Day 4
Morning hikes and an Italian evening
"The landscape resting before us was the ultimate picture of natural beauty.
To Ebenalp! To hike! First thing in the morning!
The adventure really didn’t ever have an end as long as our eyes were open. The espresso was nice and strong that morning. Despite it being 8:00 in the morning in the mountains, it was surprisingly temperate with a delightful breeze on our backs. It began as an exhilarating walk around the slope. The fresh air filled our minds with zeal. The landscape resting before us was the ultimate picture of natural beauty. There is no human made thing that can compare! We rounded the bend and came to the famed Wildkirchli where monks had decided, in a bout of particularly intense religious fervor, to live and worship for almost 200 years.
TRAVEL TIP
Make sure to bring shoes good for hiking and plenty of water.
Farther down the path was one of the more unique and precariously situated accommodations we’d come across - the National Geographic-famous cliffside hotel, the Berggasthaus Aescher. It was nice respite, however it did mark the end of the downhill portion of the hike. On the other side of the cliff, the mountain top towered above us in all its colorful glory. We slowly but surely pulled ourselves to the top midst shading pines, brief mountain meadows, and, my favorite, the alpine flora in various purple, white, and bright yellow tones. An unforgettable trek!
After that hike our group didn’t mind some time to relax on the bus as we made our way south down to the Italian speaking region of Switzerland and stopped at the lovely wayside Bellinzona for some delicious pasta. We had to practically run back to the bus since we rather overestimated the time we had to sit down and eat. That might be the fastest we had ever eaten that many noodles. Utterly delicious. But it is not recommended to be eaten so quickly.
At last we came to Lugano, our Swiss Italian resort destination! We were greeted with the beginnings of a brooding sunset as we began our tour of the old city. We were introduced to the intricacies of the city's workings and ended with the tour of the castle that overlooked the bustling city. The stones breathed history as our imaginations brought to life the stories from the narration.
We ended our day with the arrival at our hotel followed by a scavenger hunt for some of that world famous gelato to which we’d been looking forward to. With tired legs and tired minds we looked forward to laying back on a nice bed and taking the adventure in our own hands the next day.
