Sleeping until weâre done and pizza for breakfast at đAcqua e Farina (margherita di buffala of course) is hard to beat as the start of a vacation day. The 14 hours of sleep was more than enough to recuperate from the 36-hour day we spent getting here. Finding a prize-winning pizzeria really completed the breakfast experience (what most people call lunch).
This morning we discovered that Karine cannot register the name of the currency in Switzerland. She'll call it either Euro (at 1.05⏠to the CHF itâs not too far off) or French Franc (a currency the French left behind in 2002 that had a 0.15⏠to the Franc conversion, quite far off). The confusion is understandable as everything feels Italian here, even if weâre still in Switzerland. We resolved to call the money âUnitsâ which stuck in both of our brains easily and really does capture the duality of the feel of the place, neither fully Swiss nor fully Italian. We also found it hilarious so that helped.
After breakfast we left for Mount Brè, one of the two local mountains you can hike from the city. Considered the sunniest mountain in Switzerland, mount Brè is home to the village of the same name, multiple restaurants at its summit and a cable car to the summit. None of which we cared about. We chose the hike because itâs a loop (no boring out and back for us) and, very importantly, its âepic viewsâ tag on AllTrails. If weâre going uphill there better be something to see! (â°ď¸Â Cssarate - Monte BrĂŠ on AllTrails)
We extended the 11km loop by walking to the beginning of the hike from the Airbnb, making it a 17km hike with 707 meters of elevation gain. It took us a little more than 4 hours to complete, which is a decent pace. At such a pace we only stopped for the gorgeous and plentiful views on the trail, netting us multiple sets of what we felt were different pictures but ended up being the same picture from slightly different angles. We didnât stop at one of the multiple restaurants near the summit and the village of Brè, which advertise what we already had plenty of: âstunning views over the lakeâ. One lesson we learned in our travels over the years: The more they talk about how good the views are; the less likely your are to talk about how good their food was.
Home from the hike we rested for a couple of hours before walking 30 minutes uphill to đGrotto Figini, a mixed grill restaurant that was very happy we accepted the hike to eat at their establishment. Itâs neither a hard hike up nor is it unpleasant with it being mostly on quiet side streets and public stairs, but itâs understandable that most people would go for the offer in town instead of the hike.
