Weekend in Ticino

Friday afternoon, on our way to South, we stopped in Bellinzona, the capital of Ticino, which acts as a gateway to the Italian part of Switzerland. The skyline of the town is powered by 3 fortifications, well-preserved medieval castles which are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

After a short hiking up to the castles, we continued our way to Lake Maggiore, where we visited the popular holiday destinations of Locarno and Ascona. We spent the night in a camping with a wonderful view on the charming, sunny bay of the Lake.

(The Promenade in Ascona)

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Next day we visited the Verzasca Valley, one of the most fascinating ones in Ticino. The Verzasca dam at the entrance to the valley is where James Bond once jumped 220m attached to no more than a rubber rope and where one can experience the "007 Bungee Jump" which lasts exactly 71/2 seconds… you can find a short movie on a real bungee jumping (and some photos) here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/gulliver.gyenge/VerzascaDamValley

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Then we spent the rest of the day in Lugano, the largest town in the holiday region of Ticino. With Mediterranean flair, Lugano offers all the advantages of a world-class city, combined with the flavor of a small town.

(Greetings from the Lugano lake)

A Voyage to Lilliput

On our way back from Turkey, we “adopted” an Easy-Jet teddy bear called Gulliver, who will join us on our journeys and hopefully win some flight tickets for us ;-)

This weekend we spent altogether in the Italian part of Switzerland. After a scenic drive through the Gotthard Pass (over 2000 meters) and a short stop at Verzasca Dam (the highest bungee jumping place in the world) we visited Lugano, which is a typical Mediterranean-style town, very similar to the little Croatian towns along the coast.

(View from the top of the Gotthard Pass)

After spending the night in a camping by the Lake of Lugano, we started our journey in “Lilliput”, the Swiss Miniatur Park located nearby. It’s been an amazing experience, there are over 120 models of famous buildings (castles, cathedrals, town halls…) from all over the country, all placed in a very realistic-looking scenery: some of them at river- or lake-sides, others in the neighborhood of the Swiss Alps.
(Bundeshaus in Bern)

In this park, everything seems to be in a continuous motion: 18 railway models (running around on more then 3500 meters of rails), funiculars, rack-railways, cable-cars and boats - just like in reality!
More pics on the Gotthard Pass, Verzasca Dam & Lugano and theSwissminiatur Park.

Weekend in Locarno

So, last weekend my parents visited us here in Zurich. After a busy Saturday with several invitations here and there, we had a long trip to Locarno. The train trip itself was also very special since the train passes by some magnificent mountains through nice valleys and the high peaks of the Alps. A different world is revealed when the train goes out on the southern end of the Gotthard tunnel, the scenery is different, the weather, the people and the architecture. Locarno turned out to be a very nice town, with a typical Mediterranean style. We spent some very nice hours here until about sunset when we headed back to Zurich.



More pics