Boat to the Botanical Garden on Brissago Island

 Today was my zero day. The rest of the tour group took a train and bus to Sonogno, but I chose to go to the botanical garden located on Brissago Island in Lake Maggiore. It was a 45 minute ride from the dock in Lucarno. 

Scenes along the way: 

I caught the 8:45 boat, so it was smaller with less passengers.

Richard and Antoinette Fleming St. Leger bought the Brissago Islands and the baroness restored a ruined convent for their home. She then worked on creating a garden, bringing in soil and building boulevards in the gardens which were fashionable at that time. She planted rare and exotic species like palms and eucalyptuses. 

Later because of financial issues, they were forced to sell to Max Emden who replaced the house with a luxurious palace. Fortunately, he retained the gardens. His heirs later sold the Islands to the Republic and Canton of Ticino.

The gardens:

One area reminded me of a "hot" house with lots of lilies:

There were many small lizards scooting around. Apparently, since it is quite warm, they drink the nectar of the grevillea flowers.

This was a cork tree. I found this info online:

Cork is the outer bark of the cork oak tree. Cork oaks are found in forests surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, and Portugal is the world's largest cork producer.

 

Lily pads in a pond.

Elephant ears.

In one area, I noticed there was a "mister" which sprayed a very, very fine mist that resembled dry ice. As a result, some of the paths looked ghostly.

The gardens were very artistic with interesting creations throughout the grounds:

This was a funny reminder to behave myself:

Finally it was time to get on the boat back to Lucarno.

The return trip had many more passengers, so the boat had a snack bar and double decks.

Exploring Lucarno

 This morning, after breakfast, we took a walking tour of the old town of Lucarno. 

Along the way, I spotted this very clever action figure outside an outdoor apparel store: 

 

Afterwards, I explored the amazing Museo Casa Rusca which had two exhibits I enjoyed - one by Martin Soto Climent and the other by Una Szeeman. 

Martin Soto Climent used "tights" or as we call them, pantyhose, to create a painting. It was extremely creative - so much so that I didn't realize they were pantyhose until I scanned the QR code for English and read about the artist. 

Apparently, this is one of his most important bodies of work - The Tights on Canvas series (2004–). They feature nylon tights in "an effort to take the discourse of expanded painting in a new direction."

This one was in the courtyard, and I thought it was simply black fabric strung between the levels of the museum.

Then later as I examined the pieces, I realized he was working with panty hose.

The above are by Swiss artist, Una Szeemann whose works are closely associated with the human body. Capillomancie (2012), for example, is based on the artist’s own hair: the series of photographs shows distinctive random aggregations of hairs that stuck to bathroom tiles.

I was drawn more to these works of Una's:

 And finally, a telephone booth repurposed as a Little Library:

On the train to Andermatt, Goschenen, Bellinzona and Lucarno

We took the Train to Andermatt, then Goschenen and then on to Bellinzona. 

Scenes along the way:

The scenery is much different here; much more rocky and not snow-covered as it's further south.

 Our train.

This is the Gothard tunnel which spirals through the alps.

A vending machine had this terrific pick-me-up offering.

The orange route is the path we took today.

You can't drive through the Gothard Tunnel; you have to put your car on a train to get through. 

Our table was waiting for us at "Internazionale" Restaurant in Bellinzona. Gnocci was on the menu which is not a favorite of mine (but IS of the Swiss...). Today's gnocci was served with tomato sauce and was quite good.

Castle Grande in Bellinzona:

Looking up into one of the towers.

The guide explained how the various "openings" in the sides of the castle were for different kinds of bows or cross bows.

Later we arrived in Lucarno, the lowest part of Switzerland which used to be quite poor. After the flood of 1868, they began to invest in the infrastructure to prevent floods. This helped tremendously. The opening of the Gothard Tunnel caused the population to explode.

Finally, we checked into our hotel, Geranio du Lac nestled among the palm trees. They  have AC! I am thrilled. And it's right on Lake Maggiore. All the rooms have spacious patios, and we can talk to each other from our patios. This area is called Ticino and is very Italian since it's so close to Italy.

Our hotel.

Dinner was at the nearby Lago Maggiore and was the best dinner we've had - salad, mushroom soup, tasty salmon and a whole plate of vegetables. Dessert was panna cotta with fruit, which I don't think I've ever had. It's sort of a white creme caramel without the caramel and was delicious.