On our second day in Lugano, we each bought a pass that allowed us unlimited travel on many of the local buses, boats, and funicular railways.  First, we hopped on one of the tour boats (Societa Navigazione del Lago di Lugano) and cruised to the villages dotted around Lago di Lugano.  The boats makes many stops, some of which are just hotels built on the hillside (“Grotto”).  One of the more picturesque town is Gandria, which has a church, several restaurants, and a few art shops.  We got off the boat and explored it on foot.  It was tiny (population about 200), steep, and tranquil.  When the next boat came, we continued onto Campione and then to Paradiso.

I found out catcus grows in Switzerland, below the Alps, the hard way.  I got a bunch of needles stuck onto my fleece jacket and did not realize until they worked their way through the layers of clothes.  It took me several days to find them all, mostly by feeling the prick as they are too small to see.