Monte Bre

Sitting at the northern end of the bay in which Lugano sits, the small mountain of Monte Bre is something of a sister to San Salvatore to the south. On our last day in Switzerland, we braved the forecast of bad weather and took the funicular to the top. It turned out that the weather worked in our favour as we had the whole mountain virtually to ourselves.

The first section of the funicular, took us a little way up and gave us views over Lugano and up Monte Boglia to the north.

 At the top, meadows of wildflowers defied the weather.

Lots of low cloud gave a dramatic look to the scenery with dark clouds over head and wisps of white cloud clinging to the ground below us.

Restaurants, cafes and all the usual tourist things cluster at the top too, but the weather meant that these were either quiet or closed.

We had some fine views of San Salvatore...

And the whole panorama.

Looking down, we could just make out our hotel among the built up area of Paradiso and the fountain in the lake.

A little digital manipulation, gives the scene a painterly effect...

while the clouds parted over San Salvatore.

The highest point of Monte Bre is occupied by the small church of Maria Assunta, so we had to have a look in.

So, that's almost it. Just a few more 'odds and ends' to come tomorrow.