Lugano is Beautiful

So much to catch up on. Last week I got back from my trip to Lugano, Switzerland. As most of you know, Emily studied abroad in Lugano 2 years ago during her junior year at Virginia Tech. My parents went to visit her during that time, but unfortunately I couldn't because of my preliminary Ph.D. exam which was also that semester. I vicariously lived through Emily's pictures and each time she'd send a new batch of photos out, I'd pick my favorite one and set it as my desktop background. Lugano looked just incredible by the pictures and I knew I wanted to go there someday. When Emily decided to stay at Virginia Tech for her masters and do her studies back in Lugano I was so excited and promised her that this time I would come visit and get to see Lugano's beauty firsthand. After Emily passed away it was so hard to think about going to Lugano without her, but I promised her I would and I knew she would still be there with me in spirit. This was evidenced by the mass amount of daisys growing wild all over Lugano!


Although obviously there were a lot of mixed emotions caught up in this trip, I am really glad I went. I stayed with Meghan Pierce who is also in the same masters program Emily would have been in and studied abroad with Em 2 years ago. She was such a wonderful host and Em's little, Kate Woo, flew in from her study abroad program in Prague the same time. The three of us toured Lugano, hiked San Salvadore mountain for a gorgeous panaramic of the area, and took a day trip to Lake Como, Italy where we had a ferry tour of the lake. I also got to see the beautiful gate that Em captured in her photos.... I left a flower there for her my last day.


The weather wasn't the greatest while I was there (it was cloudy and cold), but because of this we say TWO rainbows during my short time there!! More evidence of Emily's presence with us :)

I also got to meet the three recipients of Emily's Virginia Tech scholarship in Lugano! These girls were chosen beacuse they had the most similar passions and aspirations as Emily. It is very exciting to see the scholarship in action - thank you to all who contributed :)

For more pictures of the Lugano trip (warning - in Emily tradition, I took A LOT!) click here.

Much more blogging to come....
Love,
Kate Specs