Falling Down in Europe and Other Places - Chapter II Lake Lugano

Dear Reader,

Here's a story I like about another of John's great falls and you'll be glad to know no one was hurt. We had been traveling through Switzerland by car and then south into Northern Italy to see one of the beautiful lakes, Lake Lugano. Lake Lugano is very close to the swiss border. There are green mountains in the distance in the summertime and covered in snow in the winter. We were there in the early fall and it was beautiful and balmy weather.

Once we found a parking place we headed over to the water front to check it out. It is a very lovely place and quite formal in the way the landed gentry used to vacation on the Italian lakes during the grand tour in the late 19th century. There was a stone boardwalk along the lake's edge and across the street were old fashioned and very elegant looking restaurants and bars and tea shops. It almost seemed like an English scene rather than Italian, but then again, the English have always favored such spots for their vacations and have some influence.

Couples were out strolling arm and arm dressed up in suits and elegant gowns. Women sparkled with diamonds and wore large stylish hats to protect them from the sun along with their expensive designer sunglasses. John and I had already been on the road for over a week and were a little worn for wear. The weather was warm but not shorts weather so we were both wearing blue jeans and polo shirts and tennis shoes. I was beginning to feel a little out of place in this elegant city. We decided to just take a look at the lake, have lunch and leave. 

The lake is quite large and very blue with a current causing visible waves. Swans were floating around on the surface everywhere looking so serene and special. You could tell they belong there. John took lots of pictures as we walked around until we reached the end of the walk where the boat ramp is. This boat ramp looked really old. It was made of stone and completely green from the moss or algae on it.

John and I had been pondering upon the water temperature trying to guess what it might be. This is something we often do when one of us is leading up to challenge the other to try something stupid. This time, I think John wanted to try something stupid because when I dared him to touch the water he headed for the boat ramp without hesitation. I realized he was really going to do it, at least get close enough to touch the water with his hands. I also realized he was still holding the camera so I yelled at him to stop and hand it over to me. With a very cocky attitude, he turned around and said "What do you think I'm going to do, Falllllllaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww" as his feet slipped out from under him and he slid on his butt down the ramp up to his waist in water. This was too funny. Once I realized John was alright and so was the camera which I grabbed just as he started to fall, I started to laugh uncontrollably. I helped him stand up and he came sludging out of the water, tennis shoes squeeking, jeans hanging to the ground soaking wet. It was funny, really funny.

He started to walk away and I noticed that his entire back side was slime green from the algae. This was more than I could stand. I howled and laughed and so did he until we had to grab each other so as not to fall down from the effort. I started to tease him about how stylish he was in his wet jeans with the green butt and squeeky shoes. Every step was squish squish squish. It was just too funny. Then we noticed people were staring at us and not in a good way. Their expressions were harsh and disapproving and made us feel uncomfortable. It was if we had sneaked into a private country club and then broken all of their rules.

Well, as John and I like to say, "We've been thrown out of worse places than this" a backwards insult and we know when we aren't wanted so we walked straight to the car where John took his wet jeans off before getting inside, hopefully this distured a few snobs as well, and we left Lugano in the dust for greener pastures. And we did. We found many lovely and delightful places on that vacation and met many nice people. It just goes to show you not to judge people by one person or by one place. People are different and the same everywhere. Get to know them first before judging them. The people of Lugano missed out on a very charming and funny couple of Americans that day. Their loss.

Arivederci