Coming back to earth

Hiya. Wow, today was much better than yesterday. Last night I called my ‘rents and then felt much better. I slept like a log in my lovely white warm firm comfy Swiss bed and got up (regrettably) about six-something hours later.

Today was extremely busy. The schedule was:
breakfast
orientation (9:30-10:30am)
walking tour of Riva (10:30-11:30am)
break and lunch
head to Lugano for a few hours (1:20pm)
head back to Riva (5:00pm)
break and dinner
Swiss jazz at a restaurant in Riva (8:30-10:00pm)

So…I felt much better this morning. Breakfast, though not warm, was good, with chocolate cereal and chocolate gooey stuff for toast. Lunch was a nice veggie-full salad and what I assume was the famous “risotto” from our Italian book—a “creamy rice dish.” The orientation was helpful, but alas, my concentration was divided between listening and keeping my head upright and eyelids up. ***Learning tidbit: The people in Riva San Vitale and the area around it once made themselves into a republic which lasted…24 days. That’s right, days. There’s a statue to commemorate it down by the lake. It’s small. We decided that’s because the republic was so short.***

The walking tour was great. It was pretty cold, really, but Riva is very beautiful and has lots of really cool artistic buildings close together. I saw tons of places I want to come back to and take pictures of. I would like to know Riva well by the time I leave. The cold definitely is a drawback, though. I wear layers, but it still gets me. I’m a little concerned about the sledding trip coming up. ! :)

The trip to Lugano was super-cool! (That said with a ditzy accent and flip of the hair) It was really beautiful. The squares were my favorite part. They were often cobbly or brick, and many of the shops were set back under the rest of the building, so there was more walking space and it was more attractive to the eye. The walls above the shops were beautiful. There were many many flower boxes with flowers, even though it is January, and many of the windows have wrought iron pieces covering them or making up the window boxes.

We came home and chilled out for a while and ate dinner, then headed over to a neat little restaurant within walking distance to hear some jazz, but I was so tired I kept dozing off. :-/ Anyway, the day was good, and much better than yesterday. I feel like I got some balance back by slowing down in Lugano. It was great and much needed. Goodnight, all. :)

posted by LizC @ 1/15/2005 12:13:00 AM