Caught the 8:30am boat to Menaggio, which only takes 15 minutes. Wandered around the town, which is cute, and figured out where to buy bus tickets and where to get the bus. Kept wandering a bit and found the river, which had a pretty waterfall.
Caught the 10:40 bus without incident, and the ride was windy and pretty and took just under an hour. Customs at the Swiss border waved the bus through. No passport check.
After many problems with day trips in the past, I paid careful attention to where to get the bus back. Walked into town and wandered a bit.
Although there were banks everywhere, they didn't seem to have ATMs so I decided to get lunch at the upscale cafeteria in a department store. Damn Switzerland is expensive! My pasta with mascarpone, speck, and tomatoes, was delicious but that and a small salad, drink, and small dessert cost about $25. But I could charge it so no worries about getting francs.
Walked around Lugano a bit more. It's a less pretty lake Como. Although everyone speaks Italian there, the people didn't have that charm and warmth that Italians do.
Walked back to the bus stop and caught the 3pm bus and made it back to Menaggio in just enough time to get the 4pm boat back. Got a good old chocolate/coffee gelato at Riva on the walk back. And now for a pre-dinner rest.
10:30pm - oh well so much for an easier night to sleep tonight. Spent too much time chatting with people! Went to dinner at the highly recommended Quattro pass. They served a little free starter of polenta topped with pancetta and onions. I had homemade pasta with veggies, which was delicious, and a side of potatoes, which instead of the normal plain roasted was a gratin. Yum. Riva gelato was closed again! Maybe they only stayed open later on Saturday.
Anyway tomorrow I will go to the actual town Como. The boats there are intermittent so I may go to Menaggio again and take the bus then the boat back.
Walking stats: 21,983 steps, 29 flights of stairs, 8.74 miles!
Pictures tomorrow morning. It's bedtime!
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