Rain in Ticino

Marco had plans to take us to Lugano today but the weather did not cooperate. The five of us -- Marco, Pam, William, Mary Anne, and myself -- sat at the breakfast table at our hotel for several hours talking and watching the rain fall. It was actually quite relaxing, and not entirely unwelcome after the busy day before. The showers were so heavy they closed the highway between Bellinzona and Lugano due to floooding. Lugano would have to wait for another day.
 
Marco decided to take us to visit his parents instead. They were so nice and friendly (now we know where Marco gets it from)! They don't speak much English (and we don't speak Italian), so poor Marco had to interpret for all us. But it all worked out. Marco's mother made us coffee and his dad pulled out a bottle of homemade grappa for us all to enjoy. It was delicious. When I mentioned how much I like the grappa, his dad disappeared for a few minutes and then came back with a bottle for each of us to take home. It was such a nice gesture. Wish we had gift in return. It was a short but lovely visit. Afterwards, Marco drove us back to the station where we caught the train back to Bern. Overall, it was another great weekend! Here are some pictures from Sunday.

Again, Thank you Marco!

Guided Tour of Ticino

My dear friend (and work colleague), Marco, invited us to visit his home in Ticinio this weekend. He had two friends visiting from South Africa -- William and Mary Anne -- and he offered to show us all around. We gladly accepted!

Ticino is in southern Switzerland but, as we found out, radically different from the rest of the country in almost every way. This might be because Ticino is geographically separated from the rest of Switzerland by the Alps. Honestly, it felt more like Italy than Switzerland. The language, the architecture, the culture....all very Italian.

Ticino's two largest and most recognizable cities are Lugano and Lucarno, but the cantonal capital is actually Bellinzona. Pam and I arrived in Bellinzona on Friday night and met William and Mary Anne at our hotel on Saturday morning. We hit it off right away. Mary Anne is an economist at the central bank of South Africa. Her husband William also works at the central bank in the bank supervision area. To Pam's dismay, William and I quickly became absorbed in a thrilling conversation about bank regulatory structures across national jurisdictions. Fortunately, Marco arrived just in time to save the day.

Marco proposed that we start by walking around Bellinzona for a little bit. Bellinzona is strategically positioned along a valley in the foothills of the Alps and was once considered the main gateway between Italy and Switzerland. The city's bygone glory is still evident from the three castles and a series of fortifications that run across the valley floor. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We walked through town and outdoor market before Marco took us up to the castle of Castelgrande, which looks over the entire Ticino valley. It was beautiful. Here are some pictures.

After Bellinzona, Marco drove us to Valle Verzasca for lunch. Verzasca is a relatively remote, but popular valley not far from Locarno. It is lined with several picturesque stone villages and has a beautiful emerald green river flowing through it. We stopped for pictures at an old double-arched bridge. Very nice. Then Marco took us to one of his favorite restaurants where we enjoyed several bottles of local wine and dined plates of meat and cheese. It was fantastic. It started to rain, but the storms passed by the time we finished eating. On the way back down we stopped by Verzasca dam, where I filmed some maniacs bungy jumping of the dam wall. Interesting tidbit: a jump from the Verzasca Dam was the opening scene of James Bond's "Golden Eye." Here are some pictures of Verzasca and the surrounding area.  Video 1 and Video 2.

Following Verzasca we went to Swiss resort of Locarno. Locarno is a popular vacation destination for the Swiss located on the northern tip of Lake Maggiore across from Italy. I am told it enjoys the most hours of sunshine anywhere in Switzerland. I can believe it. We visited the Madonna del Sasso Sanctuary on the hillside above Locarno where we enjoyed great views of the city and Lake Maggiore below. Then we headed down to the palm-lined lakefront and walked to the famous Piazza Grande, a busy square surrounded by charming old houses.

We left Locarno after a couple of hours and drove to Ascona, which lies just a little further south along Lake Maggorie. It boasts a beautiful lake promenade. Marco had to leave, but William, Mary Anne, Pam, and I stayed in Ascona for dinner. It was a great meal. We had a fascinating conversation about life in South Africa and the changes that have occurred there over the last decade or more. It was amazing to get perspective from people who live there. They kindly invited us to visit them sometime, which we may seriously consider. After dinner, the four of us took the train back to Bellinzona for some much needed rest.   Pictures of Locarno and Ascona.

It was such a great day. We experienced so much and Marco was such a great host. It was so nice of him to show us around. While Ticino and the rest of Switzerland may be different in many ways, in some ways we found them to be the same: the people are kind and the land is beautiful.

Thank you, Marco!!!!

Montreux Jazz Festival

We went to the Montreux Jazz Festival today, which is the best-known music festival in Switzerland. It is held annually every July in Montreux along the shores of Lake Geneva. We had thought about buying tickets online beforehand. But we procrastinated (of course) and the tickets for Sheryl Crow -- who was the headliner that night -- sold out. There were many other performances going on, some of which were free, so we decided to head to Montreux anyway to check it out.

It was an absolutely beautiful day. We enjoyed gorgeous views of Lake Geneva and the surrounding region as we approached Montreux on the train. From the station, we just followed the sound of music until we arrived at Parc Vernex where there was an outdoor stage with a Big Band playing cover tunes. We spread our blanket out on the lawn and relaxed in the sun for a little bit. We noticed in the program that a "Jazz Boat" was scheduled to depart at 3PM, which sounded like fun, but we had to hurry if we were going to make it. We also had to deal with the issue of how to get tickets. As we impatiently pushed our way through the meandering crowds along the lake shore drive, we couldn't help but smell the aroma of flavors from all the food stalls. My mouth began to water. But we didn't have time to stop.

We arrived at the pier and were immediately put off by the large crowd of people pushing and shoving each, jostling for position to get on the boat. It was getting hot, and my mind turned wistfully back to all those food stalls. But just then a scalper approached and offered two tickets at a discount. Alarm bells were going off in my head. But we forked over the cash, grabbed the tickets, and pushed our way onto the boat. Fortunately, the tickets were valid. In hindsight, I am so glad we didn't turn around on the pier because the 3 hour boat tour on Lake Geneva was incredible. The scenery was spectacular, of course. But it was also some of the best live Blues and Jazz music I've ever heard -- on par with anything I've experienced in New Orleans, New York, or St. Louis (maybe better). I nearly filled up the memory card on our camera taking videos!

After the boat arrived back in Montreux, we ordered paella from one of those food stalls and then we made our way back to Parc Vernex, where we listened to cool band from Senegal named Les Freres Sambe. It was getting late, so we started to walk back to the train station. On our way, we ran back into the scalper who sold us tickets to the Jazz Boat. I think he was following us! He just happened to have two extra tickets to Sheryl Crow.... :)  

Here are some pictures from throughout the day.

Swimming in the Aare

The weather turned nice and warm this week. Quite a few Bernese have headed over to "Marzili Beach" across the street from our apartment to swim and lay out. From our balcony, we noticed hundreds of bikes piling up in the parking lot. The warm weather is the first real opportunity for many people to go swimming in the Aare River -- something I've been wanting to do myself since we first arrived in March. Back then the water temperature was a chilly 10 C (50 F), but it has since warmed to a comfortable 19 C (66 F). So, after work today I rushed home to change then headed over to Marzili Beach to check it all out. 

It was quite a spectacle to see hundreds of people wearing only bathing suits walk unabashedly upstream along the footpaths until they found a spot to jump in and float back to where they started. After a few pictures, Pam and I followed the crowd upstream. I eventually found a spot to jump in...and off I went (Pam opted not to join me)!!

It was exhilarating! I dipped my head below water and heard the coarse sound of pebbles rushing by rocks on the riverbed floor. The current was so strong; I just let myself be carried downstream by the river. I spread my arms and floated on my back as I looked up at the sky. I felt like I was on a different planet. As I came around the last bend before the exit I caught a spectacular view of the Federal Parliament building up on a hill overlooking the river. Never seen it from that angle before! It was pretty cool. Can't wait to do it again!! Here are some pictures Pam took from the shore.  Pam also took a video of me jumping in.