There’s nothing better than family, especially Swiss-Italian family that cooks homemade meals when you visit! For the second half of our Swiss trip, Markie, mom, and I headed to Lugano, Switzerland which is on the border of Italy. This area of Switzerland has a very Italian feel to it – architecture and language wise (they speak Italian here) – which we were fortunate to experience.
We traveled to Lugano to visit my mom’s cousin and her family. They define what I imagine Italian hospitality to be – we had home cooked dinners each night with delicious Italian red wine and prosecco flowing. The first night was homemade pizza, the second spaghetti, and the third was risotto followed by homemade tiramisu. That accompanied by hours of conversation, oftentimes about our family history, was really an enjoyable experience.
In our four days in Lugano, I fell in love with the scenery. Lugano is a city that has a beautiful lake and is surrounded by mountains with quaint villages.
After spending a few days in Lugano, we headed about an hour south to Milan, Italy. I was really excited to visit Italy for the first time, although our time there was a brief twenty four hours. Milan was a bit mediocre for me as its more of an industrial city (I think Rome or Florence have more charm), but we did do a bit of sightseeing. We went to the Piazza del Duomo which is home to the Duomo di Milan, an impressive cathedral that dates back to the late 14th century. We wanted to climb to the top which is supposed to have an impressive view of the city, but unfortunately by the time we got there in the evening it was closed. Instead, we headed to the Rinascente rooftop cafe to get drinks and enjoy a great view of the city. We also did a bit of window shopping in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and enjoyed people watching as we ate dinner there as well. Sunday, before our flight back to London, Markie and I walked to the Brera Design District which is a nice area with an open air fashion market (I had to pull myself away from a Prada purse!), restaurants, and cafes.
Overall, our trip was really great. Switzerland is a beautiful (albeit expensive!) country with friendly people and so much to see. It was also wonderful to see so much of my family, and I really cherished the time we had with them and how hospitable they were.
Noelle Across The Pond 
Great post
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Thank you!!
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