Today Ramesha and I spent time together in Lugano Centro, mostly under i Portici — the arcaded walkways filled with an amazing variety of shops and restaurants.
Our favorite spot for cappuccino is Mauri Concept. They also have fun signs.
Speaking of signs, we got a kick out of the message on the edge of my caffè macchiatto (Ramesha’s cup was blank).
We spent the afternoon getting started on packing for our return home, then went out for dinner.
The pizza was delicious, but I was a bit surprised by the bathroom. I mean, I’ve never seen a see-through toilet seat cover before — covered with rose buds no less! 😂
We had lunch with all the members of Ramesha’s family who currently live in Switzerland (father, brother, sister and brother-in-law, niece and boyfriend) at a pizzeria in Lugano Centro.
Silvio with Nicole, his granddaughter
We very much enjoyed our first “official” pizza of this year’s trip…and boy was it good!
Then in the evening we had dinner with the Lo Menzo family — Dudo, Karin, Samuele, and Lia. They’re some of my favorite people on the planet; unfortunately, we laugh so much when we’re together that I almost always forget to take any pictures. 😂
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), dellanonna (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!
The village of Maglio di Colla (which translates as “Mallet of Glue”)
We spent this evening at a pizzeria called Ristorante Washington and located in the village of Maglio di Colla, about thirty minutes outside Lugano.
We traveled along a small, curvy road in a sparsely populated area. As we got out of the car I felt like we were really out in the countryside. Until we walked into the restaurant, that is!
It had a cozy, homey kind of feel, but was quite large. And within half an hour it was completely full, and felt like a popular restaurant in the middle of a big city.
We were there to meet new friends Gianna and Maria Grazie (who are friends of a friend of Graziella’s) who are acquainted with Ananda Assisi.
It was delightful getting to know them. And as they’re relatively new to Ananda they really enjoyed hearing our stories and about our experience with Ananda over the years.
We also learned from them that there’s going to be an Ananda event here in Lugano in early May, which we’re definitely looking forward to attending.
Maybe you’re as curious as we were about how a restaurant in Switzerland came to be called “Washington”. Turns out the great-grandfather of the current owner emigrated to the United States back in the 1920’s. He eventually returned to Ticino and had a family, naming his son Washington and his daughter Philadelphia.
Washington opened the restaurant named for himself and it’s still in the family. A fun story, but I really have to wonder what became of the daughter named Philadelphia!
Today felt like our first real visit to Lugano itself.
We parked at our usual autosilo (parking garage); made a stop at the bank; and walked to a pizzeria near the lake. There we had our first real pizzas (le prime pizze!) of this trip and they were delicious.
Le prime pizze
Then we walked down Via Nassa and along the lake to Parco Ciani, where we met up with Ramesha’s sister, Manu. We got gelato, then went for a walk along the lake. An altogether lovely afternoon in centro Lugano.
