really expensive clothes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there we sat until it was time to return to Winter.