Blogs from Locarno, South-East, Switzerland, Europe

Seit über eineinhalb Jahren, endlich wieder mal auf Achse. Coronabedingt fielen unsere geplanten Reisen 2020 alle ins Wasser, respektive dem Virus zum Opfer. Verreisen mit Auflagen; wie vorlegen eines negativen Coronatests, Quarantäne, oder Maskenpflicht im Freie und geschlossene Restaurants, schreckten uns vom Verreisen ab und wahrscheinlich nicht nur uns verging die Lust am Reisen. Doch nun zieht ja langsam wieder eine gewisse Normalität in der Schweiz ein. Die Maskenpflicht im Freien ist aufgehoben und die Restaurants sind wieder geöffnet. Masken müssen nur noch in den Innenräumen der Geschäfte getragen werden. Darum buchten wir für eine Woche ein Hotelzimmer in Locarno. Am Sonnag fuhren wir via Gotthardtunnel ins Tessin. Die Fahrt war entspannt da relativ wenig Verkehr herrschte. An der Axsenstrasse legten wir bei der „Tellsplatte„ einen Kaffeehalt, mit einem leckeren Mandelgipfel ei... read more

Bonjour à tous, Hier au soir j'ai encore souper à l'italienne. Gnocchi, viande, dessert, il ne va pas falloir que je traine trop dans le coin si non je vais vite reprendre les kilos. Le resto de l'hôtel, ils ont du faire peut être mille couverts, un terrasse d'environ 200 places, sous une belle tonnelle. J'ai eu la chance d'être servi, par une fille, en plus petite, bien que je ne connaisse pas l'originale, Monica Bellucci. J'ai tenter je ne sais combien de fois de faire une photo, impossible tellement elle ne tenait pas en place. Avec le manque de lumière les photos était floues à chaque fois. Lorsque j'ai fermé les volets vers 23h la ville grouillait de monde. Pour aujourd'hui la visite des chantiers Riva, ça n'a pas marché. La patronne a téléphoné hier ... read more

The original stimulus for our wonderful trip to Europe was for Madalyn to attend a special Dream Tending workshop at a location known for Karl Jung and other notables to meet and discuss advanced concepts, both in psychology and other fields. The developer of the Dream Tending concept, and founder/president of Pacifica University, has previously been included in such discussions in recent times, and he wanted to offer it to his students whom he sees in retreats in Montana. Gary did not attend this workshop, but rather used the time to explore some of the surroundings. Ascona is at the northern end of Lake Maggiore, a short distance from the Italian border. It is in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland, and most of their tourists come from northern Switzerland or Germany. As such, German and ... read more

From Merano in Italy to Locarno in Switzerland 22 October 2013 Of the 400kms we drove on the 22/10, it rained most of the way – a good day for travelling – with the car heater on!. It was about 14-16 degrees. From Merano, we drove south, back to Bolzano, through Trento, down the eastern side of Lake Garda, then headed west towards Milano. This was the 3rd time we had driven along this last stretch of road. Before heading west, we had been driving through vineyards, apple & citrus orchards and later, dairy farms and broad acre farming (although paddocks were small in comparison to those in Aust). We travelled on motorways most of the day. Lunago is in the Ticino region and is the most southerly part of the country. It felt more like ... read more

The next morning, the guys are only working half a day before we head back towards Geneva, so I set out on foot (much safer) to find the town by the lake called Ascona. There are about four towns that all seem to converge at the lake. One thing about this area, is that you're so close to Italy, but you're in Switzerland so French and Italian are both spoken everywhere and you're also close enough to Germany to have vacationers there, so you hear plenty of German as well. Now I've gotten slightly beyond the salutations of either French or Italian, but you throw German in the mix and no idea of what to say to whom, and I just pretty much smiled and a little head nod and that's the best I could manage! ... read more