They Speak Italian, Don't They?

It was on to the Ticino region of southern Switzerland, where we stayed in the town of Locarno, on the Lago Maggiore. Again, as you can see, we had great weather, quite a change from the north!


The lake crosses the border between Switzerland and Italy and it's less than an hour by boat to the village of Cannobio, where they hold a great Sunday market. Off we went. Italy (6).

The whole waterfront was covered with tented stalls selling everything: clothes, leather goods, shoes, handbags, flowers, the works. It being Italy, there's also a huge food section so here's your food porn:


After the market, we wandered around the town, like so many others in the area, perched on the side of the hill above the lake and very picturesque.


Returning to Locarno, we hiked up the side of the hill to a great view of the town with the Church of the Madonna del Sasso in the foreground.



The next day it was a little further south to Lugano, also on a lake, and a visit to the American School in Switzerland, Cathy Jo's high school. Much had changed in 35 years. The enrollment has greatly increased with the addition of an elementary and junior high program and, with that, the need for more facilities that eliminated much of the open space on the campus.
Also, the area, known as the Colina d'Oro (Hill of Gold) had become a very popular residential area, with villas now filling up what was open. We did find a nice place to have our picnic lunch, however.


But remember Alsace, that famous French wine region?
Saverne was calling our name and we had to return.