Well, as some of you may know, my weekend did not turn out as planned. My roommate Kate and I spent all last week planning all sorts of things to do in Paris (Moulin Rouge show, booked our hostel, had our days planned) all that was left to do was book our train tickets, which have not been a problem in the past. Unfortunately, this time, they were. We went to buy reservations on Monday (since we have EuroRail passes, all you have to do is pay for a seat, usually around $5-10) and the trains we wanted were all booked. So we headed back home, spent the rest of the night creating a new travel game plan and went back on Wednesday only to find that every train leaving from Paris on Sat/Sun coming near Riva was booked. So, defeated, we came home Tuesday night and just said forget it. We talked a bit about different places but just didn’t feel comfortable throwing together a last minute trip just to go. SO, we decided on a relaxing weekend in Riva :-)
Since this was our long weekend, we didn’t have classes on Thursday. Of course, I woke up around 9 since I am so used to getting up early. I got a lot of work done before lunch (we have mid-terms this upcoming week) and afterwards we went on a hike. Friday I actually slept in until 11am! It was quite exciting and sooo nice not having to get up. I did some work again, went on a long run since it was around 50 and beautiful here and then went into Lugano with Kate for a delicious dinner out. We decided we could treat ourselves with all of the money we are saving from staying here this weekend. While we were in Lugano we booked our train reservations for a trip to Paris the last weekend in March, so I will definitely be going then!
Saturday was awesome. I woke up early and headed to San Bernardino -the same place I went snowboarding a couple of weeks ago- to see a dogsled race! I was the only one who went but it was actually pretty nice to have some time by myself. It was such a neat thing to see! Apparently a section of the races is one person on skis tied to a dog who pulls them? When I got there that was what was happening and I was going to be really mad if that what I had come all the way to see haha but soon enough the actual sleds came out :-) Luckily, it was a shorter event so each sled would go off in intervals of 5 minutes and would race against the clock. The event was only about 20 minutes so I go to see a couple teams start and finish. It was definitely something I will probably never get another chance to see, so I am super happy with my decision to go. (check out the video up top!)
I left the dog races around 12 and met up with Kate in Locarno, a pretty big city in the canton of Ticino, and about an hour away from Riva. After some research on Friday, we found a way to get to Cardada, a city 1360 ft high on a mountain with incredible views. Luckily, we stumbled upon the rail lift somehow and got to the city of Orsilena about 10 min after getting off the train. From there we paid to go on a gondola ride up to Cardada. The ride itself was like a rollercoaster, with my stomach dropping more than a few times...the crowded glass space didn’t help either. But, once we got off it was more than worth it. The views were absolutely breathtaking. There was a bridge that jutted out over one of the most scenic settings I have seen since I have been in Europe. We spent a while taking it in and wondering around the little ski town up there, had a cappuccino overlooking the mountains then headed back down. After that we shopped around the boutiques for a bit until it was time to leave in order to get back in time for dinner at the villa. All in all, I wish Paris had worked out, but this weekend ended up being quite productive and surprisingly enjoyable!
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