Lugano is a city in south Switzerland, in the Italian speaking region of Ticino. The city lies on Lake Lugano, surrounded by picturesque mountains. Its warm summers and the fact that in recent years it has attracted an ever growing number of celebrities, entertainers and successful athletes have given it the nickname of the "Monte Carlo of Switzerland" (Thanks Wiki!) Italian food, language and culture, can't beat it!
I am finally getting around to uploading photos from our last destination on our 2012-2013 worldly basketball tour. Three continents in one season, who would have thought ?! Many of you already know that Dan played with SAM Massagno Basket three years ago, so when we heard they needed an extra player we jumped on the chance to go back to the most beautiful place in Europe. Lugano is a city in south Switzerland, in the Italian speaking region of Ticino. The city lies on Lake Lugano, surrounded by picturesque mountains. Its warm summers and the fact that in recent years it has attracted an ever growing number of celebrities, entertainers and successful athletes have given it the nickname of the "Monte Carlo of Switzerland" (Thanks Wiki!) Italian food, language and culture, can't beat it! In fact, we actually didn't live in Lugano but a smaller town called Massagno. The town is nestled right next to Lugano. So close in fact, that a walk from our apartment to the city center of Lugano would only take 15 minutes. So essentially it's like me saying I am from Chicago but in reality I am from Schaumburg. :) Regardless of the actual name, the Lugano/Massagno region of Switzerland is simply breathtaking! Here is my photo journal of our two breathtaking weeks in the Swiss Riviera. Monte Brè Monte Brè is a smaller mountain east of Lugano, it offers stunning views of the lake and Italy. Getting there might be challenging with the small whiny roads but a cold refreshment on top of the mountain is definitely worth it. The views aren't so bad either! Olive Tree Path This beautiful park and hiking trail stretches all along the shores of Lake Lugano from Castagnola to Gandria (about a 15 minute drive from downtown Lugano) and follows an ancient olive grove. Beautiful views of ancient towns, the lake and nature. Bellinzona The town of Bellinzona is about a 25 minute drive from Lugano. The city is famous for its three castles (Castelgrande, Montebello, Sasso Corbaro) that have been UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2000. The city itself has a lot of old world Italian charm and the castles provide a beautiful unique backdrop. A couple of photos from the Town of Sonvico and Villa Luganese. Our time in Switzerland was absolutely amazing! We got to connect with old friends, visit familiar places and most of all enjoy everything that the Italian part of Switzerland has to offer. Till next time! Arrivederci! Please don't steal images. If you want to use any of my photos please email me: [email protected]
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There are many hard parts of this lifestyle, and maybe the hardest one for me, other than being away from family and friends for an extended amount of time, is making friends for just a season. Yup, for a season. You become so close to the people you meet abroad, some take you in as if they were your own family, others hang out with you at games constantly give you encouragement and advice. There are also the special ones that you can laugh and cry with, and lean on them when times get tough. You vent about coaches, management, teammates and cultural differences. And when the season is over, you never see them again. To this day, I clearly remember standing at the airport in Sendai with tears in my eyes knowing that those moments will never come back. With a quick trip to the airport, your abroad family dissapears and the only thing that remains are memories and pictures. Sometimes if luck is on your side you re-sign with the same team or in the same country, but most of the time the wind carries us in different directions....spreading us all over the world. And the cycle continues...meeting new teammates, friends and family for a season. We have been so fortunate to meet some absolutely great people on our journey. They have changed our lives, showed us how to keep calm in an ever changing sport culture, and most of all, made us appreciate every.single.moment. Because we all know this lifestyle is not forever...everything changes, people, teams, countries, and friends. In this whirlwind of a lifestyle it's important to realize that change is constant, and to embrace it. So let's laugh, vent, travel and be thankful basketball brought as all together...even if it's only for a season. So this is to all of you that made our last five seasons memorable!
The process of traveling gets a little mundane at times...the security checks, passport control, wandering airports during layovers, etc.....so clearly we needed to spice things up in Zurich. "Come with me" said the customs control police officer. Yikes, that's never a good sign! We followed him to a tiny room while Dan's teammates watched in surprise.
"You go too fast by car? Speeding ticket?" "Ummm no, I don't think so. We were here for two weeks and we didn't really drive far...when is the ticket from?" He dissapeared into the tiny office room and started checking our information. We waited and waited, wondering what was going on. "Parking ticket in Zurich, Citroen car with Ticino license plate, 2010" "Ohhhhhhhhhh....THAT ticket. Yup, that was us." Sh*it, THAT ticket! The time when Dan drove himself to a hospital in Zurich for surgery, couldn't find parking and parked on a street next to the hospital (which apparently was only 2 hour parking). He asked the hospital staff if he could leave the car there. They said YES and a nurse put a sticker on it so he could leave it there for a few days. Hmmmmm, apparently not! Because months later we got a ticket in the mail from the Zurich police telling us to pay up. Which we didn't because we figured we wouldn't be back in Switzerland anytime soon. Plus it's not like they were going to shake us down to pay a parking ticket! It's only a parking ticket folks! Oh my, how wrong we were....three years later, they wouldn't let us leave Zurich airport until we paid up. Ha! Those clever Swiss will get you! So pay your tickets or you might get stuck in Switzerland, which wouldn't be such a bad thing at all. :) We have been fortunate to be a part of the Swiss Cup Finals with SAM Basket Massagno! The team did amazing in the tournament beating a top team in the semifinals to pave the way into the Finals in Fribourg. This was SAM's second appearance in the cup finals, the first one was 21 years ago. So last Saturday, I boarded one of the three fan buses leaving Massagno to head to Fribourg (4 hours away). The fans were all amazing, all wearing matching t-shirts and scarves, beating on drums and using a megaphone to cheer! Amazing experience to be a apart of! SAM was competing against Union Neuchatel Basket. A very physical and aggressive team. And lucky for me, the team was able to get me a photo press pass. Yay! The game was great to watch but unfortunately it did not go SAM's way. They lost by four points in the last seconds of the game. You could tell how deeply disappointed the players, coaches and fans were. There were tears in the eyes, but hugs of enormous pride that the team achieved making the Finals. Even though they were plagued by injuries throughout the season, they were still able to showcase their talents all the way to the Cup Final. Cheers to SAM Basket Massagno on a great season! Swiss Basketball Press pass! Yay, I love my profession. Now who wants to get me a 70-200mm lens?! Hint to Dan, birthday gift for me? ;-) Check out the video below to get the full Swiss Cup experience! This basketball season has been full of changes! We have had a lot of great experiences, met a lot of great people along the way and put on some serious miles on our frequent flyer accounts! At the time, it was hard to appreciate and be thankful for the opportunities we were given. But now we can just look back and smile at each unique (and at times very strange) overseas basketball experience!
This season of changes has brought us to our favorite place in Europe. We are beyond excited and happy to be back in Switzerland, especially in the beautiful region of Ticino. Dan signed a short contract with the Swiss team, SAM Basket Massagno. Sound familiar?! That's because Dan played with SAM three years ago. We are thrilled to be in a familiar place, surrounded with people who we already know, and able to enjoy the beautiful Swiss lifestyle...if only for a few weeks. Life is good! |
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