At the International Cancer Control Congress.
In November of 2009, I was doing some work with the Canadian Cancer Action network and I was very fortunate to attend the International Cancer Control Congress. This in itself was fantastic but the location of the conference was a dream come true! It was being held in Cernobbio, Italy at Lake Como. I was going to travel with my friend and colleague and since it was a once in a lifetime kind of trip for us we decided to stay an extra few days and do a bit of travel.
View from the ferry on Lake Como.
We arrived in Milan and traveled north to Cernobbio on Lake Como. It was such a beautiful place! Even in November. We loved it right from the start. There were fancy restaurants, charming hotels, beautiful shops with incredible clothes and extremely expensive shoes. And the scenery was spectacular!
Sights along the way to Bellagio.
The beauty of Bellagio.
The first day we got through the jet lag and explored the area. Then we attended the conference for the duration and it was so interesting. The workshops we participated in were so informative and I found it incredibly interesting to see that in so many cultures there was still a stigma attached to those living with cancer. I sure took away a lot of information from this conference.
Evening ferry arrives.
After the conference ended we decided to skip the city of Milan and take the ferry up Lake Como to Bellagio instead. This was one of the most beautiful days with lots of sunshine, amazing scenery and Bellagio itself was just incredible. When we left Cernobbio we took the train through the mountains to Zurich in Switzerland and stayed there for a couple of nights. This was just an unbelievable trip and we saw so many beautiful places. We were good travel companions and had lots of laughs.There were so many things I loved about Italy and Switzerland. Food portions were smaller, we ate later in the evening, we did not walk around with extra-large coffees instead we sat down and enjoyed a small cup and then moved on. I discovered Limoncello. And we stopped by the gelato place at least twice a day so that we could try all the flavours before we left.
Zurich, Switzerland.
It was an amazing time of learning and living and discovering. I absolutely love to travel and experience new places. Travel creates memories to reflect on whenever you might be having a bad day. You can just close your eyes and transport yourself pretty much anywhere in the world.
O Sole Mio - The Three Tenors
