Switzerland is spectacular.

We spent most of the day on top of Monte Generoso. Monte Generoso is a mountain of the Lugano Prealps, located on the border between Switzerland and Italy and between Lake Lugano and Lake Como. The western and southern flanks of the mountain lie in the Swiss canton of Ticino, whilst the north-eastern flanks are in the Italian region of Lombardy.

(If you ever come to Switzerland, get a Swiss Rail pass. It provides unlimited travel on the system for the duration of the ticket. It also provides discounts at different venues. We're just hopping on and off trains as we go.)

We found out yesterday that we could take a boat all the way from Lugano to the southernmost point of the lake and from there take a cog train up to the top of the mountain. There is only one departure a day on the boat (return trip is only by train) and our Swiss Rail pass could be used. Figuring that there would be all kinds of people trying to get on the boat we got there early. As you can see from the photos, we were the only ones in line and we essentially had a private yacht.

The cog train was really nice as it climbed to the top of the mountain at 1,700 meters. The views were incredible and kept changing as the clouds moved and the air temperature warmed. We found some goats that were wandering around and David forged a love/hate relationship with one of them.

The restaurant at the top created highly refined food. They source all their products in the local region and the freshness just jumped off the plate. I don’t normally get into the actual dishes that we have but I ordered the slow-cooked veal cheek with potatoes and mirepoix. Think short ribs that cut like butter. It’s the best thing I’ve had in a long time. The other dishes are crispy pork belly, beef tenderloin wrapped in bacon, and Tonnarelli pasta with a local cheese. We didn’t want to insult the chef so we “had” to have dessert. Exercising restraint, we shared it.

The late afternoon was spent with Mae and Lynn getting their nails done and David and me napping.

After wandering around the area for awhile and sticking our heads in a casino for a few minutes, we headed back to the hotel. Still full from lunch, we opted for a snack at the bar and called it a night.

As a note, we’re only in Lugano to take the Gotthard Panoramic Express through the Alps. The train doesn’t run on Mondays so we camped out here to pick up the train tomorrow. What a wonderful stay it’s been.