Locarno, Ascona, and Bellinzona (5/1/1982)

Saturday, May 1, 1982

Train day pass

Took the 8:20 train to Olten and a bunch of school girls got on. I thought it was funny that they still had school on this half-day holiday for Tag der Arbeit/“Labour Day.” For some reason they each shook my hand as they got off at their respective stations. Arrived in Olten at 9:05 and went to check information about train passes. A General Pass now costs 1700 CHF/$850 and an Elite Pass costs 325 CHF/$162.50 per year. Saw a demonstration for a 40-hour work week.
I caught the 9:28 train headed for Milano. Just the fact that the destination is in Italy seems to slow the trains down! This train was 5 minutes late as usual. I got on the cars designated for Locarno and they were crowded because the smoking cars were locked. It was cloudy, but on the other side of the Gotthard tunnel it was sunny! They were constructing a super Autobahn that ran along the hillside or tunneling through the edge of a mountain. More often the road was suspended in air, sitting on immensely tall columns. They build out from the column-like abutments until the ends from a pair of columns meet.

Everything seemed brighter and greener here down south. The Swiss chocolate brown cows here had long horns! Old buildings were made of stone with stone roofs. In Bellinzona our cars were shuttled from one end of the train to the other. You could see a castle up on a hill. When we left the town, the train passed through a town wall that connects the three castles of Bellinzona. Arrived in Locarno at 13:15. I headed first to the funicular station, passing cafés set in arcades. Bought a round-trip ticket for 4 CHF/$2 to Madonna del Sasso.

Funicular ticket

The cable car was unusual in that you did not enter each row from the sides, but from an aisle down the center; this aisle had steps to accommodate the slope.

Funicular

Left at 13:30, heading uphill past elegant hotels and flowering bushes such as camellias, wisteria, and magnolias. At the top, I walked farther uphill to get a view down on the Basilica Madonna del Sasso/Madonna of the Rock (1487).

Madonna del Sasso and Lago Maggiore

Basilica Madonna del Sasso

Entered the santuario/sanctuary complex and saw a chapel with life-size terra cotta figures attributed to Francesco Silva (early 17C) depicting the Last Supper. Another chapel had the three crosses of Calvary and another looked like the First Pentecost with the Holy Spirit (sculptures attributed to Silva ca. 1625-50). Offering or votive candles were lined up outside the convent. The church courtyard had a wonderful view down on the city and Lago Maggiore/Great Lake. The church itself was small with oil paintings and wooden sculptures. Outside the azaleas and rhododendrons were in late bloom. I also saw the aerial cable car that takes you farther up the mountain.

Cardada aerial cable car

Signs in this area are strictly in Italian, but the people can also speak Swiss German.
Took the funicular back into Locarno, a tourist resort with its boutiques and gift shops along the pedestrian shopping street. Crossed a park with colorful flowers and palm trees and walked along the lake.

Colorful flowers

It felt like being in the Mediterranean Riviera! Turned right on Via Bramantino to find myself in Piazza Pedrazzini with a fountain surrounded by palm trees, which had been trimmed, but were “bearded “ with a fuzzy brown moss at the tops.

Piazza Pedrazzini

Turning right on Via della Pace, passed the Palazzo Pretura, where the Disarmament Conference of 1925 was held, now the cantonal police headquarters. Left on Via Luini to Castello Visconteo (13C).

Castello Visconteo

I followed bike trail signs to Ascona, shedding my sweater as I got warmer. It seemed I was making a lot of turns, sometimes without the benefit of signs, so I lost my sense of direction. I was out in the suburbs and crossed a stream you could have waded across today. But the dikes made it appear that it could flood quite deep. I passed an airport and modern houses, coming to a busy road that I took into the town of Ascona. I was looking for a particular tower that is always shown in posters of this area. The section I was in was getting touristy with hotels and restaurants, and the streets were full of people. Passed some nice villas with manicured lawns. Arrived at the old town and the lakefront with a palm-lined quai crowded with outdoor cafés. Side streets off the quai gave me glimpses of a bell tower (Chiesa Parrocchiale dei Santi Pietro e Paolo Campanile/Parish Church of SS Peter and Paul bell tower) and stone roofs, but not what I was looking for.

Parish Church of SS Peter and Paul bell tower

Narrow street

I later found out that the tower is located in a town called Ronco sopra Ascona. As I wandered through the old town, I was getting a lot of whistles and “ciaos,” something I have not missed from Italy.

Bought a full price ticket for the boat at 3.80 CHF/$2 and waited for the 15:15 boat, even though it was 15:45.

Boat ticket

At 15:50, a hydrofoil came zipping across the lake. This was the 15:30 fast boat to Locarno for which you needed a special ticket. I had to wait for the 15:55 regular boat to board with the regular people. While the hydrofoil took 10 minutes to reach Locarno, our boat took a half hour. Lago Maggiore was full of sailboats and windsurfers, and there were a few sunbathers on the beaches. In Locarno I went to the train station for the 16:44 train to Bellinzona, arriving at 17:10. Took a walk past the 50 or so loiterers down the tree-lined main street towards the three castles of Bellinzona. I could see the Castelgrande/Castello Uri on a hilltop to the right, and Sasso Corbaro/Castello Unterwalden on a higher hilltop to the left.

On its own hill, but lower was Montebello/Castello Schwyz. The castles are connected by the Murata/City Wall.

Murata/City Wall

Castello Schwyz

I had to turn around and head back to the train station to catch the 17:37 train towards Basel. This was a holiday and Sundays scheduled train, and I assume it was running because it was Labor Day. However, when I wanted to change in Luzern to the 20:23 holiday train to Bern, it was not running. So I hopped back on the train to Basel. I changed in Olten for the 21:17 train to Biel (here, too, the holiday train was not running).
Someone was playing a recorder for the passengers’ entertainment. Arrived in Biel at 22:30.
Today was about the farthest I have traveled in Switzerland to be able to return the same day.