Luzern

I love being able to take a train wherever I want to go. Swiss trains are expensive, but nothing like the US. We also purchased two more than worth it, half price card that allows for just that: half off of all swiss train rides. We calculated only needing to travel in Switzerland 3 times to make up it's value. Not bad, not bad.
After our attempts to head to Venice failed, a day trip to Luzern sounded both appealing and needed. It is only 2 and half hours from here, and with Megan in tow, we chugged off at a reasonable hour on a Saturday morning.
Luzern is a great town for just walking around and poking into stores. The old part is all pedestrian which is always walker-friendly. Meg was there for the candy store and starbucks. (I think she said she spent CH85 on candy and american soda!) We were really just getting away and seeing something new. We did end up sitting at Starbucks, but that was mostly because I was out-voted, being the only non coffee drinker. I did have my way with the Brezels though, and was most excited for James to sample what a true German style Prezel should taste like. In NYC those nasty things they sell in Central Park are a disgrace to the name.



We also had to try their berliner as we were in the German speaking part of Die Schweiz. I have discovered that the Ticino area is not the right place to sample german treats... Luzern on the other hand gets my thumbs up! Lots of cute buildings, a nice craft market and an carb overdose later, we were heading back to good old Lugano. Easily just a day trip, but I would consider an overnight prehaps just to be able to relax a bit more.

Kraiiikee!

Is it possible to combine the stonewash of the 80's with the genius of spandex and add in the queens color of purple?
Well of course it is! Behold the wonder:

Advisees for Dinner

Truthfully, the food at the dining hall is only edible. We also have a fairly unusual phenomenon where over the course of a single meal, what you find for dinner at 5:30pm will not be what you get if you go at 6:30pm. The running joke is that if you don't like what's for dinner, wait. Now sometimes that doesn't help because it only gets worse, but other times you might find yourself in a bit of luck as they swap out the horse stew for chicken breasts, or the browned potato squirts turn into french fries. Two things that will show up at some point EVERY single day: potatoes and chicken. The chef is also on whatever is the opposite of a low carb or Atkins diet. For example, last night I had mashed potatoes, pasta with red sauce, barley soup and a side of bread. Um.....?
So at any rate, the kids aren't necessarily blown away by the food either. In fact many of them blow their substantial allowances at Sara Li's - a wonderful little gelateria practically on campus, but just off. (she happens to also make Panini and sell soda - both don't exist in the dining hall.)
Now on top of this shoddy excuse for food, we have a required meal with our advisees every Wednesday. All of a sudden we go all formal with table clothes, shirts and ties, and we actually get served our meal at the tables, rather than the regular dinner line. The food does not improve. At our first seating two weeks ago, our advisees were as non-plussed as we were, and so we decided to hold our first advisee dinner at our house. Imagine 12 out of our 16 advisees mushed into our living room eating messy self-created burritos. Things only got better when they took over our Itunes and started singing along to Yellow Submarine. The apple pies were a resounding success, and we practically had to push the bunch out the door to get them to leave for study hall.
I'm certain with the help of the dining hall not improving their food, we will most certainly be hosting again...

Monte Tamaro

One of the perks of this round the clock job are our chaperoned excursions. The 9th grade "hike" was a visit to Monte Tamaro here in the Ticino. It took place on a friday to allow for day and boarding students to attend, which also allowed teachers and staff to be working, but not really working! Midway up the mountain, after a charmingly steep gondola ride with a fantastic view, we discovered an adventure course in the trees. Here in Switzerland there are definitely less safety precautions and rules when it comes to kids at play. After a brief description and practice course we were let loose, harness and all, into the trees. Some of the chaperones stayed on the ground to watch out for kids, but the rest of us shuttled them along through the courses. I'm proud to say I made it through 3 out of 4 high ropes courses.
After enjoying a packed lunch and some ice cream treats at the restaurant there, we continued up the mountain to the end of the gondola line. Here, higher up the mountain, we discovered the Flying Fox go-cart/roller coaster ride. You sit in a small go-cart-ish vehicle with a seat belt across the front. From there you have handles that push forward to get you going and break when you pull back. The ride starts off steep and slow, and then whips around corners and down little hills to make for an adrenaline rush experience. Woo hoo!
As for the hike part of it all, we didn't have time to go to the top of the mountain only because the kids were having too much fun with everything else there, but the views were ridiculously beautiful.
The final thrill of the day (which I was able to do twice!) was a 440m (not foot) zip line over the mountain. The picture above is me with one hand off, but believe me, I did take them both off at one point. Absolutely incredible. I loved it. The kids loved it, and all in all a good time was had.

Boat Dance

These kids have a Boat dance the first week of school. In short, the school busses 450 kids down to the lake where they get on two separate boats - middle schoolers and ninth grade in one, and then the rest in another. From there the boats go out, food is served and people wander, watch and enjoy being on the water. At some point the two boats meet up again, and a gangplank is placed inbetween them so that they are connected. One boat is the dance/dj boat and the other the food. We spend the evening in this manor, dancing on the water so to speak. Kind of a fun idea though the food was a little on the shabby side. As chaperones we had certain time slots and assignments. I got bathroom duty for half an hour. Basically just patrolling to insure that nothing illegal was happening in the bathrooms. The rest of the time us faculty enjoyed ourselves by dancing and talking. At around 9:30pm the boats separated and we sped off to get the younger kids back and to bed at a reasonable hour.


Eric, Pete, James and Lisette - boats together

Another Night in the Neighbourhood

Last thursday was our 4th year wedding anniversary. Go us! Though things have been hectic here we decided to take a little time and do something for us. There were no large gifts exchanged, but when you start valuing time together I guess that's a pretty good present.
The dining hall food is edible almost every day, but certainly not gourmet nor terribly yummy, so we decided to scope out a local restaurant in walking distance. (If you read my blurb about driving earlier you'll know why we went that route!) Here in Ticino there are local restaurants called Grottos where one is served a simple more traditional menu. We came across one not too far from us that makes their own pasta.


Truly typical grotto food is normally a variety of grilled meat from beef to horse to rabbit, and most often served with potato or polenta. However, Al Bosco serves a number of delicious homemade pasta dishes, my favorite for now being the spinach, ricotta and fresh herb ravioli. YUM. As a starter, the waiter recommended the porcini mushroom and arugula salad with a drizzle of olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. I don't think I have ever had a raw mushroom salad, but since porcinis are in season as we speak, it's seemed only right to give it a try. Very good! We also sampled a T-bone steak flavored with delicate herbs, salt and pepper. Simple and tasty. All in all a relaxing night in a rustic and homey setting and on our way home we had gorgeous skies and beautiful views.
I can really appreciate the little things here. I like that.

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!