I’d never heard of said mountain, but Martyn has been doing his research, and found that there is a rack railway up from Capolago to the summit. Cheap it is not, but at least our Swiss passes got us there for CHF34 each rather than the standard fare, which is double. The views on the way and from the top - some 1700m - are superb. Looking towards the Piemonte there was rather a lot of haze, but the views down to Lake Lugano, Lake Maggiore and the Alps were breathtaking. We found a bench near the summit and sat and had our lunch, watching the gliders and paragliders swooping around and climbing the thermals.
The Ticino is not a Canton we know well, and we have been enjoying, transport cock-ups notwithstanding, discovering it a little. Today Bellinzona held its market, which meant that we were awakened at 05:00 by a young woman erecting gazebos for her stalls just below our front windows. Our end of the market was largely cheap lurid clothes, knick-knacks and gewgaws, but along in the square there were some more traditional offerings: a chicken rotisserie, butchers and charcutiers and a rather revolting polenta machine. We’ve decided on minimal home cooking, so fought the temptation to stock up with goodies from the market.
Transport links worked pretty well: our train from Bellinzona was a few unexplained minutes late, but connected well enough with the mountain railway. We moved from our original seats on the way back to avoid a small but raucous hen party, but could not escape a rather loud group on the train out: only three or four of them, but all talking fortissimo and all at the same time. Italian stereotypes are detectable north of the border as well. That said, most of the conversations we overheard were in Swiss German. Fascinating country as ever.
No comments:
Post a Comment