Lugano- 1st - 4th July. 3487 miles

From Grindelwald we headed first east over the Sustenpass.  It was a pretty impressive and slightly hair-raising drive- a steady climb up, around hairpin turns up to reach an altitude of 2224m.  Toward the top we were driving through clouds and above patches of snow!  Morgan did very well though and we made it safely to a town called Wassen.  After this we decided to take the tunnel rather than the Furka mountain pass.  Definitely less picturesque but an awful lot quicker and, at 17km long it's pretty impressive in its own way.

We drove up through the cloud layer - very eerie.

A slightly hazy photo taken through the window but you get the idea!

We emerged from the tunnel into Ticino, the Italian speaking part of Switzerland.  It was amazing how completely different it was, we honestly felt like we were in a different country.  The temperature was about 10 degree higher, the people looked different, the food was different and of course we were speaking Italian again!

We stayed at a beautiful campsite just outside of Lugano, right next a beautiful lake, Largo Ceresio, and beside Mount Generoso.

Morg having swimmies in the lake

Nice spot

Lugano is a very pretty town and a bit sleeker compared to many other places we've stayed.  There were the usual cobbled streets and churches, and the buildings were particularly beautiful and well preserved.  The setting on the lake is gorgeous and we took advantage of the great restaurants and bars by the water- more pasta yay!!  We also took a funicular up to the top of Mt Bre for some gorgeous panoramic views.  Here's some pics...

This church was undergoing restoration and when you opened the front door there was only scaffolding to see.  But if you went around the corner...!

I asked and no, she didn't have any bigger sausages.  Damn!

Yum!

Yep, we all feel like that sometimes!

Morgan wondering if he's just got himself trapped in the funicular without a ticket...and if his wife is going to join him or just keep laughing!

View from Mt Bre

Morgan's response to "I'll just take another photo with you smiling this time"! 

One of the temporary bars on the waterfront for the festival season.  Mojito's baby.

It was such a gorgeous, if hideously expensive place that we were sad to leave.  But time to move on and from here we head to Torino, Italy....... so it's not all bad really!