Switzerland's Ticino is the land of lakes and warm breezes, a region where the language, the architecture, and the food is Italian, but the sense of order is still Swiss. Unfortunately, we arrived one day before Lugano's boat service started, but we did manage to travel by bus and by foot around the lake from Lugano to the lakeside village of Gandria. The lakeside walkway provides some of the best views we have ever seen in Europe.

One of my favorite photos I have ever taken is this one from the streets of Lugano early in the morning, just before sunrise. The shopkeepers are preparing to open, and breakfast rolls and meats are being put out.

The Centovalli Train line runs from Locarno to Brig in Switizerland, but the majority of the line passes through Italy. On this trip, we took the train from Locarno to Intragna, where we had lunch and just enjoyed the scenery. All the Swiss towns on the Centovalli route were similar. I only wish we had had more time to go up into the smaller towns in the side valleys.