Month: April 2010

  • Hotel International Au Lac Lugano Reprise

    Hope this is not too boring but I just found some more pictures of our old-fashioned European-style hotel.  There is an old disused funicular railway next to the hotel, quite a few people walk up and down those steps.  Next to the funicular railway is Piazza Luini and the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli,…

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  • Easter Eggs and Bunnies

    At our hotel, we were provided with colorful easter eggs for breakfast.  We also received a gift from the hotel – La Colomba (“the dove”, a traditional Italian easter cake). The cake with an outline of a bunny formed by sugar powder is quite effective.  Easter gives the Swiss another chance to indulge on all things…

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  • Hotel International Au Lac Lugano

    The main train station in Lugano is on a hill, and is connected by a short funicular railway to the city center.  Our hotel is located at the end of Via Nessa, the main pedestrian-only shopping street of Lugano which is parallel to and one block from the lake front.We stayed in this hotel during our 3…

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  • Easter Weekend: Neuchâtel to Lugano – Part 2

    After the St Gotthard’s pass, the first town was Airolo which was still covered in snow.  We saw long lines of vehicular traffic near the entrance of the tunnel on both sides – Easter traffic.  A couple of tiny churches perched on the edge of the mountain.  Can you see one in this picture below ?…

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  • Easter weekend: Neuchâtel to Lugano – Part 1

    Easter was my first 4-day long weekend and Lugano was our first trip out of this area.  It was a four and half hour train ride with a change at Olten.  We each bought a half-fare pass (demi-tarif) which made the first class train fare do-able.  Wide leather seats that recline a little, they were more comfortable than my…

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  • Bvlgari is here

    While we were driving on the east side of Neuchatel, we drove by a building with Bvlgari written on top.  It has a clock with the Bvlgari trademark bezel outside, we assumed that they makes Bulgari brand watches in that building.  After all, Neuchatel is in the heart of the watch-making region of Switzerland.  We passed Gucci…

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