Lovely meal in Locarno old town last night while we listened to the last performance of the music festival.
This morning we checked out of the hotel and headed south along the lake into Italy. Really good Sunday market at Cannobio.
It’s time to head north again so we cross the Simplon pass back into Switzerland. It’s been 40 years since I crossed the mountains by this route. Border post.
10 minutes by bus from Locarno is the classic lakeside resort of Ascona.
It’s quiet compared to Locarno with a pedestrianised promenade.
Lots of narrow back streets with little shops and galleries. We had ice cream for lunch. Ferries link all the towns and villages on the lake. Most of them are Italian. They carry cargo as well as people.
Lovely evening in Locarno last night. Super town with the exuberance of Italy and the grace of France. Of course the best part is that it’s Swiss, and everything just works.
Relaxing on a boat where we had dinner.
This morning we had a long bus ride to the Verzasca gorge. At the top of the valley is a lovely bridge.
And of course people are tempted to jump off.
Old hill villages line the gorge.
Stunning scenery.
The busses down the gorge are infrequent so we walk most of the way. In the distance is a dam.
And what a dam. This is the one that was used in the James Bond film Goldeneye. It’s hard to convey the scale.
Up early this morning as we’re off to Locarno for the weekend. It’s chilly and grey in Wengen, and as we drive south across the mountains the weather gets steadily worse with rain and fog. We stopped for lunch at the foot of the San Bernardino pass.
Huge pizzas.
About 20 kilometres from Locarno the weather suddenly changed. The sun came out and the temperature shot up to 30 degrees. By the time we’d checked in to our hotel and sat down for a beer it was 34 degrees and glorious sunshine. We’ve only driven about 150 kilometres and it feels like a different continent.
Today’s walk is pretty simple. Catch the train up to Scheidegg, walk to the top of the Lauberhorn, then continue down the other side to Wengernalp.
In winter the Lauberhorn is a huge playground for skiers. We can descend by any number of routes and modern ski lifts whisk us back to the top. In summer there’s no snow and therefore no lifts. Climbing the Lauberhorn is pretty strenuous. Eventually we reach the top.
The route down follows the world cup downhill course. Even the cows appreciate the views.
Here’s Val at the top of the Hundschopf. The ski run literally falls off a cliff here.
Eventually we reach Wengernalp and the sky begins to darken. The thunderstorm arrived just as we got home.
We met an American couple in the Tanne bar on Saturday evening. Their names are Boyd and Aimee and they’re on a tour of Switzerland to celebrate their wedding anniversary. We told them about the Monday night sing-along with Duo Centrale at the Sunstar and sure enough they turned up.
It transpired that they are professional musicians. Steve and Colin got some help therefore.
Today it’s really hot, and hot means thunderstorms in the afternoon. We confine our walking to a stroll through the forest above the village. A pause at John’s bench in the bird garden.
Sure enough we got a huge storm. Hailstones on our balcony.
Last night we had one of those sunsets when the mountains turn orange.
This morning we set off for Mürren to walk a path called the north face trail. Great views back to the village from Schiltgrat.
The path takes us high above the village before turning back on itself and returning us to the railway station.
There’s a parapente school here. Our teenage neighbour Kaspar is having lessons, much to his mum’s dismay.
Follow