(not necessarily in that order)
A number of beautiful flower offerings greeted us when we arrived home today.
Most were bouquets from friends, but Divine Mother welcomed us with flowers as well — we had never seen such an abundance of roses on the somewhat neglected bushes next to our yard!
The photo below doesn’t come close to doing them justice!
We left Canobbio at 6:30 this morning, to drive to Malpensa airport (outside Milan).
After our traditional cappuccino and brioche with Silvio and Graziella we boarded a short flight to Zurich, followed by a twelve flight to San Francisco and — voila! — we’re back in California.
We can’t help feeling a little sad as we prepare to leave Switzerland and fly back to California.
It was really, really great to have an extra-long visit after not being here for so many years, but no matter how long we stay, it’s still hard to say good-bye.
This brief video captures our last cappuccinos, accompanied by birdsong and church bells.
And how perfect that it ends with a completely unplanned but totally serendipitous ARRIVEDERCI.
Here’s something I would never have expected to see in the parking lot of Villaggio Reka in Sureggio (or anywhere else in Lugano, for that matter).
Yep, it’s a Buick!
And yes, it has a Swiss license plate, so some Swiss person is obviously a vintage car fan. 😅
Having waited so long since our last trip to Europe, we had a long list of foods that we were eager to taste once again. And I’m happy to report that we’ve eaten pretty much everything on our list:
Cappuccino (lots and lots of cappuccinos!) = ✅
Pizza (quite a bit of pizza) = ✅
Swiss cheese* = ✅
Gelato = ✅
Pizzoccheri = ✅
Tiramisu = ✅
Gnocchi di zucca = ✅
Pasta con pesto = ✅
Risotto = ✅
Torta di mele (apple); also cioccolato (chocolate), nocci (nuts), della nonna (Grandmother), etc) = ✅
It almost looked like we weren’t going to fit in fondue or raclette, but tonight we had a family dinner featuring both, so… = ✅
I do believe that the only local treat that we haven’t yet had is polenta. Oh well, I think we’ll survive.
* Meaning about fifteen different types of cheese produced in Switzerland, but NOT Emmenthaler (the one with holes), which most of Swiss folks I know don’t even like!
Yep, as of tomorrow we’ve only three days left before getting on a plane to fly back to the States.
That means it’s time for lists…many lists!
Lists of borrowed items to be returned; final purchases to be made; items to give away; things to remember at the last minute; decisions about what goes in which suitcase; comfort items for the flight; and so it goes.
We’ve been gone so long that I can barely remember how I packed originally, so it feels like being back to square one.
It was finally a day of truly beautiful weather, so we took some time this afternoon and went for a walk in the lovely town of Tesserete.
Below is a close-up of the group of mountains you see in the distance: Denti della Vecchia (which translates as “Teeth of the Old Woman”).
These are perhaps my favorites of the local mountains; they always draw me in whenever I see them.
We spent time with wonderful friends from both sides of the world today.
In the early evening we met with members of our Ananda Village music team. We’ve been in touch by text and email, but — with less than a week to go before we return home — it felt like time to begin the process of fully reengaging with our ministry there.
But more than that, it was an opportunity to hang out with dear friends that we haven’t seen now for almost two months.
Later in the evening we went to the home of our friends, Dudo and Karin, for tea. They’ve been my dear friends ever since Ramesha and I got together in 2003, though he’s known them for way longer than that.
While thoroughly enjoying the conversation and laughter I was also aware that we’ll once again be a continent away from them in less than a week.
Then there’s Ramesha’s family, who are equally friends.
I look forward to being back in California and seeing my father and siblings, but can’t help feeling sad that we’ll once again be apart from Silvio, Graziella, Fulvio, Manu, John-beni, Nicole, and Antonio.
Such precious friendships wherever we go, but — no — we don’t get to have them all in one place at one time.
We saw this sign in front of a café in Lugano this morning and it made us chuckle. So I decided to share it with you.
Translated it says: “Life is that thing that begins after coffee.”
Lord knows I’ve had plenty of days where this felt all too true! ☕
My cozy recovery day didn’t quite do the trick. I ended up with my usual tight chest, minor head cold, and lingering cough (no COVID, thankfully).
It’s been hard to really lay low as we come down to the final week of our visit.
So, last night I had wheezing in my lungs that kept waking me up. After looking up what could help, I boiled water to breath some steam and also made a cup of ginger tea.
And this is what my tea bag had to say. It was the perfect reminder to be grateful, regardless of little setbacks along the way.