Stayin Local

This past weekend I decided to take a break from the wonderfully exhausting routine of traveling each weekend. I decided to stay in Riva for the weekend and thought about going to Milan for a day. Instead, a few other people where also staying in Riva but were going hiking locally on Saturday and invited me to come along. Friday afternoon I relaxed around the Villa, not too much activity, caught up on some work but relaxed for the most part.

Saturday I had a leisurely morning before the hike. We headed to the train station at around noon to head to Lugano. From there we walked about half an hour to the base of the San Salvator Mountain where we began out hike. It was a great hike steep enough to enjoy some altitude but varying with some flat spots making a hike that was not a walk the park but was easy enough to be enjoyed. It took about three hours to get to one of the minor peaks, after we took a wrong turn to the rock climbers side of the mountain and returned back to the proper trail. We had lunch with a beautiful view overlooking the city of Lugano and it’s lake as well as endless mountains surrounding us.

After lunch, half of the group returned down the mountain while I joined the other half, who were hiking to the very top of the mountain. It only took us about half an hour to reach the top. There was a restaurant and a visitors center and a tram station which housed a tram that ran every half hour from the base to the pinnacle of the mountain. The view was indescribable.

There was a small church on the highest point, it was simple but still wondrous thanks to its unrivaled location. The roof of the church was flat, and there were stairs to the top. From there I could see over all the trees for an amazing 360 degree view. I’ll just let you look at the pictures, the view was too marvelous to describe.

We practically ran down the mountain and got on a train back to Riva. For the evening we enjoyed relaxing and some drinks. Sunday I went to Mass in the local church, there was a confirmation. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and doing a bit of work. Sorry this is such a short post but I really just enjoyed a relaxing weekend.