Welcome to Bellinzona, which is the capital of Ticino, Switzerland’s southernmost and only predominantly Italian-speaking canton. Its importance derives from its pivotal role in ensuring the Swiss Confederation took all this land south of the alps away from various Italian ducal cities which had claimed it.
Yes, it’s not coincidence that Switzerland has this large canton almost entirely south of the alps whose sole official language is Italian: three key central-Swiss cantons and founders of the Old Swiss Confederacy back in the 14-1500’s each built a castle strategically positioned to both protect the Gotthard pass – it’s north and east of the mountains on the far side just above and has since history began been the main pass through the alps – and to secure claim to the lands that are now Ticino. Turns out at one point they’d conquered land all the way down to Domodossola, which was the one place they were required to give back in the Peace of 1516. Who know the Swiss were once so expansionist?
This photo immediately above shows you Castello di Sasso Corbaro at the top, seen through the crenelations on a turret of Castello di Montebello. We shared a glimpse of Sasso Corbaro in an earlier post, taken as I hiked up the other (western) side earlier this day, before walking and bushwhacking back down the east side to get to Montebello. (All of this was necessary because construction was blocking access to the main foot path from town up to this one.) The top picture shows you Castelgrande, the only one I didn’t get to, because after the bushwhacking etc. between these two castles, I chose the Tibetan hanging bridge at sunset instead, as noted in a prior post more than two months ago … in which I promised both to show & tell you more about Bellinzona (promise now fulfilled), and show you the Tibetan hanging bridge (promise still outstanding). The first photo in the gallery below should be showing you both Montebello (closer) and Castelgrande (farther) as seen from Sasso Corbaro. Enjoy these views of the most historically important of Ticino’s lovely cities.
We’re in the hills above Bellinzona, walking toward Castello di Sasso Corbaro, which you can see at the top. It’s one of the three castles guarding three key passes into this valley which gives access to Lake Lugano, into which this stream above and below will flow. (More about all that, quite soon.) Below, you’re looking pretty much west to where you can just make out Lago Maggiore’s northeasternmost arm.
Schaffhausen’s pre-Christmas town center at dusk. That’s me drinking my first-ever mulled white wine in the town square with that … interesting … fountain. The Rhine Falls (Rheinfall) visit and this short exploration of Schaffhausen city center were all a wee excursion out from Zurich where’d I’d dropped my luggage in a locker upon arrival, so as to make use of the last daylight before returning to Zurich later that evening. (Btw just tap or click on any photo that the automatic gallery has cropped if you want to see all of it, e.g. all of my face but they’re all auto-cropped, rather annoyingly tbh.)
Taking this photo early last Saturday caused me to be late enough (= 3 minutes) for that morning’s yoga class that the teacher scowled at me a bit and I felt guilty. But the frost on the railing of this foot / bike bridge caught my attention as another possible image for the water series we launched yesterday. But though I’ve shown you this windmill and canal already twice before, I like how this image came out so much that I’ve decided to post it now as my first blog photo actually taken in 2025. The foot / bike bridge, as you might see from the photo, also descends a good meter or two from its southern to its northern side, and zig-zags a bit.
I was delighted enough with the way this photo captured the water from this downtown-Locarno fountain that I decided we’ll try yet another new series, and I’ve been pondering what to name it in the months since I first took this image. Living water? Moving water? It’s Alive? Almost went with the last, but it sounds too much like a horror film. Vote your pick below, if you wish. I did promise a few new things in this new year, and unlike a few politicians I’ve experienced, I tend to keep promises 🙂
Just a few of Sigmar Polke’s remarkable 2009 windows in what was apparently the birthplace of the Swiss-German reformation, Zurich’s Grossmünster. New year, another new series which smw, slt certainly hopes hope you’ll enjoy. Much love to Andre for ensuring I saw these :-).
I’ve held onto this shot, like those lovely sunset shots of the Concertgebouw in the last post, since I took them in October pre-Paris / Switzerland trip so that could remind myself now that indeed the sun does shine in Amsterdam, and when it does the city’s lovely :-).
(so much world, so little time....) 