Svizzera

Last Tuesday, we enjoyed appetizers with a group of friends followed up by a couple hours of BBC Pride and Prejudice. Lovely.

During the course of the evening:

Me: "So what are your plans this weekend, Erika?"

Erika: "Actually, I am going to Switzerland."

Me: "No way! That's awesome! Before we came to Italy I kind of had Switzerland tourettes-- every time we talked about weekend trips I would throw it out there. "Switzerland?! Please please please can we go to Switerland?" But Sydney and I decided to wait and see if we could fit it in. And it was one of those things that didn't happen."

Erika:"I'm going by myself and was looking for someone to come along, if you want to join in. . ."

Me: "Let me think about it. I'll get back to you."

. . .

*2 seconds elapse*

"Ok, I really want to go."


Then Friday rolls around. We had friends over for dinner at 7, which was fun. Erika and I left for our train at 1am. We switched trains twice in the wee hours of the morning, and arrived in Switzerland around 8 or 9am. As tired as I was after a nearly sleepless night, I could not close my eyes as the train wound through the Alps. The sun was new and the clouds were low. Peering through the fog, I beheld a perfectly still azure lake which lay like carpet around around the imposing mountains. White fluffly clouds stood suspended between the water and sky, and the train serpentined right up to the edge of the water. And I knew already that I was going to love this country.
Our train pulled into the station in Bellinzona, we took a few minutes to freshen up, then we immediately set out to accomplish our goal for the day: castle visiting. Right off the bat we noticed that Switzerland is not Italy. It is impeccably clean. The trains and buses are new and well kept. Everything is pristine, and almost everything is expensive. There are however, two wonderful free things that we enjoyed: the castles are free, and the city is full of potable water spouts (free Evian!).
The first on our list was Castelgrande. It is grande. . . quite large. It has a very Scottish highlands vibe to it. Not that I have ever been to Scotland.


The green ways lead to turrets and would make the world's finest putt-putt golf course. We walked all around the walls (and tunnels) and took an insane amount of pictures. Then we climbed the tower and took some more pictures.


Next we walked through the main street of Bellinzona and checked out the booths in the marketplace. We ate lunch at a little cafè next as a large golden retriever sat on the floor while its owners sipped cappuccinos. We found it interesting that although the official currency was the Swiss franc, we could pay in euro. I found out later that Switzerland isn't even part of the EU. Interesting. We finished lunch and headed into a supermarket for some Swiss chocolate. Caramel and pear chocolate is one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth.
Then we climbed up a hill to castle number 2, Montebello (beautiful mountain). It was properly named.


The clouds cleared away, the sun shone, and I chuckled an "I can't believe this is real" laugh. We had to burst into "The hills are alive" even though Sound of Music is set in Austria. I then had to lie in the grass taking pictures, because you have not had a successful day of photography if you haven't lain in the grass. We sat on the wall on the edge of the hill/mountain to consume Swiss chocolate and wondered if it gets any better than that.

[notice the castle to the top right, this is castle number 3.]


We had a look around the castle. It has a drawbridge (!). If only there were a moat with alligators my childhood notion of "castle" would have been complete.


We then filled up our water bottles at a handy dandy spout and began the trek up to Sasso Corbaro Castle.

As we came upon this castle, we heard bagpipes (which seemed quite fitting), then clapping, then we saw bubbles. Our best guess was that a wedding was going on up there. A wedding in a castle in the Alps= not too shabby.

We walked down back into Bellinzona, grabbed a few more bars of chocolate, and caught a train for nearby Lugano. Erika's father met a pastor from Lugano and we stayed with his wife and 2 children. They were very hospitable and it was so nice to stay in a home. Annaliese cooked us some chili for dinner and her daughter, Gabriella, showed us around Lugano that evening. I figured out that Lugano is the location of the lake and the mountains that I had seen that morning from the train.

We went to church the next morning with the Anzalones, ate a lovely Italian lunch with the family, then walked around Lugano. We enjoyed the beautiful park along the lakeside despite the threat of rain and, of course, we ate more chocolate.