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Published: June 14th 2017
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Geo: 46.1445, 8.72654
It wasn't raining (somewhat unusual for this part of our holiday!), but the weather wasn't good enough for us to go to cousin Daniele's holiday house in the mountains, which was very disappointing but hardly unexpected given the weather of the last few days.
Wonderful Marguerite, who we have known for some time and who originally was introduced through Daniele, had offered us a "wet weather plan", inviting us for fondue at her home for lunch. We had last seen her when she spent Christmas with us in 2007, and it is always wonderful to talk with her.
So, in the morning, we went to Locarno to have a wander around another pretty Ticino town. Locarno has a castle, with part of it designed by Leonardo da Vinci, and ruins of the Roman town (preserved under the modern traffic roundabout), as well as lovely shops, so we had no trouble spending an hour or two.
So off to Marguerite's home at Losone. She had made a lovely traditional fondue, with 3 types of cheeses (gruyere, emmental and something else) melted with white wine and a little kirsh. Steven and I enjoyed dipping our bread into the warm melted cheese,
but the kids found the cheese too strong for their tastes. After lunch, we went to the house of Marguerite's son, Patrick and his wife Martine – they have 10yo twins, and the girl (Mia) was home and played with our kids on their very large trampoline. Not surprising that they have such a large trampoline – Patrick is a former Olympian (decathalon, Los Angeles 1984) and is now working with the Swiss Olympic team in sports medicine administration, and also works as a gymnastic coach. They are all lovely people, and it was so nice to spend the afternoon with them, and catching up with Marguerite.
We were then meant to catch up with Rita and Elio, but as they were still in Ronco, we took advantage of the afternoon of sunshine and headed to Bosco Guerin. This is a little village at the end of the Valle Maggia, where the original settlers were slightly more Germanic and the houses reflect this heritage in a more traditional Swiss/German look (more wooden houses, rather than stone). The drive was lovely, though windy at some points, and we watched the river (an amazing light blue/green colour, and so clear), racing down
the valley, the millions of pounding waterfalls and the snowcapped mountains. I particularly love the little villages clinging to the sides of mountains – they are so picturesque, but I cannot imagine the isolation that they have suffered in years gone by. When we got to Bosco Guerin, there was a wonderful surprise – there is still lots of snow, particularly over the little bridge to the snowfields, and the kids had another opportunity to play in the snow, whilst the weather was fairly warm (10 degrees, which IS warm when you are in the snow!) It was great! Then home to Nonno and Nonna, who had prepared dinner for us all together (a premature Mother's Day!), before they go to Italy to visit another cousin of Nonno's tomorrow.
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J&E
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photos are wonderful, how many experiences you all have to tell us more about on your returnour love J&E