Lunch in the Onsernone Valley

October 19, 2016 -- There's a relatively lesser-known valley in the Ticino called the Onsernone Valley, a wildly beautiful and steep forested valley with little villages clinging high up on the sunny mountain sides. It is infamous in that it has so many curves on the narrow road that it takes almost an hour to drive to the last village 20 km in the back of the valley. And the bus driver doesn't take it slow and easy! At full speed the bus weaves along the curves high above the valley bottom, and whips through the villages where the streets are barely wide enough for this kind of vehicle.... looking down through the bus window to the cars that attempt to pass us on the road, I think their drivers must be having mini heart attacks thinking the sides of their cars or at least their mirrors might be removed...

We had made a reservation to eat in a popular restaurant in Russo, about two-thirds to the back of the valley. As of the night before, the owners didn't know what was going to be on the menu. We found out when we got there: Salad, polenta, tender pork gulasch and coffee, for a price unheard of for Switzerland ($20). Before lunch we walked through the typical steep alleys of Russo, and after lunch we backtracked a bit with the bus for our 4-hour hike...