Tag Archives: travel

Jul26

Switzerland, Part 4: Alpine Peaks and Mountain Lakes

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Driving through the valleys that spread out from Lake Maggiore is, for me, one of life’s great thrills. It’s just so darn charming and breathtaking, a feast for the eyes. Today we would explore the Valle Maggia and and the valley it leads to, the Val Bovona.

swissafter19Once you turn into the Val Bovona, things get really interesting. You’re deep into the heart of a valley and the Alps are on the other side, playing peek-a-boo with their snow-capped summits. There are more picturesque little stone villages that don’t quite feel real, and I don’t tire of it one bit.

swissafter23Our destination is the end of the line in the town of San Carlo, and there we find a cable car that will take us way, way up. Ascending above 1,000 meters of altitude, the ride up to Robiei is an event in itself, offering impressive views of the U-shaped Basodino Glacier. The view seems straight up, as if you were standing at a nearly upright wall filled with deep crevices, magnificent waterfalls spilling over the surface. And then the snow caps appear all around you. Sigh … The Alps: there’s nothing quite like the majesty of being in their presence.

Once our feet hit the ground at Robiei, we headed left, facing the glacier, walking through a tunnel, until one of the area’s gorgeous lakes appeared. Lakes in the Alpine peaks? It just got even better!

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swissafter22Today, we got a late start due to a leisurely morning, and soon it was time to run back to the cable car to catch the last one going down for the night. This was not a place we were prepared to get stranded. We made it. On the cable car down, staring out at the beauty, I caught my love’s eye and we both had that smile of disbelief on our faces. Are we really here? And isn’t it so exquisitely beautiful?

Returning down the Val Bovona, we could now — with no cable car to catch — take our time and explore the area, stopping to take photos and fill our water bottles from the town fountain with fresh, clean mountain water. It felt like a little reward for having taken the time to explore the area. (Well, the real reward was the visual feast, but the water was nice, too.)

swissafter21We stopped at the town of Forglio. Is this place real? Set at the base of a majestic waterfall, this charming village twists and turns up a stone path, affording more views of the surrounding brilliance.

swissafter20Upon returning back to the lake, instead of heading back to Locarno, we headed to neighboring Ascona, a fairy tale town of twisting cobbled streets and brightly painted buildings that spill into Lake Maggiore. Here we had dinner, basking in the glory of a truly remarkable day that seemed more out of a dream. To top all that off, my dinner of shrimp risotto almost made me fall off my chair. Deep, deep gratitude for all of the sensory pleasures of this day!

Jul23

Switzerland, Part 1: Where Italy meets Switzerland: A magic place you never knew existed

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Ticino is the region of Switzerland that is Italian-speaking and -influenced. It’s where the Alps spill into Lake Maggiore, which is shared with Italy. The valleys hold the magic, and traveling up them will leave you breathless and completely enchanted!

swissafter3It’s a place that time forgot, and in this ever-changing world, there is comfort in those places, if only as a reminder to connect with the Earth and your surroundings.

Arriving off the beaten path always involves some effort, and for me, the key is being in the moment, shedding the “hurry up and get there” mentality.

By the time we arrived in Locarno, our home for the next week, we had done planes, trains and automobiles.We flew into Lugano, an hour away from Locarno.  While “hiking” to the train station from the airport with luggage in tow, I could only see the lake the mountains and the charming villages. Then the automobile picked us up at the train station to whisk us to our hotel. There, the beauty of the surroundings dissolved my exhaustion. With a balcony view of the lake, I didn’t feel so tired anymore — just transported.

swissafter5On our first full day, we headed up, up, up. The Madonna del Sasso church and convent is perched above the town, as if it’s floating in air over the lake, and it was a good indication of just how often our breath would be taken away while we were in this magical place. The church is as gorgeous inside as it is outside. Somehow, it’s such a treat when you don’t know what to expect and you turn the corner and BAM! Such beauty, artistry and architecture.

swissafter1Above the Madonna del Sasso, it turned out, was still a whole lot of up, and we kept going until we were above the clouds and shrouded in the fog that danced around the mountain peaks. Here, we spent a lazy hour watching the fog and the paragliders jumping into what could not be seen. We trusted that they had done this before, and watched their colorful parachutes drift off until they disappeared — only to re-emerge in the sunshine that glowed below us and over the lake.

Lunch, I was very happy to discover, was Italian. It is my personal belief that while the Italians have had to endure hundreds of years of corruption, they will not endure any bad food, wine, music or art, and their influence in this region was greatly appreciated by me. Little English is spoken in this area, but I can read “gnocchi” and “risotto,” and I love the lyrical sound of the the locals asking me what I might want in that gorgeous language. With a view of the lake below, I might have stayed there forever, but no: Siesta was calling, and that’s another idea I could sink my teeth into.

swissafter2Is it time to eat again already? Why yes, yes, it is. My husband found a darling grotto (trattoria) for dinner, and we discovered the local wine. Ninety percent of the vines that dot these hills and valleys are Merlot, and the Ticino region is famous for both their white and red Merlot wines. I was already a fan at first sip. I think wine, like food, is never better than when consumed in the place from which it hails. It always gives me a sense of place, and I think of the people who have farmed this land and the people before them as I savor.

Night falls early on the jet lagged, and with two contented souls, we drifted off dreaming of the mountains where they meet the lake in this place between two countries.

To be continued…