Lugano: A Homecoming

Of all the places we were to visit during our time in Switzerland, I was most looking forward to Lugano, which is a sort of homecoming for me. I moved to Lugano in 1972 when I was 15 years old to attend The American School in Switzerland, or TASIS, as it is known. I lived there until I graduated in 1975, spending holidays and summers in Libya with my family.

Since graduation I have returned to TASIS only once, and that was just a year or two later. So for me, this visit was a long time coming. Of course I wanted to see the school campus, but also the town of Lugano.

We arrived in the pouring rain and made our way to the only aire in town. It is actually called a sosta, which is what aires are in Italian and Lugano is in the Italian part of Switzerland, right on the border with Italy. The sosta only has designated spaces for eight motorhomes and when we wheeled in, we got the very last one. We got ourselves settled in and by nightfall the place was packed! There are only eight spaces with electricity, but that didn’t stop at least a dozen or so more from squeezing in for a free overnight stay. The payment machine requires that we enter a space number, and those parking on the perimeter had no number, so they simply didn’t pay. At times it felt as though there were two dozen rigs all dotted around the place.

We were quite happy with our spot and very comfortable. The view right outside our door was Monte San Salvatore, a peak from which, on a clear day, you can get a stunning view of the mountains and lakes surrounding Lugano and beyond.

On the day after our arrival the rains stopped and the sun came out to warm things up. Steven and I took off walking into town. At first we used Google Maps to guide us in the right direction, but once I got my bearings, I was able to find the things and places I was looking for. I remember a photo of me taken along the shores of Lake Lugano where I was standing on the base of a sculpture of chain links. I found it as we walked toward town, but was surprised that it was now nearly covered by an overgrown tree! I don’t recall there even being a tree there, so I’m guessing it got planted much later.

The surrounding communities have grown over the years and the hillsides are dotted with homes, but the small, central downtown of Lugano is pretty much the same as it was when I lived there. Shops have come and gone, replaced by more global brands, but some places never change, including one of my favorite restaurants, Federale. I wish I had a nickel for every pizza and pasta dish I have consumed in this place! It was our go-to when we were in town.

We made our way to the narrow, cobblestoned streets in the center of town. As a TASIS student, we had quite a bit of freedom to come and go off-campus. We would catch a bus right at the school gates and make our way to downtown. Years ago in the big square there used to be a store called Innovazione and it’s where we spent an abundance of time. It’s where we bought inexpensive clothes and whatever else we needed. My daughters loved going to Target and I guess this was my version. Many times we ended up at Federale for a pizza or pasta snack. And a beer.

Technically we were supposed to have a teacher or supervisor with us in order to drink alcohol, but that wasn’t always the case. If we saw a teacher walk by, we’d holler, “Hey Mr. So-and-So, we’re having a beer!” and that seemed to be permission enough. We also smoked freely on campus, in fact, some dorms even had smoking lounges! We were required to have parental permission for drinking and smoking, which was a bone of contention in my family, but I eventually got the drinking part, never smoking. But because I did it freely and acted like I had permission, I got away with it until two months before graduation when I bragged about it to my teacher-advisor and she busted me. LOL, I guess I deserved that for being so dumb as to admit my transgression. My punishment was that I spent a week picking up cigarette butts around campus. And, they sent a letter home to my parents letting them know I had been a bad girl. My Dad still has that letter in my “file”. LOL, talk about permanent records!

Steven and I found the department store easily, although it is now a different company. Since it was Saturday there was a market going on in the square and lots of unmasked folks were milling about, so we skipped going in and instead made our way to Federale. It is still one of the most popular places in town and we had to wait for an outdoor table. My favorite baked ziti dish was no longer on the menu, so we split an order of lasagna, which is baffling, because neither one of us is all that fond of lasagna. It was just okay, but we enjoyed some wine and the atmosphere. Afterwards, we walked around Lugano and the lakeside promenade. It’s still such a gorgeous town.

TASIS is up on a big hillside overlooking Lake Lugano, but we nonetheless decided to ride our bikes up to the school the following day. The weather was gorgeous and we figured since it was Sunday, traffic would be light. There is a long stretch of uphill road just before we rounded the corner to the school which I recall being much longer than it actually is. There were more buildings now, less open space, but it’s still gorgeous. We stopped at the beautiful Parrocchia di Sant’Abbondio, where in the cemetery across the road is the grave of Herman Hesse, the poet, novelist and painter. (An overachiever by anyone’s standards.)

One of the most prominent buildings at TASIS is the Villa de Nobili. As you round the corner and come upon the school, you can see the corner of this building. As it is painted orange and yellow, it’s design checkered, you cannot miss it. This villa is the heart of the TASIS campus and I lived in the de Nobili dorm my sophomore and junior years of high school. I was so thrilled to be there once again.

Since it was Sunday the school was very quiet. In my day anyone could walk on campus, but nowadays there is a guarded gate and entrance is only allowed to those with the required I.D. We had a proper tour scheduled for Monday, so we’d be back to see it all. So while we were there on our bikes, we also checked out the house where I lived when I was a senior. We then went further up the hill to the little town of Montagnola where after school we’d hike up to a hole-in-the-wall bar called Augustina’s. There we’d have a Feldschlossen beer, slices of Gruyere cheese, crusty bread and mustard as our afternoon snack. To this day Gruyere is still my most favorite cheese.

On Monday we left our bikes at home and took the bus back up the hill for our tour of TASIS. We were greeted by Yvonne Procyk, a longtime TASIS employee and Director of Alumni Relations. Yvonne took us on a wonderful tour which sadly could not include the dorm rooms because of COVID. I would have loved to have seen my old room in de Nobili! Another time, perhaps. Anyhoo, rather than ramble on, let’s take a photo tour of my school, shall we?

So, there you have it, my school. Pretty gorgeous, huh?

In all we spent nine days in the sosta in Lugano before moving a few kilometers away to a proper campground. Our reason for staying there was that we were waiting for the delivery of a replacement debit card. Prior to leaving France after getting work completed on Bijou, Steven lost his debit card which meant we had to request a new one. In spite of Steven’s absolute diligence in making sure the folks at Charles Schwab knew we were traveling in Europe and were not at our address in the States, they still sent out the first card to my parents’ address in Texas instead of my friend Zarina’s address in Switzerland as we had specified. Since we had now moved on to Lugano, we changed the delivery address to TASIS, which Schwab said was fine since the second replacement card had not yet been sent out. As we sat in Lugano waiting, FedEx attempted delivery of a second card at Zarina’s house! At this point, we figured we might as well move on to the campground and catch up on chores while we waited for the third replacement attempt, which we figured might take a couple of weeks depending on how many more times they got it wrong. But lo and behold, on our second day at the campsite, our card was delivered to Yvonne at TASIS! The next morning we packed up, drove to the school to pick up the card and hit the road. Venice, here we come!

NEXT UP: Beautiful Venice

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