Ticino

Our time in Switzerland is almost over, but we managed one last trip out of Lausanne.

We had yet to visit the Ticino, the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, near the Italian border, so off we went!

We took a five hour train ride from Lausanne to Locarno, a town on Lake Maggiore.

In Locarno's main square

Locarno is a cute town and was dressed up in its Christmas finery.   It was decked out in lights and decorations, and it had a small Christmas market.  There was even an ice skating rink set up on the town square.  So we did a little skating (except for Mark, who didn't want to risk injury, and, anyway, someone had to take pictures and drink vin chaude).

While this was fun, the main purpose of our visit was to see Bellinzona, the dramatic site of three medieval castles.  These castles are built high on rocky cliffs that overlook the valley and town below. Of all the castles we've been to on this adventure (now 12, in case you lost count) Bellinzona's castles provided the clearest and most dramatic example of a how a castle and its fortifications could dominate and protect an area.

Bellinzona was originally under the Milano regime, and these castles were built to keep out invaders from the north and to control trade through the valley.  The castles and their walls formed (and still form) a connected defensive system stretching across the entire (rather narrow, at this point) valley.  The Swiss eventually took control, though, which is why this region is now part of Switzerland rather than Italy.

Mark and the boys at Bellinzona's Castlegrande

Matthew running down one of the rampart walls

Christopher and Matthew in the tunnel below the rampart walls

Boys at Castlegrande

View from one of the towers at Castlegrande  That's me at the door to the other tower.

At Castello di Montebello

Seeing the castles was the main objective of our visit,  but we also strolled through and had lunch in Bellinzona's town center.  Like Locarno, it was decorated for the holiday.

In Bellinzona's main square

Speaking of Christmas decorations, it's interesting that municipal buildings and town squares are way more decorated than in the U.S., but private houses are way less decorated than in the states.  Maybe that illustrates a more general difference between Swiss and U.S. culture and society.

While in Ticino we rode trains run by their local transit authority.  On our way out of town, Christopher and Matthew wanted a picture of them with the transit authority's initials.  We're not sure why.

Arrivederci Ticino!