Ticino - Switzerland with an Italian Flair

By Dave G. Houser

We are more than two hours by sturdy Swiss train south of St. Moritz. Four of us -- weary from several days of relentless conference sessions, the high altitude, and way too much rich food and drink - are anxious to reach our lakeside hotel near Lugano for some fun and relaxation.

There's been no way to relax so far. The early autumn scenery is simply too riveting as we sweep through verdant alpine valleys framed by snow-capped Alps, dotted with herds of contented dairy cows and dozens of little Heidi-like villages. We are literally on the edge of our seats. Until St. Gotthard Pass, that is, where we disappear into a tunnel which, since 1882, has provided the fastest and most reliable link between German-speaking Switzerland and The Ticino, the Italian-speaking part.

After ten minutes of darkness we emerge into the sparkling light of Ticino. I almost say Tuscany because that's much the way things look and feel in this sunny and southernmost of Switzerland's 26 cantons (the Swiss version of a county or province).

Consulting with Ticino Turismo, the canton's convention and visitors bureau, we've laid some loose plans for a long weekend in and around Lugano, the region's largest and most beautifully situated city. Strung around the Bay of Lugano between two mountains -Monte Br and Monte San Salvatore -the city has been compared in grandeur to Rio de Janeiro. Rio, however, is not what we are looking for and so we have chosen to stay in the chic lakeside village of Morcote, some 15 quiet minutes south of Lugano. Our lodging choice, Hotel Swiss Diamond Olivella, offers the latest in electronic amenities, a respected restaurant and a top-class health club and spa.

We'd come to find that it, like the rest of this place, would provide for our every need and desire with patented Swiss precision and efficiency -but with a distinctive Italian flair.

Italian is definitely the lingua franca of Ticino but many residents that we encounter as tourists, i.e., in shops, restaurants and museums, speak English and, for that matter, German as well. Many Germans and German-speaking Swiss own summer homes here and because they've caused a runup in the price of real estate, they are not as popular as most foreign visitors. Still, the ebullient Italian personality prevails and visitors of all origins are warmly received.

Lunch at the hotel's Ristorante Al Lago is our first order of business and as the starter, a pretty platter of prosciutto di Parma con melone di Cavaillon, is placed before us, we imagine we've arrived somewhere in the Mediterranean -a perception reinforced by the palm trees that shade our lakefront table. Salmon in a zucchini crust, followed by a luscious spumone makes for a delightful dining experience and a good case for a nap and late-afternoon swim and steam at the hotel spa.

At dusk we stroll a kilometer or so along the curvaceous waterfront promenade into the heart of Morcote. Lined with pastel villas and tile-roofed palacios from earlier centuries, many of them converted to upscale inns and restaurants, this place is as picturesque as -but a startling contrast to -the fairytale mountain villages seen that morning from the train. Switzerland's surprising diversity is already becoming apparent to us.

There's more to do in Morcote than first meets the eye. We return to explore exotic Parco Scherrer, a sprawling hillside park created in the 1930s by textile magnate Arthur Scherrer. A seasoned traveler and patron of the arts, Scherrer collected a number of large art works, including statuary, fountains and temples and placed them in thematic garden settings throughout the property. Scherrer's estate deeded the park to the town of Morcote in 1995 and on most days it is open to the public.

Climbing a few hundred steps farther up the hillside, we scan a panoramic view of Lake Lugano and have a look at the lovely 15^th century stone church of Santa Maria del Sasso. Several walking trails radiate from the fringes of Morcote, affording even more eye-popping views over the lake and across it to Italy. I should mention that Milano, Italy's famous center of fashion and design, is only about an hour's drive south of here. It was Milanese dukes, in fact, who founded Morcote and who built this church where we pause to catch our breath. More about the fascinating history of Ticino will be revealed tomorrow during our excursion to Bellinzona.

Our train from St. Moritz had made a brief stop in Bellinzona where we couldn't help but notice the fortifications for which the town is famous. Three massive fortified castles, built by the Milanese dukes Visconti and Sforza in the 13^th and 14^th centuries, still stand tall above Ticino's capital -an outpost of great strategic importance since Neolithic times because it controls the alpine passes linking the Italian peninsula to the rest of Europe. Opting to hire a guide for the day, we call Ticino Turismo which puts us in touch with Christa Branchi, a vivacious woman of middle age and some 20 years of experience as a local tour guide. Branchi organizes a minivan and driver and we are off to Bellinzona, some 30kms north of Lugano.

As we clamber along the crenelated walls of magnificent Castello di Montebello overlooking Bellinzona and the town's largest fortification, Castlegrande, it appears that an event of some magnitude is unfolding below. It is Ticino's largest and most popular Saturday market and it isn't long before we are shouldering our way through narrow lanes lined with produce stands and food stalls overflowing with the bounty of local farms, dairies and wineries. A brass band is making oompa-music on Piazza Collegiata as we pause for coffee and people-watching at a sidewalk café on the edge of the busy piazza. Before we finish, a group appears brandishing traditional alphorns, those slender, three-meter long woodwind instruments said to have been used originally to call in the cows. In concert, so to speak, four of the big horns produce some stirring sounds.

As Christa herds us into a stainless steel lift, installed in the thick stone wall of Castlegrande during its recent renovation, I can't help but think how medieval soldiers clad in heavy armor would have enjoyed this conveyance as they rushed to battle stations on the walls and towers above. Each of the castles house exhibits, meeting rooms and such but Castlegrande is the showcase among the town's fortifications, which in 2000 were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The castle's south wing features an excellent museum and an art gallery, while the adjoining arsenal has been converted into an ultra-mod restaurant.

Although seemingly impregnable under the Dukes of Milan, Bellinzona eventually fell to the armies of the Swiss Confederation who in 1503 reclaimed the Canton of Ticino. It has remained since as part of Switzerland but with a certain historic and cultural link to Italy. With some time to spare, Christa suggests we zip a few kilometers farther north along the N2 motorway to have a look at a pair of important early 12^th century Romanesque churches. We especially admire the well-preserved frescoes at San Nicolao Church in Giornico and at the church of San Pietro e Paolo in nearby Biasca.

We so enjoy Christa with her ceaseless wit and non-stop narrative that we arrange to continue our exploration of Ticino the following day with a visit to Lake Maggiore, a 45-minute drive northwest of Lugano, and the tony one-time fishing village of Ascona. We dodge raindrops as we sprint for the entrance of the Casa Anatta Museum on Monte Veritˆ above Ascona. Here, in the early 1900s, a colony of artists, writers and philosophers (psychoanalyst Karl Jung and writer Hermann Hesse among them) formed a Utopian-style community with the aim of becoming a European center of free thought, natural healing and alternative lifestyles, including nudism. The experiment flourished at first but ultimately failed. In the process, however, Ascona was discovered and soon became a favorite vacation spot for the well-to-do and a popular festival venue, hosting among others Europe's most important classical jazz festival during June and July.

We roam the intricate web of narrow lanes around the 16^th century church of SS. Pietro e Paolo and then dine lakefront on a regional specialty, risotto, liberally laced with fresh wild mushrooms. In the afternoon we board an excursion boat bound for the Brissago Islands, home to the Botanical Park of Ticino Canton. Between 1885 and 1928 the Baroness Antoinette Saint-Leger planted a botanical garden she envisioned as an earthy paradise and her successor, department store king Max Emden, continued her work, adding a neo-classical villa to the mix. Now a public park, and boasting the country's mildest climate, the gardens display an amazing variety of plants, from Himalayan cinnamon to an agave that's common to Mexico's Chihuahuan desert. Emden's former villa now serves as the park's administrative center and also features a cafe on the front veranda that serves up a devastating array of ice cream and pastries.

On our return to Lugano, we spiral up the mountainside above Locarno for a view of Lake Maggiori's principal city with its pretty piazzas and colorful gardens, and for a look at the dramatically situated church of Madonna del Sasso and its attendant Capuchin monastery, famous as a pilgrimage stop going back to 1480.