Hannah’s in Switzerland
Hey Michael,
Below is an email from my youngest Hannah that I would like you to share with the blog. You may recall she is over in Lugano Switzerland looking at her first choice school, Franklin College. She’ll be joined by her boyfriend Willy on Thursday and they will continue on to tour Italy. They will start their travels by overnight train to Naples, then on to Venice, Rome and Florence. They are really being quite money-smart about it by sleeping mostly on trains and in hostels preferring to spend their money on good food and sightseeing. I’m very proud of her travel spirit!
I’ll keep you posted as her tour progresses!
Jen’nifer
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Ciao tutti!
Sono in Svizzera!
Today I went to a town called Benzona and visited three castles there. I think these pictures represent a sampling of all three, but my battery began to die part way through so the first castle is more photographed. There was about a mile straight uphill between all the castles, even taking short cuts. The short cuts were these paths that went between the zig zags of the road, and ended up getting me into a slightly precarious situation.
From the third castle getting back to the Statione, I saw a particularly untraveled path that looked suspiciously awesome and decided to try my luck. In a matter of moments I was lost, standing in the woods next to a chain linked fence protecting someone’s yard and a makeshift grape yard. I stopped to look at the map I picked up at information which conveniently showed me roads and not this untraveled path I was attempting to get myself off of. While studying the decidedly useless map, I glanced at the fence only to find that it was now the only thing separating me from a very large, unfriendly pooch. After a combination of running and tumbling down the hill, I found myself on an identifiable road and managed my way back to civilization, where the only animal I had to worry about was the bird I shared my lunch with. (No really, a bird sat on my table and ate from my bread while I munched the spaghetti!)
I hope you are all having as much fun as I am!
Hannah
Way to go, Hannah! My Swiss cousins grew up near Lugano … I imagine that might be useful, let me know.
Comment by jennifer — April 15, 2008 @ 6:17 pm
I love this. Thanks for offering up your second born, Jen.
Now, as regards that last line: I’m looking deep into my crystal ball and I’m gonna say, no, not your mom, nor your sister nor any of the faithful blog readers, with the possible exception of rakkity, is having as much fun as you.
Comment by michael — April 15, 2008 @ 8:33 pm
Thanks Jennifer. Any advice you can give would be great. She’s only there one more day though.
And don’t you just love the line, “I saw a particularly untraveled path that looked suspiciously awesome and decided to try my luck.” Suspiciously awesome. That is how I want to make all my decisions. How cool is that???
Comment by Jen — April 15, 2008 @ 8:43 pm
Hi Hannah! That’s a lovely picture of the battlements and the snow-covered Alps! It brings back memories to me — that town is Bellanzona (or something like that with a double-l in it). I’ve been there twice, and Beth and our kids & I hiked up to that castle in the evening. (But we didn’t go on any adventurous hikes.) Did you see any of the palm trees (!) that grow in that town? Being in the Italian part of Switzerland, it shares much of Italy’s climate, wines, and culture.
Comment by rakkity — April 15, 2008 @ 8:56 pm
I was thinking more long term, like if she ended up at Franklin. Because I don’t know/remember* anything, and being in touch with that branch of the family is a little challenging these days. But my sister will see them early this summer; I could get a question answered.
*We visited them in–I want to say Tichino–when I was about 13. They lived in a old monastery which I thought was very beautiful. I learned to like mushrooms because we spent a morning picking morels and my aunt made a risotto and I didn’t want my oh-so-sophisticated cousin (she spoke 3 languages!) to think I wasn’t (sophisticated). (My mother pretty much blew it by asking in utter amazement when she served the risotto whether I wanted her to avoid the mushrooms, but I did like it very much.) We also drove around to see the structures designed by Le Corbusier because my uncle was an architect and admirer. So I could tell Hannah that there is a very famous Le Corbusier-designed church in driving distance from Lugano–like that’s helpful. Rakkity’s new eyePhone will likely be more useful, sooner.
Comment by jennifer — April 15, 2008 @ 10:21 pm
Hannah called me from Milan today. She is blown away by this town. She called from a cafe in the middle of a square built up around a monster cathedral that took 500 years to build. (I didn’t catch the name as we were short on time.) No more pics yet, but she said she’d send more tonight. She is finding more people speak English in Italy than in Switzerland, and is a little put out when she walks into a store and people immediately identify her as American with their, “Hello! Can I help you?” She is not fooling anyone!
And thanks jennifer. I’ll make sure you two talk if she decides to go there.
More later!
Comment by Jen — April 16, 2008 @ 10:33 am
Oh! I remember! It is the Duomo. http://milan.arounder.com/milans_duomo_cathedral/
Comment by Jen — April 16, 2008 @ 11:25 am
Ticino (pronounced Tichino)? The Swiss canton that contains Bellinzona, Lugano, Locarno, and other beautiful towns. I stayed (at a meeting) in Locarno several years ago. One of their unique products is a white Merlot wine. Somehow they get all the red out of the red Merlot grapes and make a tasty white wine out of it. Alas, it doesn’t seem to be exported to the US.)
Comment by rakkity — April 16, 2008 @ 4:34 pm
Darn, I was hoping the monster cathedral was a place to worship monsters, but no, it’s just really large.
It’s hard for me to get my mind around something taking 500 years to build.
Comment by jennifer — April 16, 2008 @ 7:02 pm
#9
That would be the Old Testament God, right?
Diane can empathize with those long suffering church goers.
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Now, when I rode the Great Northern from Chicago to Washington State to work in the Green Giant’s pea fields at the tender, dare I say, green age of seventeen, not a soul could tell me they’d even heard of Dayton, let alone recite the history of the buildings or inform me of nearby relatives I might visit. The planet has shrunk.
Comment by michael — April 16, 2008 @ 7:17 pm