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!!!!