Locker 1408

Alrighty, we know it's been a little while, but it's just about time we updated this baby. Soooo.. two weekends ago, life was mostly uneventful- we did go to see a really amazing castle in Trento with the group, and then had a lovely lunch involving a purple, berry and mushroom risotto (interesting... delicious...). We also saw a fashion show in the giant Palazzo del Ragione, in the middle of Padova, where we picked out several million dollar dresses that we would very much like to own. Life otherwise has been great, per usual, though both of us have had some intense bouts of homesickness of late. Believe it or not, we do miss all of you lots and lots! We are still having a fabulous time though! Yesterday we had the first two (of three) midterms and they were not nearly as bad as anticipated. History of Contemporary Italy we studied a TON for and it turned out to be fairly straightforward (we both passed with decent grades- yay us!), while Italian we did not study at all for and it was also pretty easy. I suppose we'll find out soon enough how 'easy' it really was. Enough about boring things.

Last weekend, we left the country for the first time and hopped the border to Lugano, Switzerland. Switzerland is AWESOME. It is like its own bizarre little planet filled with amazing chocolate, beautiful mountains, secret banks, and perfectly clean and punctual public transportation (well almost...Lugano is still close enough to Italy to be affected by its perpetual tardiness). On the train there, we passed under a beauuuutiful rainbow, which we took as a good omen. We arrived just in time to get ourselves promptly lost in an attempt to find our hostel. Apparently in Lugano there are TWO streets of the same name, opposite sides of the town. Who knew? But we eventually unlosted ourselves, and found our adorable little hostel nicknamed the "Oasis" (justly so). It was very cute, and complete with boardgames and comforter-covers (which we failed miserably in putting on). Our roommate was slightly less cute... and prone to sleeping at every unlikely hour of the day (when we got there at 4, when we returned again at 10, and after we woke up at 8). After tea-ing at the local "Bar Cuba," we hopped the bus back into downtown Lugano. The first piazza we found had no less than 8 banks around its fringes (in comparison with the two restaurants). It was then that we realized we were, indeed, not in Italy any more-- the emphasis on food in Italy has been replaced with the emphasis on...banking. And chocolate. Thankfully. We IMMEDIATELY purchased some of said chocolate, then wandered through the ritzy watch/jewelry/clothing window displays, then played on a swingset, then found a spot for dinner. There Ari had her first taste of Raclette, a Swiss specialty (that Katie was only too ecstatic to sample again) involving potatoes, onions, and pickles coated in hot, gooey cheese from the area. Ari has been informed that the Bacon residence is in possession of the mystical machinery to make this delicious dish. She is officially putting in a request to said Bacons for more Raclette. Please. Katie seconds this. Then we had the most AMAZING chocolate cake of all time. After all of this eating, we were pooped. So we retired to the hostel for a rousing game of Chinese checkers! Followed by... checkers normale!! (in which Katie made some self-sacrifices in order to sleep, although Ari insists that it was really only a matter of time)

The following morning we put on our best hiking gear (it's not that great), and started off the day with a hearty breakfast of rosti-- basically fried potato strips with speck (bacon) and eggs on top. This is a Swiss specialty for any meal of the day, and it lasted us quite a while. We made our way over to the funicolare, which carried us up the steep and perilous path to Monte Bré. There we fought through a vicious crowd of very old German people, and chose a hike for the day. And we were off to be real Swiss explorers of the most adventurous kind! Just us against nature...on the well-hiked and labeled paths up the lovely lovely mountain. We passed through a cute little town, and about 30 minutes later, realized how sadly out of shape we were. But we powered on anyway, as true mountaineers would, and after a few hours of uphill battling to the tune of "Climb Every Mountain" and sampling of questionable, potentially ebola-ridden water, we made it to the end of the path! Where we promptly decided to off-path it, if you will, to find an appropriate lunch location. We hand and footed it over a very steep section of mountain terrain, and where rewarded with the prettiest spot in all the land, at the tippy top of the mountain. We enjoyed a hearty blend of Swiss bread, Italian salami, French cheese, Swiss chocolate, questionable Swiss water, and views of the perfectly ice-capped peaks of the Swiss alps. Here is the correct moment for all you readers to say to yourselves "I am so jealous and lame that I want to wash your mountain-climbing feet with my envious tears and prostrate myself in front of the adventurous goddesses that you are. I am not worthy!"

After making our way back down (past some darling old Swiss men, who called us "Miss Monde," or "Miss World(s)", we can only assume because we astounded them with our sweaty beauty and adventurous spirits), we found a seesaw in the village of Bré, which kept us occupied for... a while. Until we found the swings. Where Katie tried to take a hilaaarious video of the two of us playing like little Swiss kiddies. At this point, however, we realized that it would get dark soon, and we still had an hour-ish long hike to get to Gandria, the medieval town at the bottom of the mountain. We chose to ignore the rapidly setting sun and embarked on a steep, downhill (STUPID) climb. It got dark much sooner than anticipated, and we found ourselves using Katie's phone-flashlight to navigate the creepy, deserted, dark woods. Eventually, we found "civilization." The town in which we found ourselves wins every award for being the CREEPIEST place of all time. It was totally deserted, eerily silent, pitch-black, made up of crumbling, gaping, ancient buildings, and a labyrinth of steep stairs. It has been preserved since medieval times, so there aren't technological luxuries like.. light. We were even sweatier and more exhausted by the time we found our way back out of the town and to a street with transportation. After our unbelievably tiring day, we grabbed dinner near the hostel, in the form of yummy pizza (in Ari's case) and cheesy, comforting risotto (in Katie's case). Although we were dead tired, we summoned up the energy to play many rounds of cards on Ari's bed while thanking the hostel gods that our surly roommate was as yet not present. It turns out that she never did show up that night...we are not sure why, but we hypothesize that it had something to do with the excess of sparkly clothing strewn about the room. We are also thankful, because we could not stop laughing to save our lives--so much so that we caught the attention of our neighbors (a roomful of loud, probably inebriated, boys). We ignored them, and continued to collapse in giggle fits brought on partially by utter exhaustion, and partially by how awesomely funny we are (or at least how awesomely funny we find each other). Hence, the birth of this blog title, which we can't really explain, but trust us, it is hilarious.

The next morning we bought (surprise, surprise) more chocolate to bring home with us and took a train home to Padova. It was, all in all, an "excellent adventure," and a nice change of pace to be surrounded by nature instead of tourists, and the chance to exercise our sadly diminished muscles.

Katie's computer battery is totally dying... dead. So we must leave you there for now. But this weekend we are off to see Ari's relatives in Lucca (with stops at Bologna and Pisa), a trip we are most excited to embark upon. We love you all to little pieces and to the moon and back and such. Leave us some love in the form of sassy and entertaining comments.

Baci a tutti!

~le ragazze