When my mom first decided to come visit me in Zurich, I started thinking of all the cool places we could visit. Prague! Barcelona! Florence! I sensed my mom wasn't thrilled somehow, though, and discovered that she wanted to visit locations closer to homebase. Now that we've finished our trip, I'm really glad that she had the foresight to see the sights in Southern Switzerland and Northern Italy, as they provided the backdrop for one of the best vacations we've taken.
The train ride from Zurich HB to Locarno, in Southern Switzerland, was a comfortable three hours. I specifically selected a hotel close to the train station, and our room at the Garni Muraldo hotel felt very modern with white and blue sheets, silver lamps and metal accents. We walked around the perimeter of the lake in 90+ degree weather, and cooled off with scoops of fruit gelato while enjoying the view of flowers, boats and hills surrounding the water.
Late in the afternoon, my mom and I decided to return to the hotel and take a short afternoon nap...and we woke up at 7 p.m.!
We hurried to dinner using Google Maps on my Nexus One; thanks goodness for technology. Dinner at Locanda Locarnese, which was past the touristy square and up a small alley, was AMAZING. It is a serious contender for the best meal I've ever eaten in my entire life.
As we started eating dinner, rain started to come down. Good thing we brought an umbrella and rain coat!
Because of the rain, we had to scrap our plans of going to the Ascona Jazz Festival. :( But all in all, this was a wonderful start to our trip.
For Locarno pictures, click here (Photos #1-#21).
