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March 30: Last night Rick and I came back from our short vacation to the eastern and northern
side of Switzerland. We found that there was a malfunction in the furnace, so the house was freezing! Since it's
heated by hot water radiators, there was also no hot water. Fortunately the landlord was around (since it was Easter vacation
week) and he managed to get a repairman out. But the house was still cold today because it had been without heat for about
5 days, and since the houses are made with thick, concrete walls, it is taking a while to re-warm that concrete.
March 16: Rick and I went to our first movie in Switzerland. We went with 2 of the girls from
the fashion school, and we were very glad we didn't go alone the first time. First of all, it was a very nice, comfortable
theater, with carpeting on the floor (in the US it would get all sticky with spilled food.) After one hour, the movie suddenly
stopped and the lights came on. We thought it was a short movie and very strange how it ended. If we had gone by ourselves
we would have gone home at that point thinking we surely didn't get our money's worth. Instead, they still have an intermission
for every movie - it wasn't the end!
The popcorn was good, but no extra butter to put on top. That's why they are much thinner than we are!
February 27: Today I was vacuuming the house, and since I was hot, I had opened the back
door to let some cool air in. The back door is where the living room and dining room are - they overlook Lugano. I was in
the bedroom, and when I walked back into the living room, I saw a neighborhood cat quickly jump off the couch and run out!
February 3: Lately I've been meeting with Francesca, the daughter of the secretary at the fashion school
where Rick teaches. She is learning English but she also helps me with my Italian. We've been meeting on the Italian side
of Ponte Tresa because we can enjoy a coffee in any of the smoke-free bars and cafes!
Rick and I also get together with other people from the area to do an Italian/English exchange. Last night we had 3 of
his students over to practice. Actually, 2 of them speak well enough not to have to take the class, but they want the practice.
We spent 3 hours together last night, and had a lot of fun!
January 15: Rick and I were invited to dinner by our neighbors, Francesco and Veronique and
their family, to a restaurant in Como, Italy, to eat pizza. Italy had just changed their laws which prohit smoking in ALL
public places. As a non-smoker, I am very happy about this! After our meal we went to a bar down the road in Canobbio, along
Lake Como, to have a drink. It was so nice not to have smoke in the bar.
December 13: Rick and I went up the steep climb between Gravesano and Arosio. We parked in Arosio and
took about a 2 hours hike. We've had such clear and warm weather that we didn't even need our coats. The scenery was spectacular
and we walked nearly to the top of the mountain. We thoroughly enjoyed the cows in the mountain meadows! The road from the
valley up is famous for bikers. You can get an idea of what it's like by clicking on this link and scrolling down the page
a bit:
December 10: I had my first dinner party. My neighbors came to dinner. Veronique is originally from
Lausanne and her husband Francesco is from Genoa, Italy. They came with Veronique's mom Arlette (with whom we stayed when
we were in Lausanne) and their two daughters, Jade and Maeva. I tried to serve something typically American. My choices were
narrowed greatly because the food is so different and I can't find the same items and ingredients. I ended up making New England
clam chowder, meatloaf and corn. I had to buy a dessert because no ingredients for all those that I know.
December 7: We were invited to the Christmas dinner for faculty from SPAI, the school where Rick teaches
PE. It was held at a restaurant in Balerna. We were served a traditional Ticino meal - bollito misto, which means a mixed
selection of boiled meat. Although this part of Switzerland feels much like Italy, and much of the food is similar to northern
Italy, the traditional Ticino food seems to have more of a German touch - meat, sausages and heavy potato, polenta or risotto.
So our meal began with risotto, a rice dish, which was very good. Then came the boiled meat. Waitresses came by with
large platters with a variety of meat, putting whatever you like on your plate. There were about 7 different types of meat.
There were also a few condiments to have along with the meat, like mustard, a parsley pesto, and something else, which was
good, since if you can imagine boiled meat being boring, you're right!
It was quite an experience. One item served was a portion of an animals head - a layer that covers the brain I believe,
as they attempted to explain it. Rick and I took one little taste - enough! It had a very unappetizing texture!
Then there was tongue and possibly something from a foot, and then another meat was called codino, "little tail"
and you guessed it - a little tail from something! No thanks! So I think we know why Berny, our Swiss partner, is a vegetarian!
But besides the strange food, everyone was very nice, and we had a wonderful evening!
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| Marco, Nikita, Rick, and Regula at the SPAI Christmas dinner |
December 6: At 4pm on Monday afternoon, our town of Comano had a Christmas market. This is very common
all over Switzerland. Many of the items were made by local residents or the school children. It was held in one of the piazzas
in the upper old section of Comano. It was a wonderful atmosphere and we thoroughly enjoyed it. They were also serving hot
wine and making polenta. Anyone who brought a container could take home some polenta.
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| Christmas market in the old piazza in Comano |
December 2-6: Well, I left Rick to fend for himself for the first time. I took the train to Rome to
visit my longtime girlfriend, Patou. It was so warm in Rome when I arrived (about 70), that I had to buy myself a large gelato!
The next day while Patou worked, I had a wonderful day walking around Rome, having lunch outside near the Piazza Navona, and
enjoying the Christmas activity in the warm weather. It rained a bit over the weekend, but was still a great trip and good
to see my best friend. And Rick did fine. While I was gone he was invited to a local hockey game and he helped a collegue
with some translations for two days. He ate at her house and also went out to dinner. This was all with people who don't speak
much English at all. He's coming along (slowly) in Italian!
November 23: I took a ride to the train station today to pick up some train tickets, and as usual
I seem to run into the strangest things. Part of the station was temporarily blocked off while a helicopter was lowering a
huge Christmas tree. I was watching for a minute or two and then went behind the building a bit to get away from the strong,
cold wind coming from the helicopter. Just after I got to the building some sheets of broken plastic came flying across
the parking lot. If I hadn't moved I would have been hit! The wind was so strong that it blew off the plastic covering over
some large train timetables posted outside.
November: Many people are asking me what I do with my days. Well, I am so busy that I'm a bit frustrated
that I can't exercise like I used to. I haven't joined a health club yet and I'm wondering if I'll ever have the
time! I go for walks whenever I can - anywhere I go it's a stairmaster with these mountains!
I have been meeting each week with several women (individually) who want to practice their English and they help me with
my Italian. A couple of them I meet in downtown Lugano and so, to get some exercise, I walk down to the city - a 55 minute
walk. Rick and I meet another girl on Wednesday evenings in another town, and a local woman comes to our house on Monday evenings.
In addition to this, I am teaching English to a small group of children in Comano on Tuesdays and another group in Paradiso
on Wednesdays. I have to keep them entertained so I need to be well prepared for these classes!
Since I have no dryer, I have to hang out my clothes and iron everything!
Rick is home many times at lunch, so instead of me being by myself to eat a quick lunch I am preparing something more
elaborate which takes more time.
I also have to help Rick interpret many of the letters he gets in his mailboxes at school. I mean notices of teacher
meetings, absent students, etc etc. He needs help with all these things since he doesn't understand Italian!
On any day that we are both free and the weather is good, we hop in the car to go explore another town, another valley.
Since we are trying to travel as much as possible, somebody has to play travel agent, so that's me, which keeps me very
busy with research, reservations, etc.
And finally, this website takes a tremendous amount of time - to type in everything, choose, resize and adjust pictures,
etc.
So, am I painting my nails and eating bon bons? Painting nails, no, eating bon bons, well, yes, a few!
November 18: Rick and I were invited to one of the other PE teachers houses after school for a drink.
We had a great time and I think I had the best conversation yet in Italian with his wife! We asked them if it were true
about all houses having to have a nuclear shelter built below, and they said yes! And let us go down to see theirs. It's just
like a storage room now, but as you can see in the picture there is a door like a vault. Inside the room there is a window
with a concrete door to seal it off - just as thick as this door. There is also a hand-crank fresh air machine and enough
inflatable beds for the family and his neighbor's family, since they went in on this together. Incredible!
We found out from another family who just built a house that now it is not absolutely required, but if you don't build
one, you must pay the canton thousands of dollars. But of course, it costs thousands of dollars to build one!
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| entrance to nuclear shelter in a typical Swiss house |
November 14: It was a beautiful, clear day - but windy! It's rarely windy here, but today made up for
it. We took a drive north of Bellinzona towards the San Bernadino pass, and came upon a castle in the valley. We took a hike
up to the ruins of this castle - almost being blown over in the process! Here are a few pictures from that little trip.
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| In the Valle Mesolcina |
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| Valle Mesolcina |
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| View from the castle ruins in the Valle Mesolcina |
November 6: We had just returned from our one week fall vacation, and I went to take a walk in
town. I left the camera at home, since during the vacation it was becoming a permanent attachment to my body. Well, during
my walk I had to return home to get the camera again! There had been a lot of rain and I just happened upon these wonderful
mushrooms! As you can see, they are so beautiful - but poisonous! I always wondered why cartoons always showed mushrooms
that looked like these even though I had never seen one. Even at Santa's Village amusement park in Illinois they had big plastic
mushrooms that looked like these!
The top of this red mushroom was about 8 to 10 inches across.
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| Big red mushroom with white spots |
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| cute brown mushroom with spots pushing up from under the moss |
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