I am briefly at home in Zuoz, just 36 hours in between trips, just enough time to empty the mail box, do the laundry and repack. Tomorrow, I am off to Rome to meet up with friends for a 3-day trek in the Monti Lucretili, just to the NE of Rome. Then it's off to the Adriatic coast to stay with friends from Portland. I am leaving my computer at home, so don't expect to hear from me until my return to Zuoz on May 20.
Except for the wonderful trip I took to the Ticino with my sister Brigitte. It's the southern-most part of Switzerland, a region of big deep lakes surrounded by mountains, impressive rivers, quaint villages and palm trees. Neither one of us had ever been there and we had fun exploring. On the first day we took the postal bus (these buses go all over Switzerland to any village not reachable by train) to the back of a side-valley known for its scenic hiking trail along the river: Val Verzasca. The river was wild and beautiful, but I was even more taken by the villages.
All the houses are built with granite slabs, exquisitely set in gardens of blooming wisteria and clematis. While riding up on the bus we scouted for sections of the trail that looked like interesting hiking, and we ended up walking through most of the scenic part of the valley.
On the second day we borrowed bikes from our hotel and rode them through the flat of the Maggia river delta to the town of Ascona. The Maggia is a major river... and we were shocked to find it so dry that we could have walked across in some parts. Indeed, except for that one rainy day in Neuchatel, the weather was more beautiful one day than the next. Every day I wake up to perfectly blue sky, and this with just a few exceptions since early January. I don't mean to make my American friends envious, because I know how horrible the weather has been in Oregon, and how deadly in other parts of the US. However, as nice as it is to have sunny skies everyday, it is not normal in Switzerland. I was told that in one area ducks had to be relocated. We had at least 2 forest fires, already, which are very rare in Switzerland, even in the late summer!
Ascona was a surprise. Very scenic of course, nestled in a bay, and very rich, very artsy, and obviously very gay-friendly. It was also somewhat unreal, the lowlands mirror image of St. Moritz, and I was glad we were staying in Locarno, very pretty, but a real town with real people going about their business. Of course Brigitte dragged me into shops, and I had to spend some of the money I made at the bakery. Actually it was high time to renew my clothing choices a bit. Fortunately, since I had to haul it all on and off numerous trains, I restrained myself. Plus you all know that I am not really a shopper. Still it's always fun with Brigitte.
Our hotel room had a little balcony, with a view of the lake and the Casino gardens and every night we enjoyed it with a glass of wine, relaxing, taking stock of the day and making plans for the next one.
We made the best of our stay, to the last minute. On Sunday, the day on which we traveled back to the French part of Switzerland, we got up early, to have breakfast as soon as it was served, checked out, stashed our baggage in a locker at the train station, and headed down to the port to catch the 9am boat to the Brissago Islands. (Fortunately the hotel was just a short walk both from the station and from the port). The boat schedule forced us to spend 2 hours on the islands and I was a little worried about what we were going to do during all that time, given that tourists actually have access only to one island, and that it's tiny: you can walk from one end to the other in less than 5 minutes. Except that it is a botanical garden, with a collection of tropical plants from all over the world: cacti from Mexico, Protea from South Africa, bamboo from Asia... the two hours went by very quickly. Back on the boat which docked in Locarno 10 minutes before the departure of our train. A perfect ending to a perfect trip. Traveling with my sister is so easy: we like the same activities, operate in the same way, no issues, no misunderstandings. As she says: the common upbringing, the common values.
So here I am back in Zuoz. The bad memories are already fading, and I am feeling as if I have come here on a vacation. I love breathing the crisp dry air, I love walking through the deserted village (it's in-between seasons and even the locals are now gone because the schools are out for 3 weeks!). The lowest larches have started to green, but the forest still is predominantly brown. The swallows are back though, and their calls spell summer.
Pictures:
1. Madonna del Sasso, and below, Locarno.
2. Sonogno, in the Val Verzasca
3. Ascona
4. Brigitte enjoying happy hour
My week traveling around Switzerland has been a whirlwind of fun, of warm times reconnecting with friends - and with myself too. I am finding that I am not the only one struggling. The conversations have spanned various difficult topics: the unexpected death of a sibling with which my friend did not get along and the ensuing conflicting feelings; marital problems, illness, mental illness, aging, dealing with aging relatives... As my friend Beth so wisely said many years ago: "I have given up believing that there is such a thing as normal life". It's true that it's easier to deal with the upheavals when one views life as a series of crises, with fleeting moments of happiness and calm. To protect the privacy of my friends I will not write where I have traveled over the last few days.
Except for the wonderful trip I took to the Ticino with my sister Brigitte. It's the southern-most part of Switzerland, a region of big deep lakes surrounded by mountains, impressive rivers, quaint villages and palm trees. Neither one of us had ever been there and we had fun exploring. On the first day we took the postal bus (these buses go all over Switzerland to any village not reachable by train) to the back of a side-valley known for its scenic hiking trail along the river: Val Verzasca. The river was wild and beautiful, but I was even more taken by the villages.
All the houses are built with granite slabs, exquisitely set in gardens of blooming wisteria and clematis. While riding up on the bus we scouted for sections of the trail that looked like interesting hiking, and we ended up walking through most of the scenic part of the valley.
On the second day we borrowed bikes from our hotel and rode them through the flat of the Maggia river delta to the town of Ascona. The Maggia is a major river... and we were shocked to find it so dry that we could have walked across in some parts. Indeed, except for that one rainy day in Neuchatel, the weather was more beautiful one day than the next. Every day I wake up to perfectly blue sky, and this with just a few exceptions since early January. I don't mean to make my American friends envious, because I know how horrible the weather has been in Oregon, and how deadly in other parts of the US. However, as nice as it is to have sunny skies everyday, it is not normal in Switzerland. I was told that in one area ducks had to be relocated. We had at least 2 forest fires, already, which are very rare in Switzerland, even in the late summer!
Ascona was a surprise. Very scenic of course, nestled in a bay, and very rich, very artsy, and obviously very gay-friendly. It was also somewhat unreal, the lowlands mirror image of St. Moritz, and I was glad we were staying in Locarno, very pretty, but a real town with real people going about their business. Of course Brigitte dragged me into shops, and I had to spend some of the money I made at the bakery. Actually it was high time to renew my clothing choices a bit. Fortunately, since I had to haul it all on and off numerous trains, I restrained myself. Plus you all know that I am not really a shopper. Still it's always fun with Brigitte.
Our hotel room had a little balcony, with a view of the lake and the Casino gardens and every night we enjoyed it with a glass of wine, relaxing, taking stock of the day and making plans for the next one.We made the best of our stay, to the last minute. On Sunday, the day on which we traveled back to the French part of Switzerland, we got up early, to have breakfast as soon as it was served, checked out, stashed our baggage in a locker at the train station, and headed down to the port to catch the 9am boat to the Brissago Islands. (Fortunately the hotel was just a short walk both from the station and from the port). The boat schedule forced us to spend 2 hours on the islands and I was a little worried about what we were going to do during all that time, given that tourists actually have access only to one island, and that it's tiny: you can walk from one end to the other in less than 5 minutes. Except that it is a botanical garden, with a collection of tropical plants from all over the world: cacti from Mexico, Protea from South Africa, bamboo from Asia... the two hours went by very quickly. Back on the boat which docked in Locarno 10 minutes before the departure of our train. A perfect ending to a perfect trip. Traveling with my sister is so easy: we like the same activities, operate in the same way, no issues, no misunderstandings. As she says: the common upbringing, the common values.
So here I am back in Zuoz. The bad memories are already fading, and I am feeling as if I have come here on a vacation. I love breathing the crisp dry air, I love walking through the deserted village (it's in-between seasons and even the locals are now gone because the schools are out for 3 weeks!). The lowest larches have started to green, but the forest still is predominantly brown. The swallows are back though, and their calls spell summer.
Pictures:
1. Madonna del Sasso, and below, Locarno.
2. Sonogno, in the Val Verzasca
3. Ascona
4. Brigitte enjoying happy hour
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