To satisfy our constant need for adventure, Patrick and I decided to make a quick stop in Switzerland for a couple of days before continuing our Italian journey. Unfortunately, things were not as perfect as they seemed.

Lugano, Switzerland is located on Lago Lugano which is partially in Italy and partially in Switzerland. It is absolutely stunning. The pictures we took do not do the area justice.

On our first day in Lugano we decided to go to the top of a mountain to see, as Trip Advisor put it, the best views of Lugano and the surrounding towns. Trip Advisor also told us that the hike to the top wasn’t that hard and if you’re slightly athletic you could do it. Now, I’m not saying Patrick and I are in tip top shape because let’s be serious, we could both benefit from some more time at the gym. I am saying that we are moderately athletic and felt like we could climb this mountain with ease. LIES! ALL LIES! I died climbing this mountain. It was over 100 minutes of straight uphill. No flat areas. No downwards slopes. We might as well have been on a stair stepper for 100 minutes. Yet, to my body’s amazement we somehow made it to the top and were rewarded with postcard perfect views.

While in Lugano, we also drove about 45 minutes north to go swimming in a place called Valle Verzasca. Located in the mountains this valley reminded both Patrick and me of Blue Hole (a swimming hole near JMU)…except it was twenty times bigger and more exquisite (as you can see I’m running out of synonyms for beautiful…why can’t anything on our trip be ugly?!?!).

This was the perfect place for me and Patrick. I got to lay out and soak up the sun while Patrick got to explore the rocks because he has way too much energy to sunbathe. (Ironically, Patrick is the one that got sunburnt…not me! How proud of me are you, Mom?) Despite all of its beauty, Valle Verzasca did have one flaw…its water was FREEZING. I’m not talking Ocean City Beach in May. I’m talking colder-than-an-ice-bath, instantly-numbing water. Of course, we still got in the water (with me screaming obscenities the whole way)

So, I know you’re curious…what exactly was so wrong with our stay in Lugano?

$$$$$$$

Lugano was worse than expensive. Besides the scenery, we felt like we were getting ripped off every time we went out. Our first night there we went to a pizzeria that was recommended to us. Our dinner was 36 Francs (about 40 dollars) for 1 L of water (7 Francs) and 2 personal size pizzas that were not even good.

Remember that mountain Patrick and I hiked? We could have also taken the 12 minute cable car to the top…for 28 Francs each. Seriously? That’s more than one Franc per minute.

The one time we got gas in Switzerland we ended up getting ripped off 18 Francs because the person in front of us never paid and the lady behind the counter didn’t believe us.

We ended up buying sandwich meats from the grocery store every single day and night for food. Even though they weren’t amazing meals, we felt better knowing we weren’t paying $40 to eat poorly.

Overall, we are glad we took the time to stop in Switzerland but this is one place on our journey that we would not go back to. Sorry Switz.

Since I hate to end a blog post on a bad note, I’ll finish it off with a quick note about chocolate. My mom was dying to to hear about the chocolate in Switzerland. As you might imagine we didn’t feel comfortable buying any without getting ripped off, but we did decide to splurge one day on Tolberones. Yes, they have them in America. Yes, they are so much better here. Did you know that the McDonalds here has Tolberone McFlurrys?!?! HEAVEN. (Sorry Mom, we tried to bring you one back but then it melted…so we just HAD to eat it ourselves…oops.)

p.s. Shout out to Patrick for taking a lot of the pictures on this blog post! Thank ya!