No snow at Bosco Gurin!!

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Geo: 46.1445, 8.72654

Some of the family slept until 8am, whilst Matthew and I got up at 6.30am to watch the sun rise over the Lago Maggiore. After breakfast, we arranged to meet Eurosia at her house,and travel together to Bosco Gurin, a town at the end of the Valle Maggia. Eurosia told us there would be no snow at Bosco Gurin, but maybe some up the mountains behind the town.

Well, if that was no snow, then bring it on - because we were delighted with the amount of the snow! We arrived, after a long drive (1 hour - we saw goats on the road with bells in their necks on the way!) at Bosco Gurin, to find the picturesque village covered in snow - about 20cm of snow on the roof of each house, and the ground covered in white. The village is at 1503m above sea level (we had driven up and up and up, hairpin bend after bend!!) and there, after laughing at the car completely covered with 75cm of snow, we bought chairlift tickets, and up we went. Both boys were nervous about the chairlift - I was only nervous as Rita had fallen getting off the chairlift here in 2010 - but were well on their way to conquering their fear by the time we reached Rossboda (the first stop) at 2000m. The wind had started, so the 0 degrees at the base quickly felt much colder! The views back to the Swiss Alps were incredible, and after a quick play in the snow and a few photos, we took the next chairlift to 2400m at Sonnenberg.

Wow! - the beauty and splendour of the Alps, lay before us, as we stood in the perfect sunshine (particularly good when you were out of the wind!). We were gob-smacked by the view, and by the cold too! We joined the skiers in the Rifugio Sonnenberg, a tiny little hut where skiers warm up with hot chocolates or prosecco, for a warm drink. Whilst we were there, the wind died down and it became even more beautiful!

Back to Rossboda, where there is a pizza restaurant (of course!). Pizza has quickly become our staple diet here - we've had 3 in 3 days! But the kids were busting to play in the snow, so, avoiding the skiers on piste, the kids threw snow, jumped in snow, climbed snow and ate snow. They had a ball! (OK, so did the grown-ups!)

The wind had taken Steven's "Indiana Jones" hat and blown it as he ascended, and we had assumed that it was gone for good, but "nato fortunato" Steven - some kids had found it on the mountain and it was returned to him!

Back down to Bosco Gurin, and we wandered around the little village. The people from this village (hundreds and hundred of years ago) came from Vallais, up over the mountains and in Suisse Interno, not up the valley from Ticino. So the dialect here is a curious mix of German and unintelligible to the Ticinese neighbours! Lots of wooden and stone houses, covered in snow - very pretty.

After another hot chocolate stop, we headed back to Ascona, where Eurosia had to collect her 17yo daughter, Raissa, at 5pm. Raissa is stunningly beautiful, and is working in a clothes shop, where she is paid to try on the clothes in the shop, and then sit and chat with girlfriends in the shop window, to advertise the clothes. She is very grown up for 17 - it is terrifying to think she is 4 years older than Georgia!!!! Eurosia quickly drove us back to Ronco, as she was singing in a choir concert at 5pm (and was late).

We decided that we couldn't get back up to Il Monte and back for dinner in one hour (or rather, would go up, sit down and have to turn around) so we popped in on Zio Romano (Teresa was at the concert) before dinner with Zio Marcello and Zia Gabriella. Marcello looks very much like his brother, Elio - his children see it too! Marcello came to Australia with Elio, and still has quite a lot of English, given that he hasn't practised it for nearly 55 years. Gabriella was the cook at the Ronco school, and is always an excellent cook - Matthew ate 4 plates of her tortellini then fell asleep on the couch! And, to make the family connections in this tiny village more complex, Zia Gabriella is the sister of Zio Luciano, who married Zia Natalina! When Tom also looked like he would fall asleep, we quickly made our goodbyes and were home and in bed by 8pm. Maybe we ARE jet lagged!

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Comments

[Louise]

It's so amazing to see you all in this setting, what a wonderful trip! You are so lucky to be able to give your family the wonderful gift of travel. We miss you a lot xx