From Lugano to Milano

I had another busy weekend enjoying all the surrounding areas of Lugano. Friday night we went down to town because two of my friends were going to get haircuts. I walked around Lugano and mostly just thought about doing shopping. Most clothing items here are overpriced and just not exactly what you would get at home. I had fun window shopping at all the jewelry and watch shops. Diamonds are never boring! Then we went back to a favorite restaurant called Cafe Retro for dinner. They always have great seafood and the wait staff finds us very entertaining, so we always get special service. Afterward we headed over to Soho for some after dinner drinks. Saturday morning I went with my friend Allie to Ponte Teresa, which is a border town in Italy. Every Saturday morning there is a big market where you can find a variety of clothes, posters, food, shoes, really whatever you're looking for. We also bought some Italian wine, which is always better than Ticininese. Allie and I were on a mission to get manicures and pedicures and thought we may be more successful in Italy, but the only place we found did not accept walk ins. We actually saw about 5 on the way back to Lugano, but we were unsuccessful in our attempt. Most places looked at us very strangely when we said, "yes right now" or they were closed on Saturdays, silly us. We heading back home and then went for a run by the lake still enjoying the nice weather that was upon us.
Saturday night, we (Stacey, Allie and a rep. that was hear from a college in Boston) headed to Milan for dinner and fun! We had dinner at one of my favorite spots right off Via Spiga called Bice. It is Italian of course, but they have locations all over the world. We had an amazing dinner, with a hearts of palm and avocado salad, pappardelle (my favorite) and swordfish over greens. For dessert we split a tiramisu, that was definitely up to my high standards. After dinner we had a drink at Nobu and then went to the Four Seasons. We enjoying ciocolatta densa (really yummy thick hot chocolate) and then some more wine before taking the train back home. We also made some friends at the Four Seasons, always good to know people there! On the way back, we definitely cut it close making our train...but luckily we made it and arrived back in Lugano at 230am. Yikes...