Day 3 - Lugano to Menaggio

We're on a bus as I type to catch you up, on the way from Menaggio to Como where we catch a train to Milan and rent a car.  Then the scary part will really begin.  A young local girl just got some bad news via a phone call. From what we can make out, we think perhaps her mother has had an accident or worse. She is wailing painfully and I say a quick prayer as she exits the bus prematurely. 

Lago di Lugano

As mentioned in the last entry, the train from Zurich was lovely and just about worth the 61CF. Just. We arrived in Lugano to spend just a few hours.  There's a luggage storage at the central train station which fit our 3 carry-on suitcases for only 9CF. 

Traveler's Tip: There's a large luggage  storage in the underground floor, which is were we headed.  But there's a smaller one upstairs, trackside. Use that one to prevent having to tote the luggage downstairs and back up again - no escalator. 

In case you need a translation:
Giant Spaghetti, like 4' giant

For the bargain price of 1.1CF we rode a funicular down to the lake level. A funicular is a little car on tracks, similar to a train but on a steep grade. This one held maybe 14 people. Lugano is, as expected, touristy and full of Swatch shops and Swiss army knife stores.  Ann was in the market for a Swatch for her son so we went into to couple of the stores were we found one pretty cool one for 50CF with a skinny band that wrapped around the wrist twice. Not quite masculine enough for Declan. After that, prices jumped to 120CF and went from there. 

Just the cutest pizza box ever

Meandering down to the lake, we found a pizza margarita that was perfect at 14E.  (They take both francs and euros here but give all change in francs - Completely understandable bit of a pain when you're leaving Switzerland in an hour. We had lunch by the lake, watching some folks try to figure out how to drive the paddle boat they'd just rented. Really? It's a paddle boat.... Pedal and steer.

Paddle boats for rent
on Lago di Lugano

Traveler tip: If leaving Lugano for Menaggio, you must leave the train station and go about 2 km down to a bus stop.  It's not very walkable due to the large descent but there is no need to take a taxi per everyone on Trip Adviser.  Just catch the bus right in front of the train station.  After disembarking, continue forward (northeast?) to a little sage green hut where you buy the tickets. Then head catty cornered across the parking lot to the bus stop. 

Can you see how
the passenger side
is over the edge?

The bus to Menaggio was just about as scary as warned. Sherri and  I headed for the seat just behind the driver so we'd get our money's worth. At only about 5E per ticket, I think we were successful.  Imagine gong 20-30 miles and hour in a gigantic bus on a road with no inches to spare, while to bus driver meets traffic by reaching down in the side pocket for something while turning around carrying on a conversation. Very cool.  He knows his stuff.  He honks at many of the corners, warning oncoming drivers of his presence. Cars meeting the bus frequent start backing up very quickly, in order to get out of the way.  I'm making a mental note of this procedure in case I need it later in the trip, God forbid.

Hotel Garni Corona

Our room in Menaggio

The view from the balcony
in the bathroom. Seriously.

The view from our room.

Unlike the bus ride, arrival in Menaggio was uneventful. We found great hotel #2, Hotel Garni Corona. Man, what a view from the window, looking out over the beautiful Lago di Como. And the cute albeit tiny, balcony in the bathroom - one direction has a lake view, the other has a view of the main piazza.  And once again, a really large room with a Doyle bed and a twin bed, dresser, desk and large closet. No free house slippers like in Zurich, but then again, we're getting two nights for the price of one. We end up asking the front desk gals for information many times and they are all more than pleasant, even making a phone call for us to confirm a reservation.  Breakfast is again typical, although this time the eggs are hard boiled instead of half boiled, making me very happy.  I'm getting into the habit of having ham rolled up with cheese in the mornings... A habit I hope to keep. 

We began our short Como visit with a one hour walking tour of Menaggio, using a map provided at the hotel.  Like most of the towns we'll be visiting, there's a quite an elevation change. Luckily, this tour has only a 50m gain but none-the-less, Sherre and I find plenty to stop and look at while Ann the mountain goat presses on. There's not a lot of historic sites here but it's still a nice walk, ending by walking the promenade on the lake for about the last 20% past a really beautiful monument to the women of the silk trade. Silk was a huge business all over Lake Como back in the day. It's still the place to buy silk scarfs, pashminas and men's ties. 

First Gelatto!
Pictured: Stracciatella & Limone

We figured we earned our gelatto and had our first at Gelateria Edo in the main square. Strawberry for me, limone for Sherre, stracciatella that's everywhere for Ann.  Yummy.  Menaggio is a pretty small town, with one real shopping area (that we found anyway) off the main piazza. There are mostly clothing and shoe shops but also a take away food store with pastas and salads and some interesting mixes for things like arribiata sauce.  I made a mental note to come back for that but would sadly never make it. 

We immediately noticed the British presence on the lake, probably 80% of the tourists are British, the remaining being American with a spattering of Australians. You can tell us Yanks and our cousins from across the pond from the locals because we're all wearing the same scarfs around our necks.  (I'm not knocking it, she says while riding a train with a scarf on and sitting next Sherre with also the same scarf on - different color - thank goodness). It's no matter, I'll never see these people again.

Side note - I'm now riding an Italian train from Como to Milan. The difference between this and the Swiss train is remarkable.  This Swiss train was so quiet, you'd think it wasn't moving. This Trentalia train sounds like we did this morning, grunting, groaning and generally sounding as if it's in pain. 

A wee appetizer at "Chicken Freak"

We had asked for "three forks"!

We had planned on dinner at the well recommended (and cheap) Pizzeria Lugano, followed by drinks of some sort at this place called Chic n Freak. Because you've just got to go to a place if its called Chic n Freak. Passing by Chicken Freak (easier to say), we noted that is was not more a of bar, as expected, but a restaurant. Checked out the menu and decided that was the dinner place for the evening.  Caprese salad (which completely deserves a "medium" size photo instead of "small"), lasagna, spaghetti carbonara, risotto with cheese and something that we never figured out - it seemed like maybe black beans - a half liter of wine and a shared dessert of some sort of pastry layered with marmalade for 42E.  At least half of what it would have cost on Zurich.  The food was plenty good enough, not anything to write home about except maybe the reddest, prettiest, tastiest tomatoes you've ever seen.  Tucked in bed, reading our three books at nine o'clock, completely exhausted.