To Gandria and Beyond

Villages and towns round here have fairytale names. Maybe because they are fairytale places. I accepted an invitation to take a walk to Gandria from a very pregant Julia. She is due in Oct but bets are bouncing around with dates within the next 2 weeks. Despite her imminent birth, or because of it, she is looking for exercise however and whereever she can.
But enough about Julia and her birthing date and back to Gandria, our adventure also included her 4 going on 47 year old son Thomas, and another couple here - Kara and David. (David is actually the dorm head of De Nobili - my dorm). Just a quick story about Thomas before I go on:
We were at a very adultish party 2 weeks ago and poor Thomas had been brought along. After probably 3 hours of hearing adult conversation and eating not so kid friendly food, Thomas's dad asked if he would like to go home. Thomas's response: Well (pause for contemplation), I guess that's really an adult decision.
Hmm. I need to know how they taught him that one.
But back to our walk... so you take a drive down town and then travel left along the lake. At some point if you keep to the edge of the lake the road ends in a parking lot. That's right. It ends. From there is a fantastic wandering path past little hotels, lidos, and very possibly, peoples homes. These places are only accessible by foot at this point, or by water. Continue on and you find yourself in the quaint village of Gandria. There are no streets - just paths winding up and down stairs and round and under buildings. I recommend a stop, as we did, for Gelato. We sat in a fairly typical Ticino restaurant with outdoor seating overlooking the lake and savored pretty yummy home made gelato. Spectacular. And did I mention I live here?
Nothing like filling an afternoon with exercise, sun and ice cream!