HeeHee, from one who gets up early every morning in July to watch the TdF, I totally get it. (Too bad Jan got ousted before the race.) It is a most colorful exhibition. I'm another fan of wonderful Bellinzona. A huge picture of the cathredral, I have to think it's Santa Maria della Grazie, hangs over my fireplace.

We are avid watchers of Le Tour (living in Austin, Texas, it's not a stretch!). A couple years ago we were fairly close (within a 2 hours' drive) of a town the race would be going through. Once within reach, we had to park 3 miles away, then walk. And as you say, we waited and waited, found a great pizza place for take-out and waited some more. The pre-race festivities are quite something.

Finally, the helicopters could be seen, and the great swoosh of the peloton - they were all bent over going mega miles an hour, but fortunately Lance was wearing yellow so we could pick him out. It was very exciting.

Loving this report!

Thanks, you all. As I headed back quickly toward the station after my live stage race experience, I noticed that the cafes were jammed with people watching the race on television. I won't be able to add to this till tomorrow. Please forgive delay. J.

Contd.: A little FYI here which has been mentioned before. Swiss trains in busy stations run like clockwork. An inter-regional train that you’re to catch at 16:43 probably arrives at the track within 30 seconds of that time. So be really cautious if a train pulls up at your track five minutes before that time, especially if you’re in the middle of a fast change and don’t have time to think because you’re too busy moving quickly. I almost slipped up this trip, and I think it was in Bellinzona. Five minutes before my train was to depart, a train arrived. I had pushed the button to open the door and was boarding when I glanced once more at the blue banner hanging near the track. It had another destination on it and a departure time five minutes before my own. The compulsion not to miss ones train is strong, so I could not bring myself to believe the sign. I asked an approaching railroad employee, and sure enough, it was heading to Lugano, not Locarno. No destination in the engine window, none on the sides of the cars. It pulled out, and a couple of minutes later mine pulled in. Trust those track banners. Just now my curiosity led me to my favorite SBB site, where you can click on the station name to see all trains passing through that station w/in a given length of time. I saw the Locarno and Lugano trains noted five minutes apart, but they were assigned different tracks. Not so the day of my perplexity. So there must have been some construction somewhere that necessitated the piggybacking.

The overcast skies gave the evening terrace views from the Panorama a whole different color palette. The charcoal clouds with gilded edges and the shimmery water (you know, little sparkley places among the dark), the boats all tucked up securely to their buoys. The colors of the tile roofs muted, the grape vines and rivella umbrellas being tested by the wind. I had arrived back with time enough to collapse in my room and regroup before facing my hosts and fellow diners. Good thing.

As I passed through the foyer, Hanni there to welcome, I could hear music coming from a small radio she has at the desk. She always turns it down immediately to engage in conversation, and I never remembered to inquire about the station. One time the program was opera and another time more like the sound of Al Di La, but not. (I have no reason to believe it was the same station each time, but I’d like to think so.) How old are you? If you’re somewhere around my age, you’ll remember the summer of Al Di La (I graduated from highschool that year.) Rome Adventure. I thought if I could be Suzanne Pleshette, the world would be my oyster. Now that I think about it, I believe Rome Adventure was the beginning of my devotion to European travel. I purchased a copy of “Europe on $5 a Day” that summer and wore it out, dreaming and planning. My first trip to Europe with two best friends didn’t come for another five years. We three innocents bought Eurrail passes and away we went. All we knew about European travel was that thick paperback. No itinerary, no reservations. I can remember that trip and those three silly young women and their misadventures just like it was yesterday. But that’s another story.

Supper Friday night was minestrone to begin (delicate, made my tastebuds sing), followed by a different take on the assorted salad with vinaigrette. Then felchen filets served with a bit of golden creamy sauce and risotto. Notice I have not written ‘cream sauce.’ I can make a cream sauce, and this was not it. It was incredible. (I don’t dine at fancy restaurants, so take my superlatives with a grain of salt; pardon the pun, it did not need salt, it didn’t need anything. Perfecto.) A glass of chilled, very dry white wine. Much later I asked Claudia (family sou chef) to tell me what gave the fish sauce its color and unidentifiable (for me) flavor. I guessed saffron—not having a clue what saffron tastes like but remembering that Axel had been experimenting with it some time ago--, nope, wrong season. She was running translations through her mind and came up with curry. Just then Axel came out of the kitchen (by this time, supper was long over and we were having this conversation in the foyer) and said no, no, no, it’s cumin. Mystery solved. We use cumin when we cook Mexican-inspired recipes, but this was different. Isn’t travel wonderful? Dessert. Almost forgot. It was the same basic plan with variations each of my half-board nights. This night the ice cream was vanilla, the fruit layer was rhubarb! The last time I came almost in contact with rhubarb (I wouldn’t touch it), I was a kid visiting northern relatives, and my grandmother was making some sort of warm stewed dessert with it. Axel’s was not purple, and it was very tasty. Again, real whipped cream on top with complimenting sprinkles – which looked like little seeds but turned out to be bitter chocolate.

This concludes the three planned days of my little trip. The two remaining days in Ticino were intended to be reserved for moseying and gazing, time to absorb sensations which will be held on reserve till needed. (I’m a great fan of those mental getaways where you calm yourself, close your eyes, and imagine yourself in a special place. Works for me every time.) If you thought the first three days were uneventful, well you haven’t seen anything yet. Tomorrow will begin with breakfast on the terrace, stretched out as long as I can without appearing slovenly, followed by a visit to Lugano (art museum talk ahead; don’t say I didn’t warn you) and maybe some time on the Panorama’s roof terrace. Or not; it gets really hot up there. If you come back, I’ll see you then. J.

Your trip report is just great; I would love to travel like this. Excellent writing. Have you been enough times to know how to do what you want to, or do you spend the rest of your time in trip planning?

hello jmw44 - it's such fun to follow your adventures in Switzerland, your love for the Ticino and your culinary and cultural explorations. As a child, I've spent many summer vacations in Ascona, learned to swim at the Lido and ended up with blisters on my thighs going by "pedal boat" to Isola Brissago. You make me downright homesick ;-)

Are you familiar with the Swiss radio station DRS? Go to www.drs.ch/drs1.html and click on web radio. On the toolbar you have several choices: DRS 1 plays contemporary pop music; DRS 2 plays classical music; DRS Musigwälle plays traditional Swiss music from 10 pm to midnight, e.g. With luck you might hear a "chorale ticinese"

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and discoveries with us. Your report is a treat!

Thanks, waggis. I'll check out that radio site. Carolyn, there are such long dry spells between my travel opportunities that I depend upon the conversations here to keep me going. I look in as often as I can to see who's traveling where, and I'm constantly copying and pasting information that I glean from swandav, schuler, ingo, and others. I'm always planning. My favorite website is the sbb. The Swiss rail and bus system is so dependable and so easy to use that the entire country is my comfort zone. My friends and I have always chosen small towns as our places to stay, and we've always settled in for four or five days at a time. When you do that, the town begins to feel like home. That is why, when I began to travel solo, I chose Gerra. I had already stayed at the Panorama twice before I ever got up the courage to go it alone. If that's what you mean by traveling like I do, then don't hesitate. Find a small place with b&b's or small hotels and good rail connections. (Rivaz, Cully, Lutry on Lac Leman; Brienz or Oberreid at the foot of the Oberland; or any of the other small places folks rave about here). Please join those of us who continue to return to Switzerland as often as we can, and God willing, have many more visits in our futures. J.

Hello jmw44 - have you ever visited the Basilica di Santa Maria del Monte outside of Varese, Italy? A Christian pilgrimage high up a hill, its 14 chapels are devoted to the mysteries of the Rosary, represented by lifesize statues and paintings. It was on our itinerary last March but we just never got there. The Travel Channel had a wonderful program on it which sparked my interest.

http://tinyurl.com/ek8uh

http://tinyurl.com/humnt

No, I never have, kopp. Thanks for the recommendation. One's to-see list can never be too long, and I'm never too disappointed when I don't get to every place on my itinerary, because it just gives me all the more reasons to return. Yes? I'm still working on my notes from my final two days in Ticino. Don't despair and don't expect too much. It's kind of downhill from here. (No pun intended, but Louisiana is really downhill.) J.

I’ve been following Nancynancy’s trip report with almost morbid fascination. The description of the rope courses which she posted 7/06, 11:23 is astounding. I keep thinking, OMG, OMG. I have vertigo just reading about it! There are several trip reports running right now which include Switzerland. No two are alike. What a marvelous country!

Day 4. Between Friday’s supper and Saturday’s breakfast buffet, there were the required hours of balcony. I bet I blink my eyes only a fourth as often in Switzerland as at home. I probably appear to be so stunned and still that folks who don’t know me might think I’m having one of those TIA’s. Saturday --crisp morning, great breakfast. Why don’t I ever make soft-boiled eggs at home? The yogurt I spoon out of a crock onto my muesli at the Panorama is milder than Albertsons’ Danon. And then I think, hark! Could this be crème fraiche? Philistine. Anyone know from similar experience? I know I could ask Patrizia or Hanni, but I ask them so many questions already. Two kinds of cheeses this morning, one Swiss, one French. Orange juice and coffee taste better on Panorama’s terrace.

I rode the Saturday 9:16 bus from the post office to Cadenazzo, and you know the rest. Lugano by 10:30, I think. At the foot of the little funicular that brings you downhill from Lugano’s station (free with swisspass), you are immediately enveloped in a cornucopia of food and flower scents. My nose always leads me toward the right into a very short, narrow pedestrian lane that is quite dark and makes a bend or two. I can’t tell you the name, and I can’t recognize it with any certainty on my Lugano map. It’s crowded with shoppers, vegetable and fruit stands, and those enticing displays of olives, sausages, and breads that the merchants arrange along the path because they know you won’t be able to resist. If you look beyond those, and I can’t seem to, the shop windows hold gorgeous salads and pastries. 10:30 in the morning! I confess, it’s the display of sausages and the one of olives that gets me every time. Can anything be more beautiful or smell so excruciatingly delicious?

I turned toward the sun-filled Piazza della Riforma with its flower-decked balconies on one side and the Municipal Hall (Palazzo Civico) on the other, and cut across a corner of the piazza heading in the direction of the tourist information office. The tourist office is a good one and faces the Via Albertolli. It’s just across from the beautiful promenade and the lake. There I picked up a map and checked to see if the hours for the Museo d’Arte Moderna (Villa Malpensata) were as I expected. (I had become a little insecure about museums and their scheduled hours.) There were other folks there receiving assistance of all kinds, and their enthusiastic plans made me want to do everything they were anticipating. Much talk of Gandria and Morcote, two of the gold stars in Lugano’s crown and two of my favorite photo opp villages in Switzerland. (Yes, someday I really do want to walk from Lugano to Gandria, or was it Castagnola to Gandria, schuler?) I toyed with the idea of visiting both the Moderne and the City Museum in the Villa Ciani, but decided to compliment one museum visit with a slow turn around the Parco Civico (very shady and gentile; you expect to see ladies with parasols and gentlemen with top hats), a walk along the promenade, some bench-sitting, followed by window shopping under the arcades of via Nassa and my own pilgrimage stop at the church that captured my heart on my first visit to Ticino, Santa Maria degli Angioli.

What is it about that church. It was originally a Franciscan monastery church (the monastery buildings are no longer there, replaced by a hotel), and its exterior is solid and unpretentious.

http://www.vitruvio.ch/arcgallery/gallery.php?id=1315

http://myswitzerland.igougo.com/phot....asp?ID=175027

The first two times I visited Santa Maria degli Angioli, I didn’t even give the exterior more than a glance. For someone who’s supposed to be observant, it usually takes me three or four visits before I can truthfully say that I’ve seen something. I seem to get jammed on one component and disregard other aspects. I read about them or see photographs of them later and think to myself, well I didn’t notice that, or that, or that. So in this case, I was infatuated with the frescos inside this quiet old church and only now am noticing how beautiful its architectural features are. I have included the above links, because my architectural vocabulary is fairly basic, and I don’t have the words to describe this building properly. (You’ve noticed that I say ‘niche’ a lot.) If you have time, read the excellent commentary in one of ticino-tourism’s “prospetti”. I’ll link it below. After all these years, I have finally seen the subtle contrast of textures, the stonework which frames the small rose window, the simple detailing under the eaves of the main aisle, and the sculptural quality of the exterior wall that holds the side altars. I shall show immense restraint and not get started on the nuances of color, which I have to admit are more noticeable in the photographs referenced above than they are in mid-day light. This humble church suffers from being crammed within the hustle and bustle of shopper-tourist paradise. There is no buffer to protect it except for its own thick walls. I wish I could be there very early in the morning before the city awakens, but that will never happen. And this, I suppose, is the one big drawback with staying out of town rather than in the thick of things.

http://www.ticino-tourism.ch/prospet...ntempla_gb.pdf.

The justifiably famous frescos by Bernardino Luini inside Santa Maria degli Angioli are considered to be Lugano’s treasure. The above link contains excellent discussion but not a good photograph of the Passion. I’ve been googling images for quite awhile, but I can’t find a photograph that has the right colors, includes the entire fresco, and is large enough for you to really see it. I hope you can find one. It’s magnificent. The church also houses a couple of other frescos by Luini, but I find that I can’t take my eyes off the rood screen. There is so much to see. It’s a visual masterpiece with main themes and subordinate plots, rich with detail, but restrained in palette and graceful in balance. The following link does contain an interesting quicktime view of the interior of this church.

http://vrm.vrway.com/projects/chiesa_degli_angioli/

I’ll stop here to post, and I’ll summarize my visit to Lugano’s museum of modern art later. It might be sacrilegious to write about my visit there in the same post as my pilgrimage to Mary of the Angels. Brace yourself. The reason for my trip to Villa Malpensata can be spelled out in one word, “Christo.” But my two hours there encompassed one of the biggest surprises of my trip. J.

Day 4, contd. I walked along the promenade to the Villa Malpensata which houses the Museo d’Arte Moderna of Lugano. That weekend marked the conclusion of the three-month retrospective of the works of Christo and Jeanne-Claude. I teach my students about the visual arts, so there was no question about it; I was obligated to see this exhibition. We knew that the art that brought Christo into our art history textbooks was about temporary transformation of structures and places for evocative import. That’s a fancy way of saying that I think Christo wrapped and draped and surrounded big stuff to trigger personal associations and emotions in the viewer. Or not. What I did not expect to find was such beauty. Besides a small selection of early small wrapped pieces, the retrospective included the drawings and collages Christo made at the proposal stage of each his large projects. The Gates, The Surrounded Islands, Running Fence, etc. Huge drawings and mixed-media pieces, let’s say four by eight feet. Some of the most stunning artworks I’ve ever seen. In his collages, he incorporated photographs of the site, topographic maps, fabric samples, pencil, crayon, and sometimes paint. His drawings are breathtaking. He layers crayon strokes of many hues which mix optically to suggest the play of light and shadow and breeze. If he learned to do that by studying the works of the Impressionists, he learned it well. Such richness of process and surface, such a convincing depiction of the proposed installation. The young docents (one in every room) were knowledgeable and enthusiastic. I enjoyed several lengthy conversations with them. They gave me the impression that they were happy to have a conversation rather than having to pace monotonously with eagle eye. You see? --I do interact with people occasionally. (smiley face) OK, I’ll stop.

I wandered a bit more, and then returned to Gerra. Sometimes I think I can enjoy the cosmopolitan ambience of Lugano because I know that at the end of the day, I’ll be back in the peace and quiet of Gambarogno. (There are other villages, by the way; how many years do I have remaining to discover them.) That night it rained while we sat on the terrace. Another transformation of colors. The Panorama has these great awnings that can be extended or rolled back. I have not mentioned them before, but they are red-orange, and they reflect their own warm shadows in the hot late afternoon light, and when it rains they provide shelter while their color turns maroon. I usually return to the United States reminded of the simple architectural ideas that folks in Europe incorporate into their residences and in this case small hotel. Things like the slatted rolling shutters and these excellent awnings, and those windows that open like casements or swing back from the bottom. If I take the time to search the web to find the correct terms here, this post will be three days late instead of two. I don’t have to do any research to know that the cost of such things would be beyond my budget. Back on the terrace in the rain. (Thank you, J, for abridging yet another description of your post-day out ritual, which today did include time for a teeny tiny nap.) The sounds. Rain on the palms, on the tile roofs, on the grapevines overhead. Breeze cooler than what comes out of my AC on a good day at home. Exhilarating. Colors, I already said colors. Everything sort of teal, charcoal, the deepest dullest violet. Eek, that sounds a little Martha Stewart, but maybe you can visualize. And when the rain stopped, all of the haze from the day was gone. The air was the clearest of my visit. Crystal.

Saturday night’s menu was startling. I’ve already made it clear that it has been several years since I was in Switzerland, and I’ve always known that Axel collects cookbooks and widens his repertoire season by season. But, friends, I thought I was in Texas. Spareribs from the grill, baked potato with sour cream and chives! (Tonight’s wonderful soup was cream of zucchini, followed by another pretty salad.) It was delicious, and I’ve never had spareribs in Texas, but you know what I mean. Here’s my question: Are meats from the grill a new European trend? Baked potato with sour cream and chives? Yummy, but it looks a little odd in a trip report, no? A cold Cardinal beer went well with the ribs, but I could have used about a dozen napkins. I might be getting my nights mixed up, but I think the parfait glass sweet had peach ice cream and fresh peaches that night.

Axel came out to sit awhile and visit. We spoke a little about business, “com ci com ca,” (correct my spelling), the rockslide and the closed highway to the north which resulted in some cancellations, about what Axel looks for when he has time for a roadtrip (vistas, water, mountains), about the aesthetic properties of a rainy evening in Gerra, about the Christo/Jeanne-Claude retrospective (Daughter Claudia likes modern art), and then I asked him if he had a suggestion for tomorrow. Hanni and Claudia brought out an exhibition catalog from a museum in Maccagno, a town farther down the road toward Luino. Axel’s computer told us it would be open on a Sunday. Maccagno is in Italy, but Hanni assured me that it was the Swiss rail train that would take me there, so the Swisspass was valid. Every trip should include at least one serendipitous destination, don’t you think? More when I can, J.

So lovely ... I'm absolutely transported!

Hi again jw,

wonderful trip report, I *love* your writing style! Please keep it coming!

Re meat on the grill - it has always been quite common in East Germany, even before the wall came down. Don't know about other countries, you might be right that it is a relatively new trend.

Day 5. Why is it that as I approach the end of my visit to Switzerland, I tend to pull back and lose momentum. (She has momentum?) Relaxing for me, mind-numbing for you. Still up with the sun just in case there is a detail I have not captured yet. If you’re thinking why doesn’t she bring a good camera, my photographs never live up to the memory. I do see some spectacular pictures linked to threads here. (Have you seen Lauren’s of Naxos and Paros? Oh my.) Well maybe next time.

A sweet slow morning, breakfast on the terrace. Hi Speedy, barely a nod in return, he’s off, rounds to make. Lower Gerra must be paradise for a cat. Such a variety of venues to leap to and from, and wonderful places to sit and be catlike. What a good idea. But first I’ll go for a walk below. This very small area between the road and the water baffles me with its layout. I am never correct when I think I know where I’ll end up. The paths (and there are only a few, perhaps only walked by those who live below) are very narrow and paved with flat stones. Wild flowers grow out of crevices. Roses here and there, bougainvillea, and the bluest of hydrangeas. Willows near the water. I may be wrong about the willows. They are not the weeping ones with which I’m familiar, but they’re at water’s edge and their foliage is very whispy and grayish green. Please tell me if you know. I try not to drive my hosts crazy with minutiae. At road level houses, stores, and flats are faced with stucco, but here I’m surrounded by natural stone, grey and cool and moist. This is probably one of those times when the eyes of the visitor romanticize the actuality.

I caught the Luino express and had glimpses of Ranzo, Dirinella, and my vision on the headland, Pino, as I passed by. I probably should never visit Pino, because it cannot possibly live up to its magical appearance at sunrise from a distance. In Maccagno, the station is an easy walk from the lake where the Civico Museo Parisi Valle is located. I followed Hanni’s directions, assisted by a tiny printout from Maporama. A couple of short blocks among pretty houses brought me to what I’ll call their river walk, a lovely raised paved path with landscaping. The river/creek has been modified with constructed waterfalls. As in Gerra, what looks like a creek to me may just be a crevice that the melting run-off from somewhere far away trickles to the lake. (?) I hear real church bells in the distance. That means that I think they were being played by human bellringers. At home everything is programmed or worse yet, recorded. As soon as I started walking along the path, I could see recreational areas on the other side, a park down at the lake end, and the museum. I’ll include another link here, because it has excellent photographs of this extraordinary building.

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/36d50/2462c/4/

The interior space of the museum is absolutely suited for the display of contemporary art. Moveable walls, high ceilings, wide expansive windows which not only provide natural light but bring the landscape into the museum space to compliment the art. Around the perimeter there is a plexiglass covered counter top under which are displayed smaller drawings, watercolors, prints, etc. The museum also contains glass cases holding a permanent collection of artifacts. My two favorites were very small pieces of pottery: a black covered container with a horse on top and a pitcher whose handle was an extraordinary (unidentifiable) animal. Both from about 6th c. B.C. The main exhibition at the time of my visit was the work of Sandro Negri, large lush, exuberant paintings, primarily landscapes. Very painterly (yucky artsy term) and expressionistic. Emotional responses to the Tuscan countryside (and other places as well). The brochure is written in Italian, but even I can tell that he was born in 1940 in Virgilio, Mantova. Anyway, I enjoyed myself immensely. The paintings I liked best were “Fronde di ginestre,” “Lirica fioritura,” and “Verso Casa.” I wish I had taken the time to write a few descriptive lines in my notebook. Which reminds me. The most vivid recollections of my trip are those about which I paused to write notes immediately, in the place. I had never done this in any of my previous trips, and I only wrote this way a few times on this trip. I’m going to have to develop this habit, though, especially if I continue to resist being a shutter-bug.

All I knew about Maccagno was this museum. Period. Since returning home, I’ve done some websearching and surprise, surprise, there were many faces of Maccagno to be discovered. Would that I had known. An image search came up with several interesting churches, a lovely lakeside neighborhood, and the knowledge that there is a Maccagno Inferiore and a Maccagno Superiore. Who knew? It’s on my to do in greater depth list for next time. Along with taking time to explore my other neighbors, San Nazzaro, Vira, and San Abbondio, in particular. In hindsight, I should have chosen one of those to add to my Sunday itinerary. Because I could not decide which one, I stayed on the train all the way to Locarno, and added to my city-moseying time there instead.

My last supper at the Panorama started with a creamy pumpkin soup. The piatte principiale (spelling?) was steak in the Tirolean style. (tomatoes, onions, etc.) Tasty and tender (with another Cardinal), it was served with an assortment of vegetables. Tonight’s parfait glass contained strawberries, I think, but because I was really beginning to get lazy with my notes, I cannot recall for sure. But earlier in my visit, I did borrow the official carte from Axel so I could tell you about a few of the items on offer to those not participating in half-board. A number of my fellow diners were drop-ins drawn by the cuisine and the view, and I enjoyed watching Hanni present their meals gracefully and dramatically from silver services. Ah, dining as theatre. I was not snoopy enough nor close enough to get the details, but my guess is that everything was terrific. So.

I copied specialties from the carte in Italian and German, and now I can’t quite read my handwriting.  One appears to be pork medallions with rosemary and (maybe) a delicate cream sauce. Another is a salt im boca of veal in the Roman style with tomatoes and mushrooms. Another seems to be veal sautéed in butter with mushrooms and cream sauce. Yet another, pork in lemon sauce with gnocchi in the Piedmont style. There are four or five fish dishes listed featuring felchen or egli from lago Maggiore. If you visit the Panorama and don’t see anything to match my descriptions, then one of two things has happened. As Axel cautioned me to remember, he changes his carte often. Or, maybe I just messed up with my translation. If that’s the case, you don’t know where you received such misinformation, ok? Day 6 will be my reluctant farewell to Gerra, my circuitous train trip to Bulach, and departure from the Zurich flughafen. Can you stand one more of these posts? J.

Good morning jmw44, yes we certainly can stand one more post from you, we will just be sorry when your trip is finished! I have been busy the last couple of days but I was able to catch up on your trip this morning. As usual your trip report is breathtaking!
Best regards.

A beautiful report JMW and I'm glad to see you survived the heat. Your food and scenery descriptions are great.

For the diehards. It was difficult for me to bring my last night in Gerra to an end. I remained awhile in the foyer talking with Hanni, Claudia, Patrizia, and Axel. Axel said “We’ll see you next year?” If wishes were horses, etc. We said our goodbyes, because usually only Patrizia hosts breakfast. Then when I went upstairs, I sat and sat watching the evening. I just could not shut down my senses. I don’t know how many hours of sleep I got that night; I felt that every minute sleeping would be a minute wasted. It was a restless night.

On my balcony by 5 a.m. Bittersweet. Promises to keep. (w/apologies to Mr. Frost). Do you feel that you must engrave every single nanosecond into your brain so it will be there to call back when you need it? I find Baroque art to be melodramatic, but I see that I can emote excessively myself. Mea culpa. Breakfast in the cool mist of the terrace. Say goodbye to room number 3. (I’ve mercifully excused you from the packing ritual, a part of which involves going through every receipt, brochure, label, and paper bag to decide which ones I can bare to leave behind. I always have a paperback mystery or two to leave with Claudia; this time I didn’t read a single page! Not one.) Bag packed, purse, straw hat, scarf.

Per influence of numerous fine dressers at Fodors, this was the first time I’ve brought a scarf along to wear nonchalantly in Locarno, Lugano, Lucerne, and on the Cisalpino. I never wear scarves and I think I invented this knot. Mine is a very soft cotton print scarf that my grandmother made for my grandfather maybe forty years ago. Shades of burgundy, olive, and beige. I don’t think he ever wore it. I found it a month ago in a drawer. My Nana sewed doll clothes, she baked bread and chocolate chip cookies, she planted a garden, she loved trains. So I wore the scarf and felt closer to both of my beloved grandparents than I had in years.

Patrizia and Claudia waved me off with come back soon, and I walked to the post office to catch the 9:16 bus to Cadenazzo. I say ‘catch the 9:16’, but I was in no danger of missing it, having left the Panorama at 9 a.m. I suppose I just wanted to get my departure over with. I sat on the wooden bench, gazed at the lake (I think there are only one or two crannies in Gerra from which you cannot see the lake), and watched folks loading up their cars across the street. Evidently, there are several rentals along the lake whose parking is on what I’ll call a parking ledge across from the post office. Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone approaching me, and when I looked, I realized that it was Hanni. I can’t tell you how that made me feel. Hanni does not speak a lot of English and often looks to Claudia or Axel to translate my words. But she and I both have aging parents, and I think maybe we are a sisterhood of a sort. That she would trouble herself to come to see me off touched my heart so that I could hardly speak. It was as though she understood the significance of my visit to the Panorama more than anyone else.

This was my plan: I was going to train to Bulach (my last night town of choice), drop off my bag, and then make a quick visit to Stein am Rhein. I had been there many years ago and was interested in seeing those fascinating painted buildings again. So Cadenazzo to Bellinzona, Bellinzona to Zurich, Zurich to Bulach, etc. I love trains. Good thing. Does the countryside change as quickly in the U.S. as it does in Switzerland? I suppose it could have something to do with the speed of the trains and the fact that the variations in terrain are condensed in this amazing small country. In the blink of an eye, you’re in serious mountains with crystal clear streams, huge boulders (Did they tumble recently as referenced in the news, or generations ago?), and those arched viaducts that seem to reach down into the center of the earth from the sky above and that I could never in a million years drive upon. Stone churches. Tunnels. Then window boxes begin to appear. And before I know it, we’re in Fluelen! Where did the hours go? (Nice train, by the way, sleek and smooth.) I remember when Fluelen was a couple of houses, a hotel, and a church. It’s bigger now but still has its nice boat dock and a train station and quite a pretty lake view, so it’s a possibility if you’re in the market for a place to stay farther south of Lucerne along the Urnersee. It has the advantage of being just a few minutes from Altdorf, a delightful little town (or used to be, I remind myself it’s been years), with a statue of William Tell and a wonderful church and cemetery, cuddled among dark green hillsides – I remember hearing the cowbells from the cemetery.

We passed Sisikon. Years ago I got off the lake boat there and walked up through streets of neat houses to the station. It still looks peaceful, and I think I would definitely consider it for a lake village base in central Switzerland. Through historic Schwyz and then a lengthy stop in Arth-Goldau. And that’s when I changed my plans. While we were sitting in the station, I remembered toying with the idea of riding the Voralpen-Express as I had numerous times when my friends and I spent a week on Zurichsee in the 80’s. The Voralpen is the line that runs from Arth to the Bodensee through beautiful rolling hills. So on the spur of the moment I hopped off the train and was soon riding across country toward Rapperswil. For those of you who are not addicted to Switzerland threads, this is schuler country. If you take a look at this webcam of Rothenthurm, you’ll have an idea of why I was tempted to make a return visit (albeit on the move).

http://camserver.mobotix.ch/showpics...undenID=638cam

The towns are larger now than they were in the eighties, and I was looking for a particular memory. Schuler, as odd as it may seem, I think the bucolic scene which enchanted me then is just on the Rothenthurm side of Sattel. Does it make sense that there wasn’t a station in sight but I remember distinctly sitting there for several minutes one cool misty morning? Maybe we were waiting for another train to pass by? If you’re riding from Rothenthurm to Arth, it will be on your left as you approach Sattel. The greenest of hillsides and a scattering of the most beautiful wooden farms. Right or wrong, it’s a lovely vista. When you have a minute, tell me more about Sattel. Smaller or larger than Rothenthurm? Residential/industrial? Actually, my map shows two Sattels. Back on track – Rothenthurm was bustling! (Webcams make everything look so still.) What are the words on the roof of the church?

I decided to save Stein am Rhein for another time. Stopped in Rapperswil to see how it has balanced aesthetics with tourism over the past twenty years. Well. I reminded myself that the impression one gets in the middle of the day is very different from that which you enjoy early mornings and evenings if you stay there. That’s a very important thing to remember, and it applies to all the European towns which have become popular destinations. Rapperswil has a compact, well-preserved, photogenic old section. However, it also has a big concrete tourist info/concert/festival venue smack at the harbor. If that indicates it is a ‘happening’ place, then I’ll need to scratch it off my list. There are a number of pretty hotels along the quai, and the tree-shaded walk that extends out into the busy boat-filled harbor is still nice. What are those trees with the big peeling bark? The hotel where we had a huge corner room for four with wc down the hall and shower IN the room now appears to belong to a chain (10 something?). That’s where I had my very first geschnetzelts mit rosti and thought I’d gone to heaven. Ah, well, twenty years is twenty years. I think Rapperswil is still a good base ‘small city’. I’ve just changed my requirements as the years have passed to ‘a place where nothing much happens at all.’

The train I caught an hour later continued through Zurich toward Bulach and beyond. I suppose the crowds in Rapperswil made me melancholy, because I was glad to wind down in Bulach, which doesn’t seem to be on many folks’ to-visit list. Their loss. Bulach has excellent rail and bus connections. The old buildings in its center have been meticulously restored and cared for. They are lovely.

http://www.photoatlas.com/pics02/pic...rland-022.html

http://www.buelach.ch/cgi-local/sfc....tadt/intro.htm

If you’ve got surfing time, stick with the second site, because it will show you an enchanting knot garden, and you’ll have a glimpse of my splurge last-night in Switzerland feeling sorry for yourself Zum Goldenen-Kopf, which is an historic building and a dandy place to spend a night if you’ve got some swiss francs left or if your visa will take one more hit. The hotel has its own website if you’re curious. Trains zip back and forth to Zurich every half hour and will take from 17 to 23 minutes depending upon which one you board. Best of both worlds. For about five minutes I considered checking in and then going back into the city to shop and eat. But the afternoon was hot and the fresh sheets on the big bed plus a tennis match on television were too tempting.

I’ll tack on a bit more (I know I said this would be the last post, but I didn’t take into account my side-trips down memory lane) later. This is too long for one post already. J.

Please DO tack on a bit more to your trip report, jmw. I don't want your trip to end either. Not only do you have an appreciative eye for the beauty in this world, but the gift to share your feelings and impressions with us in words that touched my heart.

waggis, you're being very kind, and such fortitude to still be with me after all this time. If you'd like to look at the zum goldenen's website it's

http://www.zum-goldenen-kopf.ch/

and in German only. You can see one of the rooms in the new wing. Mine was in the original building and a bit less expensive. There's also a menu, which I always enjoy seeing at hotel websites. I might as well mention for LLinda, calville, and others, that there is no AC. I'll conclude as soon as I can, and again, thank you for your very nice words. J.

jmw I had no idea that Bülach is such a lovely old town with beautiful half-timbered buildings. What a find. Thank you for the website "Zum Goldenen Kopf". I'm salivating after reading their menu!! I agree with you this was a lovely splurge
Alas, an analyst said on CNN today that the Swiss Franc will be gaining against the dollar. It will make everything so much more expensive

Did you see that Gottfried Keller (1819-1890) was supposedly inspired to write "Die Leute von Seldwyla" (The People of Seldwyla) while staying at the hotel? The book was published in 1856. He is required reading in our schools, I'm sure schuler can confirm this. Foremost Swiss German novelist, poet and short story writer. Amazon sells only one paperback in English: "Gottfried Keller: Stories (German Library). Even Goethe stayed at the inn "Zum Goldenen Kopf".
You mentioned the hustle and bustle in Rapperswil and Ascona, have you ever visited the Appenzell region?