It’s Monday morning, and after a week on the road, Nathan and I are finally back in Lyon, where he will be attending school here for the first semester. On a bit of a whirlwind, we visited Lago di Como (Lake Como) in Italy, and Lago di Lugano and the mountain resort of Zermatt, both in Switzerland.

Back in my cycle-tourism days, I had been to Zermatt countless times and it is one of my favorites, but I had only been to Como and Lugano once and it was a loooong time ago, during my first few trips with the company. It was great to get back to all three and I thought I would approach them with a bit of melancholy since it would likely be the last time I visited them all.

(I had another birthday during the trip and am feeling a bit more mortal these days, but don’t worry, I will get over it.)

To the contrary, however, it was a joy to be back in each of the stops as they all had played a role into how I got to where I am now, and it was fantastic to see them, in a way, through my son’s eyes (although he does not seem to have the wanderlust that consumes his father, at least not yet).

About halfway through our journey, when we were in Lugano, Switzerland, we were informed that his bag, the one that had been lost upon arrival in Paris and somehow wound up in Manilla, the Philippines, was on its way back to Paris and would be waiting for us at our hotel once we returned to Lyon.

Yeah, sure.

More on that later as for now, to Como…

Shortly after arriving in Como on a scorching afternoon, I decided to take a stroll down to the lake. On the way, I passed first the Basilica di San Fedele. While I am not a very religious person, I love old churches and cathedrals, so I had to go in.

While I love big, grandiose, gothic cathedrals, I certainly have a soft spot for those that are more Romanesque in style.

Never, ever forget to look up in a church. I guess there is a message there?

I found San Fedele to be quite ornate despite its relatively small stature, particularly when compared to…

… the much bigger Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta; Duomo di Como, which is literally only a two minute walk (if that) away.

Considered the last Gothic cathedral built in Italy, it was sarted in 1396 but not finished until 1770(!!).

It is tough to choose between rose windows and domes as to which I find more captivating.

A theme for the trip was certainly Carbonara, as it is Nathan’s all-time favorite dish that I make. He kept saying mine is better, but I am pretty sure he was just being nice.

Como is pretty special at night.

The following day, we took a ferry up to Bellagio.

Some of the houses are quite quaint.

While others are a bit more…

Bellagio was nice, but completely overrun with tourists.

We both thought the whole trip was pretty amazing. Particularly after we saw…

…George Clooney’s house (center left).

That night I broke with our traditional carbonara (there was not one on the menu) and went with a Bolognese.

The following morning, we said goodbye to George Clooney and Lago di Como and headed just across the border into Switzerland and Lago di Lugano.

Not even 100 meters away from the station, we were greeted with this…

So a few photos were necessary.

Our hotel balcony view. Not too shabby.

That’s all I have time for now, I will be back soon with more photos!