Ay, Colomba: For the Love of Lugano

"When we get there we should get a Colomba."

"What's that?"

"It's an Italian cake-y thing that G brought into work for Znüüni one day."

The Colomba wasn't all we got during our weekend getaway to Lugano. First, we got stuck in some bad weather. Leaving sunny St. Gallen on Saturday morning was particularly difficult after consulting the weather forecast for Ticino: rain all day and all night. We kept our fingers crossed for a miracle as we passed through snowy San Bernardino. This is what we were dealing with. Not a good sign.

After reaching our destination, we got lost on its winding roads due to the frustrating lack of street signs. Eventually we parked the car at the main train station and took the funicular down to the piazza in which our hotel was situated.

Then we got lost on foot, circling the same piazza for twenty minutes until we realized the hotel was just steps from the funicular. We got the keys to our room and decided to escape the rain for a bit and warm up. We got a room with a view (of the San Lorenzo Cathedral) and our very own sound machine to lull us to sleep (the rumbling of the funicular).

Next, we got coins to feed the parking meter and got back on the funicular. When we got to the car we got really mad about the rain and almost went back home. But then we got happy again because we decided to practice the fine art of "making the most of it." So, we got back on the funicular, went to Manor, got an umbrella, and proceeded to wander around downtown Lugano. We stumbled upon a small sector of markets and street vendors selling baked goods, cheese, and produce. (That's when we got the Colomba.)

We got chocolate at the International Chocolate Exhibition. (I'll tell you about it tomorrow.) We got dinner at a yummy place called "Trani" and got drunk off of two bottles of wine. (But more on that later.) We somehow got wireless internet connection on Isaiah's iPod touch and sent cryptic status updates to facebook. And, finally, on Sunday we got our cappuccinos at Burger King because we missed the hotel breakfast and nothing else was open.

We have GOT to get a navigation system... and some good rain coats.