Lugano/Pazzallo-Alpe Vicania Bike Loop

After a great week in the south of France, Emily and I spent the second week of her break exploring some of the surrounding areas of Lugano. As Emily spent her last day with Amy in Como Italy, I jumped on my bike and headed to some new trails on the next mountain over. Little did I know that this was going to be a highlight of my last two weeks.

Few Captions Needed...Enjoy!

Looking across the hillside towards Emily's school.

View from San Groto Botanic Park.

Looking into Italy and the foothills of the Alps.

Do you think he thinks about his height all the time?

Headed home after 5 hours of perfection.


After thoroughly enjoying my bike ride, I couldn't wait to take Emily there...so we went two days later.

Tasty pit stop.

As we enjoyed our beers we order another round and asked for a food menu. The waiter asked us if we would like a cheese and meat plate to snack on..."sure why not?" 45 minutes later we asked for our check to see that 4 beers and a snack plate was 70 Francs ($70) seven for each beer and 42 Francs for the cheese and meat! Asking the waiter if this was right he smiled and nodded, all the while the guys sitting behind us got up and flew away in their helicopter....Ah ha!

Nike vs. Nature

Sunset over Lake Lugano.

Gelato mustache on Lake Maggiore.

Florence Italy

After a great week in the French Riveria, we decided to take a detour and stop in Florence for a night before heading back to Lugano.

On the way to Florence we decided to make a quick detour of our initial detour and stop over in Cinqueterra for the afternoon.


Looking down into the village of Riomaggiore.


Strolling through town.


Envious of these guys.

A bite to eat.

Back to the car and off to Florence.

Arriving at our hostel in Florence with our boxed wine in hand.

A night on the town.

The enormous Basilica di Santa Maria is where the Easter celebration took place the following morning.

The Santa Maria from our room.

The Easter tradition in Florence is held in the Piazza Duomo. It is called the 'Burst of the Carriage' where The Holy fires comes on a carriage hauled by six white Ox. Than the carriage is lit with a special fuse called the “colombina” by the Arch Bishop and if the “explosion” (fireworks) is well done, it will be a good year for Florence. It kind of looked like the Wicked Witch of the West was making an appearance.

After the fireworks, the parade of uniquely dressed Florentines made there way out of the piazza.

I'm definitely adding one of these outfits to my wedding registry.

The rooftops of Florence from our room.

Although strictly forbidden, I couldn't resist taking a picture of Michaelangelo's David.

It is far bigger and more impressive than I had imagined. If you stare at it long enough you feel as if he is breathing.

Next stop, home again home again....or at least home as we know it out here, Lugano.

Antibes and Nice France

The last two days in the French Riviera were spent soaking up the sun in some of the nearby coastal towns.

Looking into the bay of Juan les Pins.

Red team go!

Nice and the Alps in the distance.

Happy Hour(s) in Antibes.

The small streets of Biot.

The boardwalk in Nice.

Watching the waves roll in.


Nice's main square.


Q: What missing in this picture?
A: Emily's shopping bags.


Is the pub left or right?