Today was a day of highs and lows.

The highs were pretty high. The lows were not actually very low.

We started the day slowly, but managed to get organsied in time to catch the 1130am bus to the city of Lugarno, just a 15 minute trip around the side of the lake.

It was raining pretty steadily, but it didn’t stop us appreciating this lovely Swiss town.  We decided to visit a very large department store which included, you guessed it, an amazing supermarket. We both enjoyed a Cioccolata calda (Hot chocolate). I bought a pair of socks 🙂 I nearly bought the Dog some Swiss ‘Schmackos’!

And then the low happened…

Dave ate Burger King for lunch! (This was actually the only low 😉 )

I know, I know. It should be unacceptable. Why does the scenic town of Lugarno even have a Burger King? (it had a McDonalds too).

Someone please tell me you’ve also succumbed and eaten American fast food in such a situation?

Our eating did however pick up from there!

We managed to work out the ferry timetable and so we caught a ferry back to Campione d’Italia across the lake. The sun was just starting to shine and the fog lifting. It was amazing to see the mountains reveal themselves high above the shores of the lake.

 

So – when is it acceptable to gamble?

This is not a trick question!

I would normally say never…but when in Rome, or in this case Campione d’Italia and the largest Casino in Europe is right next door…

In today’s situation gambling did actually pay off. Ten hands of blackjack and guess what – we got to leave the Casino and go the local Michelin starred restaurant, Da Candida  and the winnings paid for most of it!

My starter was soft plump Gnocchi with blue cheese cream and beetroot; my main a rich flavoursome Bouillabaisse with divine warm fresh bread. Dave’s main was a super tender veal fillet with petite vegetables. A glass of (nice) Prosecco for me, a sparkling lemon for Dave. Fabulous formal service. Wow, what a meal!

Dinner was followed by Gelato, of course. We picked it up on the walk back to the hotel from the local gellataria. Somehow I managed to accidentally ask for a take away container (I meant to order a small tub) which proved to be about a litre served in a foam take home container. Whoops. Strawberry and chocolate. There’s some left (melting) in the fridge!

 

 

Tomorrow we head back to Venice for a final night before stage two of our holiday starts 🙂