Day 19: Locarno, Snails

View of the hills of Locarno.

Today I decided to take the train to Locarno, one of Switzerland's well known Ticino lake-side resorts. When most Americans consider Switzerland (if they do at all,) images spring to mind of St. Bernard dogs, yodelers, and immense quantities of cheese. Locarno, Lugano, and Ticino in general possess none of these qualities - the area is instead defined by palm trees, Italian scenery, and gelato shops and pizza joints.

There are, rest assured, just as many German tourists in knee shorts as in the rest of Switzerland. Locarno's status as a tourist hot-spot is nothing new: the city was hosting tourists as early as Roman times. The city was also the site of the Locarno Treaties, seven agreements negotiated during World War I to secure a territorial settlement and bring relations with Germany back to a state of normalcy. The city also hosts the world-famous International Film Festival, where the downtown Piazza Grande is turned into a glitzy movie theater. Sounds nice, doesn't it?



I hopped on the 9:00 train and was in Locarno in a mere half hour. I really love Europe's local trains - they're the aspect of the Continent I would most dearly love to bring to the USA. Having no car in the USA is a real pain in the ass most of the time, but in Europe, it's not a big deal at all. Of course there's the argument that the USA is frickin' enormous and new (in terms of development) and Europe is teeny-tiny and old and possesses much infrastructure - but still, c'mon, we're giving all this lip service to enviromental protection and reducing our reliance on oil. Public transportation would be swell.

Anyhow. I ended up hanging out by the lake side and drawing really terrible landscapes for a large portion of the day, watching old folks wander by. (Europe in June is full of old folks on holiday - people still working aren't on vacation yet). I finally roused myself to walk through the town, which was charming in a very Italian fashion, complete with a big ol' piazza. They were filming some sort of teenage show there, so I hung out and watched the production crew. It's hilarious how obvious it is that people in film and TV production think they are the most awesome people who have ever walked the earth, even if they are 50, pudgy, and balding.


Church in the old town of Locarno.

I walked up the hill and was treated to a great view of the lake and all the pastel-colored buildings and houses below.



There is also the Castello Visconteo, which I walked around but could not figure out how to enter. Needs more obvious labels for idiot tourists. Some speculate that the castle was actually designed by one Leonardo da Vinci, although this hasn't been proven yet.


A distressingly modernist downtown fountain.

Had lunch at a small pizza joint - just had my usual, salad with prosciutto and mozzarella. A warm summer rain began to came down as I ate, so I hung out under the veranda for a bit while I was done and drew the people around me. I like drawing people in public but am always afraid they will catch me looking at them, come over to see what exactly I am doing, and grow vastly offended at my rendering of them. Is this irrational?


An impressive snail. They get humongo in Switzerland.

I walked down the lake for a while, passing by various docks for expensive yachts and contempo condos - looked lovely. I ended up hanging out in a park below an old cathedral outside of town, listening to the waves and enjoying the warm weather. Thunderstorms rolled in over the mountains, however, so I decided to hop the train back to Bellinzona. Which I did: I ended up back in the village near where Daniel and Teresa lived in the middle of the rain. I walked to the nearby Migros (always helpful,) purchased a bright red umbrella and some cherries, then walked back up the hill. Another day in Southern Switzerland done.