Friday, May 20, 2005

Lugano, Switzerland


Lugano, Switzerland Posted by Hello


(I took this photo near the lake on a rainy day. Even on this rainy day it was breathtakingly beautiful. Notice just how clean the city is. No trash anywhere).



November 2003


Wow. I'm having a wonderful time here in Lugano. What a beautiful city. Bring your wallet though. Everything here is damn expensive. I spent two days in Zurich and I'll write about that in the Zurich section. I took the train from Zurich to Lugano. A first class ticket was 99 CHF (1.28 CHF to the $1 US). Very comfortable with gorgeous views. I had my small DVD player so I watched a movie on the way here. It took 3 hours. I think a 2nd class ticket was about 70 CHF.

It was pouring raining out when I arrived so I took a taxi. A taxi from train station to my hotel in Paradiso was 18 CHF. You can take the bus (number 2) if you want for a cheaper option but I didn't want to mess with my bags. I decided to splurge and booked the Grand Hotel Eden right on the Lake. Wow! A beautiful 5 star hotel with an awesome view. I booked a Deluxe Lakefront suite. A little steep at $250+ US per night but worth it. The bathroom is all marble and it has a nice balcony. Everything in the city is expensive. Bottled water is like 3.5 CHF each. A Gatorade was 4 CHF. I went to a simple Pizzeria yesterday and with a Pepsi it was 28 CHF with tip for a pizza!

I walked all over this beautiful city. Learn some Italian. Almost no one here speaks English including many restaurants and taxi's. You gotta love a city with S series Mercedes Benz for taxi's! I rested then decided to shower and head to a club that a friend told me about. The short ride in the Mercedes was 20 CHF one way. It's really easy to drop a lot of money here. Do NOT come here only for the girls. This is one of my real vacations so I didn't come for the girls. Thank God I listened to the first 10 lessons of Pimsleur Italian. I don't know much except for a few basic phrases but they have helped alot. Learn some basics. You can get by with just English so don't worry. It can just be a little frustrating at times.

I went to a few clubs and was really surprised to see many girls from Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and parts in between. Luckily I am conversational at Spanish and decent at Portuguese so didn't have any problems communicating with them.

The next day I spent more time exploring Lugano. As mentioned, it's a beautiful, beautiful city that I'm positive I'll be back to. It is very serene down by the lake and there are plenty of parks and benches to watch the lake. There is a casino that I wasn't really interested since I went to some casinos a few weeks ago with a friend and I lost $700. (Ouch). Still I walked in to see how nice it is. They won't let you in without your passport so don't go there without your passport. I felt quite at home in Lugano. Now I only have to learn Italian and I think I'll be fine.

You can also buy a 24 hour bus pass for 5 CHF. There are several machines that you can buy it from at the bus stops. You can walk but my hotel is at the end of the Lake so it was easy to hop on the buses to get around. I didn't notice any internet cafes. My hotel has a "business center" that consists of one computer but it faces the window to the street. The alternative is they will let you use a laptop and you buy a card for their wireless high speed access. Worked very well but expensive at 19 CHF for two hours. Showered then went to some clubs to meet some girls.

Something strange to see is that there are these bars with photos on the outside of the windows with naked girls. I'm not talking abotu a red light district either. I was staying at one of the nicest hotels in town and there was a bar next door like this. I didn't know what they were but figured some clip joint since they are all near the expensive hotels -- I have to admit I was really curious.

Anyway, this taxi driver, Rodolfo, that I met earlier told me that his cousin, Susy, is the bartender/manager of one of these clubs right by my hotel. The place is called Cava connected to the Cava Hotel. Wierd. They aren't owned by the same owners apparently. I'm a curious sort so obviously I checked it out. I headed over around 11 PM. It's pouring rain outside but luckily I packed my good umbrella so no problem. The place opened at 10 PM. I walk in and there are only about 5 girls and NO guys. I order a drink and all the girls are watching me like a hawk. I sit down and am a little worried since I don't know what the deal is here. For all I know my drink was expensive but I didn't ask how much. A girl comes over. She wasn't that beautiful but spoke good English. I could tell by her accent she was Russian. We talked some but I wasn't interested. She eventually asks me if I will buy her a drink. I didn't care and said sure. The manager comes over and confirms that I want to buy her a drink. I said yes. Then he says....it's "chen-to". 100 CHF!!! I tell her no thanks. I tell her I'm gonna have one drink and leave.

Two other guys come in. Older and in suits. They look super wealthy. Another Ukranian girl comes over and also spoke good English. I clearly tell her I'm not interested in "anything" but ask her to tell me the deal with this place. She said it's simple. You buy a girl a drink that enables you time to negotiate. What?? So the 100 CHF drink does nothing but pay for one drink. Yikes. Around about that time I decide to leave. There was only like 2 really gorgeous girls in there. I walk to the bar to pay the bill and I see an older lady. I ask her if she is Susy. Then she says yes with a huge smile. We spoke in Portuguese so no one could understand us. I tell her that her cousin told me to say hi to her. She is so friendly and I tell her that I love Brazillians. She tells me I'm in the wrong place. No kidding! Small world as she actually knew one of the girls I had met in Lugano.

I was going to leave and she tells me to wait. She buys me a drink. Yes, that's right. She tells me not to leave and bought me a rum and coke which incidentally was 30 CHF. (I paid for the first one). Damn expensive for a drink. Some customers came in but we talked about Brazil and such things. She loved Brazil. That's the thing about Brazil. These girls love their country and love living there. She told me about a good club that I would like. Great! I tell her to call her cousin and he is on his way to pick me up. Meanwhile a totally hot hot hot smoking hot Russian girl comes up to the bar and talks to me. She speaks very good English. I tell her I'm leaving and she pleads not to leave. I tell her this isn't my scene and she said she is willing to negotiate but I told her my driver is on the way. This girl was Playboy, Victoria's Secret type hot. She said she is an aerobics instructor in Russia. Rodolfo comes and picks me up. I tell Susy goodbye and ask how much for the drink and she said she got it.

I spent a great time in Lugano and had wonderful meals here. My hotel was great and the people were really friendly. I found the people in Zurich a bit cold but the people from Lugano were really great. I'd love to come back here again. Off to Italy.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Excellent description of the place. I might be off to lugano in a couple of months, so I need as much information as I can get :) thanks for pointing out that everything its pretty expensive! Jesus I wouldnt have expected to pay almost 40 dollars (australian dollars that is) on a bloody drink! anyways thatnks for the info! Ley

October 26, 2008 10:37 PM  

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