We took the boat across Lake Maggiore from Locarno this morning, down the other side a little, then back to pretty, prosperous Ascona for lunch. Wonderful views of the lake and surrounding mountains. Excellent Caesar salad with grilled king prawns, local rosé wine and a pudding each. We took the same route back, then got a slowish train back to Bellinzona.
But you’d be disappointed if there weren’t some negatives to report. We had a violent storm again in the night, so when I finally got back to sleep around 05:00, it wasn’t helpful that the church bell a few doors down started clanging away at 06:30. Incidentally, we thought at first that the church clock was half an hour slow, until we realised that it rings a higher-pitched bell once for the half-hour, then reminds us half past what hour it is by ringing the hour again.
This morning’s journey was more of the same shit, though in slightly less magnitude. The train left Bellinzona late, having been delayed by people standing beside the line. It therefore decanted us to a local train at Tenero, which entailed a long walk to the underpass and a crowded shuffle up to the opposite platform. We presume that this was for the same reason that we were kicked off the train at Karlsruhe on Wednesday. Both were long-distance trains, and we imagine the operating companies wanted to get back on schedule for at least part of the return journey. Never mind the passengers: the schedule is king.
Talking of kings, we shall shortly be hearing from our new one. We won’t soon forget that we were resting in Bellinzona when we heard that the Queen had died, and we each shed the odd tear.
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