By: zoe.kaatz
Europe, Italy, Switzerland

Lake Como and St. Moritz

SATURDAY

Leigh and I had to catch our bus that was leaving at 5:45am to Lake Como. We traveled to the west side of the lake and took a ferry to the Bellagio, a little town on the peninsula that looked out at the intersection of all three lakes.  DSC_0003edDSC_0033edDSC_0036edDSC_0039edIt was incredibly beautiful, unfortunately, it was quite cold and rainy. We stayed a couple hours there getting lunch and wandering around.  DSC_0049edDSC_0052edDSC_0053edDSC_0076edDSC_0095edDSC_0099edDSC_0124ed18319059_1326698020749540_6804959243423968913_o18319146_1326700200749322_9059425902560591208_oIMG_0323DSC_0140edDSC_0170ed From there we headed up to St. Moritz. To get there we had to go up a mountain that had a lot of switch backs. It was a very scenic and beautiful drive. By the time we got to our hotel it was around 6pm. Before dinner, we walked around half of the lake with some girls we met. DSC_0190edDSC_0195edDSC_0198edDSC_0202edDSC_0211edDSC_0219edDSC_0223edDSC_0227edDSC_0236edDSC_0241edDSC_0248edDSC_0280edDSC_0289edDSC_0290edDSC_0296 It started raining and by the time we got back to the hotel (only lasted 30 minutes out there), we all were ice cubes We were warned by the guides that it was going to be cold, but none of us thought it was going to be that cold. It was freezing. Some girls just brought sandals and no jacket! We all bundled up in our hats, scarfs, and warm socks as we walked to dinner. For dinner, we had some pasta, chicken, French fries, and to finish it off, we had some chocolate pudding. It was delicious and the waiters would bring extra if you asked for it. By the time we were done with dinner, it had started snowing.

SUNDAY

We had two local guides give us a 2 hour walking tour. May is an off season and so nothing was open. It was a much warmer day, and our guide, Guido was so cute (old kind of cute). A couple fun facts about St. Moritz is in the winter it gets so cold that they are able to have horse races and restaurants on the lake! DSC_0301edDSC_0303edDSC_0305edDSC_0306edDSC_0312edDSC_0320edDSC_0332edDSC_0336edAlso, the big horse statue has a bar inside him. Guido walked us around and let us go to the only chocolate shop open to buy some chocolates and nut cake. DSC_0339edDSC_0356DSC_0363edDSC_0366edDSC_0381EDDSC_0387EDDSC_0389edDSC_0394edDSC_0395edDSC_0397ed We then got on the bus and headed towards the other side of Lake Como. We were supposed to go through Bernina Pass, but it was closed because of snowfall the night before. We went down the same way we came up. It was probably one of the scariest rides down. There were a couple of cars tailgating us, and going around the bends were very difficult. As our bus was trying to go around, the car behind us was trying to pass us. A couple times we had to back up in order to make the curve, and the drivers behind us were making that nearly impossible. Somehow, thanks to our driver we made it down safely. Once we got to Como city, we had an hour and a half to grab lunch and see the city. Not nearly enough time to see everything. It was also a very nice day, the sun was shining, and as all us were dressed for snow, so we were dying of heat. DSC_0401edDSC_0402edDSC_0409edDSC_0413edDSC_0440edDSC_0442ed

I’m so glad that I got to go Lake Como and back to Switzerland. Both were on my list of places I really wanted to visit while I was here. Finals are upon us this week and I have so much to do before then. After this semester is over, I do have a couple of fun trips around Europe to look forward to.

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