The End of an Era

This is the final post on my blog. I've decided to end it with a few memorable birthday parties. Thanks to everyone who kept up with my blog. See you in the US!

Carla's Birthday--Club in Lugano

Emily's Birthday--Indian in Como

My Birthday--The IP

Ciao Ragazzi! Buona Fortuna!

A Day at the Lido

At the end of May/beginning of June we discovered the Lugano lido. The lido was amazing--a beach on the lake, fresh water pools, grassy knolls, etc. We took advantage of the lido a few times, even partaking in water aerobics classes. Here are a few pictures from that particular afternoon.

Now THAT'S a Cake

My amazing room mom's decided I couldn't leave Switzerland without a little party to celebrate my upcoming wedding and to say goodbye. Two of the mom's made the most amazing cake (check it out below), and then they all chipped in to get me a gorgeous Prada bag. Their excuse for such an extravagant gift--no one should leave Europe without a Prada. I love their thinking!

Bachelorette Party 2008...WHOOHOO!!

The lovely ladies of TASIS decided to take me out to celebrate my upcoming wedding in true American fashion. Blair organized the event, and Mike and Erica made me my lovely veil. Mike happily chaperoned us girls and acted as chauffeur. Thanks Mike! Here are most of us before the fantastic evening.

(from the left) Blair Anstey, Lizzie Johnson, Emily Lynch, Carla Santoro, Allyson Eno, Me, Allie Keen, Kara Fontes, and Erica Cali

The girls took me to this great restaurant...there were 13 of us!

They spoiled me with this beautiful slip

Having some fun with my veil

After dinner we headed to a club in Lugano, where a few TASIS boys met us to enjoy some drinks and dancing.

James was my loyal dance partner during the evening...thanks for keeping the sleazy Italians away!

Photo op with Blair

Erica and I ended up on some sort of stage, but we were quickly replaced by much more scandalously dressed hired dancers.

The Swiss, surprisingly, loved our American bachelorette party. My picture ended up on the club's website. It was the best Swiss/Italian/American bachelorette party EVER!

One More Night...

One of the last nights we spent together was, as usual, at Bellavista with delicious pizza and molto vino. Here are a few pictures of our evening, courtesy of Blair.

Emily, limoncello, and vino...who said you can't double fist??

Enjoying the best limoncello I have ever had

Lizzie--cute as ever :)

Not sure what this was all about, but we were obviously having fun.

The Grotto Nazi

Me, Carla, Allie, and Blair decided to have a girls night out, and headed to a grotto on San Salvatore. The grotto we tried to go to sent us away...apparently no room at the inn. The second grotto we headed to definitely had room, however it also had the world's worst waiter who we fondly referred to as the Grotto Nazi. We had a ton of fun, but I don't think any of us will be returning to that grotto any time soon. Here are a few pictures from the evening.

San Salvatore

A view of the lake...gorgeous!

The girls walking to the first grotto...such a perfect Switaly town!

We made it to the second grotto and got a few pictures of the roomies together.

As the vino flowed, the pictures increased. We all felt we needed a cameo :)

Allie Keen

Carla Santoro

Blair Anstey

Carla and her intense cleavage ;)

And last, but not least, the Grotto Nazi

High School Reunion

At the end of April, Megan & Matt, and Marilee & Chris, visited me during a tour of Europe. Lugano was their first stop, so they were a little jet lagged, but I think the slow pace of Lugano was just what they needed to ease them into their trip.

The first stop we made was Bellavista, where Meg and Matt announced their engagement. We celebrated with some vino and pizza. The next day the lovely couples walked around Lugano while I was at work. I met up with them and took them through the city park which was exploding with flowers.

Here are us girls in front of the fountain.

The Happy Couple (getting married in June)

Us girls again in front of the daffodils

The boys found a tree they were determined to climb

The girls got a nice shot of the boys.

Meg and Matt decided to take advantage of the Swiss play ground (definitely too unsafe for the US). Unfortunately they realized they were too big for the slide...the hard way :).

Matt had a little fun with the fountain...incredibly mature :)

That evening we decided to stay in and cook. The meal was delicious, and the company even better.

The crew had to leave the next morning for Amsterdam. Their trip was short, but so much fun!

From the Blue Ridge to the Alps....A Visit from VA

I was lucky enough to convince my boss that my ex co-teacher from Dale City would be a great person to have out to Switzerland for professional development. This allowed Kathy to have a free flight and hotel in Lugano for the small price of a presentation (which was excellent, by the way). Kathy arrived late, unfortunately, which pushed back her presentation and stressed her out quite a bit, but for about two days of work she was given the amazing opportunity to hang out with me...er, I mean visit Europe. Here are some highlights from our visit together.

Kathy got this great shot from the plane as she flew from Zurich to Lugano over the Alps.

After the long day of travel and presenting, I took Kathy to Bellavista for some amazing pizza.

Kathy and I took advantage of the beautiful spring weather and took a walk through Lugano and the city gardens.

This tree was being taken over by a gorgeous wisteria vine...technically a parasite, but lovely!

And of course, the lake...

After Kathy's big presentation and tour of Lugano, we decided to head to Firenze, my favorite city in Italy. We found this great hotel, Hotel Alessandra, right next to the Ponte Vecchio. We even had a view of the Arno River.

Here's Kathy enjoying a glass of wine the night we arrived.

And of course I wouldn't let Kathy drink alone :)

In the morning I got this great shot of the view from our hotel room.

The next day we decided that Kathy had to see Michelangelo's David. Here I am checking out the map so we can actually get to the Accademia.

We walked through the Piazza della Signoria and admired the amazing foutains and sculptures.

Despite arriving at the Accademia by 9:30am, we had to wait for almost two hours to get in. Here we are patiently waiting against a very graffitied wall.

We finally got in and admired Michelangelo's Prisoners (unfinished statues where the figures appear to be trapped in the stone--very cool) before taking unsolicited pictures of David.

After visiting the Accademia we decided we needed sustinance, so we found a little cafe and we just couldn't resist having some vino.

After lunch we decided to visit Florence's famous leather markets where Kathy found a gorgeous bag and some goodies for her family, and where I found the most amazing leather jacket. From the markets we headed to the Duomo where we admired the Baptistry doors and colorful marble.

We then headed across the Arno (where we got this great photo of the Ponte Vecchio) and checked out the Medici palace.

The Uffizi Gallery was not to be missed. The art was amazing, of course, but the view from the top of the gallery we equally amazing.

After the Uffizi we went back to the hotel for a rest, then went to dinner at this amazing little ristorante where we indulged in some wine...two bottles if I remember correctly :).

The next morning we had an early train back to Lugano, but while waiting for the train I was able to get one last shot of Kathy in front of another gorgeous church in Florence.

When we got back to Lugano we took a walk along Herman Hesse path, where Kathy took in a few more amazing views of the Alps before leaving the next morning for the airport.

It was so great to have Kathy come and visit. I hope she had as much fun as I had!