One Last Trip to Lombardy and Zürich
This blog picks up from the end of my EPFL blog and takes me back home to Canada.
Milan (Dec 26, 27)
Since I had booked a return flight to Canada from Zürich, I used the SBB luggage shipment service from Lausanne to Zürich station so that I wouldn’t have to carry baggage on my trip. The Italian EC train to Milan was far less comfortable than the Swiss trains. There was less horizontal seat space, not enough legroom, the train was too hot, and there was always a queue for the toilet. On top of that, a portion of the Rhône Valley was closed due to “extraordinary circumstances,” so we were rerouted through Bern, adding an additional 30 minutes to our 3h40 journey. I’m impressed that the SBB pulled off this manoeuvre—a feat I wouldn’t expect of other rail networks.
As I took in the scenery out the window, I felt like listening to Have You Ever Seen the Rain, which I hadn’t heard in ages. Later that night, as I walked through Milan’s town square, I heard a performer sing just this in perfect American English 😌—what timing!
Milan seemed like a livable city: economic opportunities, clean and safe, not crazy expensive like Switzerland, close to the beautiful Alps, with top-quality public transit that’s much cheaper than in neighbouring countries, and—at least at first glance—none of the chaos you find in the US. Too bad I don’t know Italian.
My interactions with people were polite, but the one thing that annoyed me was how often people made out in front of me—on the metro, while queuing in a line, or in any situation where I had no escape. Italians make out absolutely everywhere!
Just like in Marseille, when walking home at night, I’d hear greetings of “assalamu alaikum” around every corner 🙏
Much like Geneva, I didn’t find much to do in Milan. I spent a day walking around, visiting art galleries, and pondering what to do the next day.
Lecco (Dec 28)
I settled on visiting the town of Lecco, situated on Lake Como and surrounded by mountains. I had wanted to hike all the way up Monte Resegone but decided against it since I hadn’t brought my hiking shoes. That was the right choice, as the hike up to Piani D’Erna was already slippery enough. The landscape here was different from Switzerland—mountains and lakes intertwined elegantly in the Lakes Region.
Donkeys!
The Hostel
The Yellowsquare Milan Hostel is the cleanest and most comfortable hostel I’ve stayed at, and I expected nothing less given its high price. Unfortunately, I got stuck with a bad roommate on my last night. I went to sleep at 23h and woke up at 02h to a guy falling off the ladder and throwing up on the floor. He cleaned up the mess and opened the window, but the smell lingered. The bigger problem was that he proceeded to snore louder than my earplugs could block. An hour later, another poor guy in the room and I went to the lobby to ask if there were free beds elsewhere. There weren’t, so the other guy went to sleep in the hostel basement. I returned to find the snoring had stopped, so I managed to sleep for three hours—only to wake up to a newly arrived roommate snoring even louder than the drunk guy! I’d had enough (of sleep and my roommates) and set off for Como.
Como (Dec 29)
Como was underwhelming—the town was less pretty and the mountains were less beautiful. I didn’t have the energy for another hike with my backpack, so I just walked around the lake and ate breakfast. The one good thing in Como were the cheap prices: I got a döner for 5€, which would have been 11–12 CHF (~13€) in Lausanne, and saved it for later.
Lugano (Dec 29)
I continued town-hopping to Lugano, on the border with Italy. I stored my backpack in a train station locker and walked across town to Monte Brè. Lugano was the most beautiful town I’ve seen. It’s flat, which made it comfortable to walk around, and it opens onto a long, thin lake, like a fjord, surrounded by mountains and more lakes. I prefer this closed and cozy feel over a wide body of water.
Lugano from the train station above
The town
View from Monte Brè
Zürich (Dec 30)
In the evening, I returned to the cold in Zürich.
Once you’ve seen one old European town, you’ve seen them all. I’m glad I stayed just one day in Zürich. The ETH Zürich campus is tiny and was closed for the holidays. The old town was a tourist trap, and the main street only had luxury shopping. Food was even more expensive here than in Lausanne, so I stuck to supermarket sandwiches.
I got a local transit day pass, which allowed me to take a fancy ferry for one stop. I disembarked on the east side of the lake at a pretty Chinagarten gifted by the city of Kunming. From there, I returned to the city centre, expecting the sky to clear. The fog had lifted, but there was no way the thick clouds would. Regardless, I took the train up Mount Uetliberg, unsure what to expect.
I’m glad it was so cloudy, and I’m glad I went up. The clouds were at the perfect height to make the peaks of the range pop out like islands in a sea of clouds! The trails were iced over, so I’m surprised they were even open. I fell and bruised my knee, at which point I called off the hike. I wish I had brought my microspikes so that I could attempt to hike the peaks, bobbing in and out of the cloud cover 🥺
View from Mount Uetliberg
I came down and made a short visit to the National Museum, seeing Medieval Swiss relics. My last destination was the famous Lindt Chocolate Factory, a high quality tourist attraction.
My Final Departure (Dec 31)
At the airport, the EasyJet and Air Canada check-in counters were right beside each other. I was reminded that this budget airline, which left me stranded overnight in Paris and Geneva, has a higher punctuality rate than Canada’s flagship airline. Fuck Air Canada. The Air Canada/WestJet duopoly in Canada is the worst >:(
Lighters past security? In America, they won’t even let you bring pocket knives!
I landed in Toronto and felt right at home when my cab driver spoke to me in an incomprehensibly heavy Indian accent 🙃
This was a chill, slow trip (relative to my other trips) to end the year. This concludes my travels, and now I must return to normal life 😢. School and co-op will never be the same.