Ticino 2010
|
In 2010 we thought it would be a good idea to have a holiday away from home, but not too far away. We also thought it would be nice to take the dog with us. So, with all that thinking done we finally decided on Ticino. Ticino is the Italian speaking part of Switzerland, offers beautiful scenery and, because they tend to speak Italian there, gives the impression of being abroad. Thanks to the internet we quickly found a dog friendly holiday house to rent in Caviano... so that was settled and off we went. For a short summary of the places we visit, take a look below. To view all the photos please take a look at the picture gallery at the bottom of the page, |
| Caviano Having only ever just passed through Ticino on the way to Italy it was to be our first real holiday in the canton. It was definitely a case of 'first time lucky'. Caviano is situated at the far end of the stretch of shore known as Gambarogno, just short of the Italian border. It offers stunning views over Lake Maggiore and I spent many relaxing hours enjoying the sparkling lights of Bressago opposite. The whole area is surrounded by Chestnut Trees, chestnuts apparently being an important source of income in days gone by. As a matter of interest I chose the brownish colour for this site because of the chestnuts :-) |
| Magadino The first tourist village entering the 'Riviera del Gambarogno' is Magadino. One of the few flat places big enough to boast an airfield it has a very nice nature reserve type place where the river Ticino flows into the lake... and a good Pizzeria! |
| St. Abbondio Having the dog with us, we always enjoyed a daily walk around Caviano and the neighbouring villages before driving further afield. Saint Abbondio is such a village, about half an hour away from our holiday house and accessible via a winding footpath. |
| Brissago and it's botanical garden island Brissago is a very pleasant little town on the opposite shore of the lake. We didn't spend to much time looking round, but from the quay we boarded a boat which took us to Brissago Island, “Isole di Brissago” as the locals say. The botanical gardens were created by the Russian wife of Richard Flemming, now I don't really know who he was, only that he was a member of the Anglo-Irish St. Leger family. Suffice to say our couple of hours stay on the island was very enjoyable and the coffee worked wonders. |
| Swiss Miniature – model village I don't suppose a trip to Ticino would be complete without visiting the Swiss Miniature in Melide. A fine collection of important, mostly historical, Swiss buildings interwoven with over three and a half kilometres of model railway all to scale 1:25 |
| Ascona Ascona is situated on the north west shore of the lake Maggiore and, at only 196 metres above sea level, is the lowest town in Switzerland. The old town is a maze of alleyways and little shops and leads down to the Piazza by the lakeside affording splendid lake views. |
| Locarno The Piazza Grande in Locarno is particularly well known for its open air concerts and international film festival which is held annually in August. We walked through the piazza and soaked up the atmosphere, then settled at one of the many cafés for a coffee and a rest. After another stroll we settled ourselves down in a lakeside café for a pizza... well actually it was a roadside café, but the road was next to the lake ;-) |
| Gerra On Friday the sun had a rest. It drizzled, but didn't stop us braving the elements. All week we had driven through Gerra, a village just down the road from Caviano, so we decided to pay it a visit. |
| Golino We went to this charming little village situated along the road from Locarno towards Centovali (famous for its railway from Locarno to Domodossola)on Friday afternoon. We visited friends there, and while the 'chef' got the barbeque going, we took a short tour of the village. The road bridge across the river Melezza has been renewed because the old one fell down a few years ago. - For those interested in my eating habits, the barbeque was fantastic :-) |
| Caviano early morning Saturday morning, time to return home. As always Merlin and I were both up bright and early to enjoy the tranquillity of the breaking day. This photo was taken just after six. Our strolls along this path at three in the morning were somewhat more adventurous though because, apart from the glow of my torch, this path was very dark and the hooting owls could have won an Oscar in a Dracula film. |
