Wednesday October 7, 2020 -- This day we had to return to the Ticino area South of the Alps because the weather in the North was miserable. Unfortunately we had to give up both Plans A and B (this doesn't happen often); firstly because Plan A (Blenio Valley) was pretty far North and the bad weather clouds were pushing over the mountains, and we had to scrap Plan B (Cable car to Cardada above Locarno) because all methods to get up there were simply crawling with "tourists" (apparently it is still a vacation week, and all families with kids are down here on holiday, instead of somewhere at a beach on the Italian coasts....).
We basically hopped on the next bus to a "suburb" of Locarno called Losone, and walked the forests above Ascona, to some red bluffs called Barbescio, and then via another typical Ticino village (Arcegno) and Monte Verità down to Ascona. Ascona is a popular lakeside town (Lago Maggiore) with Mediterranean flair, and of course there were lots of people there. Highlight for Urs was purchasing his gelato, and mine was admiring the fabulous artwork inside two of the city's churches, in particular of Ascona's own Giovanni Serodine, born 1594 to a family of stuccoists, who studied Caravaggio's painting style in Rome, and left behind only 15 paintings, as he died early in 1630.
As much as I enjoyed the outing, it does seem a far way to come for a 3-hour walk in the forest, but at least we had sunshine...
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| Our excursion started in Losone, with a visit to the local parish church, of course: Chiesa san Lorenzo, original 1243, many changes, most recent 1719 Baroque style. The inside had nothing of particular interest to photograph |
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Wandering through the courtyards of old town Losone
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This was a relatively short and easy hike, mostly through forests (trails were very wet from recent excessive rains), starting in Losone, then heading to the Bluffs of Barbescio, then via Arcegno and Monte Verità to Ascona on the lake.
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A little pond in the middle of the forest
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Hiking through the chestnut forests
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Climbing around the bluffs of Barbescio, from were we saw into the entrance of the Maggia Valley and across Locarno to Lago Maggiore
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Thick chestnut forests
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View North to the villages of Pedemonte (Versco below) and into the Maggia Valley
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View East across Locarno to Lago Maggiore
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Heading around the bluffs we come to another pretty pond
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Our welcome committee in Arcegno
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Discovering the village of Arcegno
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Main square with town fountain in Arcegno
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| Main square with town fountain in Arcegno |
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| Main square with town fountain in Arcegno |
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| Chiesa di Sant'Antonio Abate in Arcegno (mid 14th century, totally renovated and artwork repainted in 1919) |
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I loved this little church, lots of very nice artwork all restored in 1919
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Heading down the road toward Monte Verità, we had a coffee break at this little chapel called Oratorio Madonna delle Valle (17th Century)
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It turned out that Monte Verità is basically a hotel on a hill above Ascona. Not even such great views up here.
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Interesting up here at Monte Verità is the Japanese Tea House and a real tea plantation
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Heading down the many stairs to the city of Ascona
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| Heading down the many stairs to the city of Ascona |
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A view across to city of Ascona
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Close-up view of Ascona
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| The first thing I did when we got into the town was visit the parish church of Santi Pietro e Paolo, documented 1264, stucco work and paintings from early 1600 |
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I adore fresco work
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The beautiful woodwork on the pulpit is by Ascona's own Giovanni Serodine
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Across from the church is a building called "Casa Serodine", the Serodine family home, built in 1620 and stuccoed by the older Serodine brother
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Walking along the waterfront promenade in Ascona
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There is lots of débris in the lake due to recent torrential downpours (many of the mountain trails are now also no longer passable)
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Urs and his gelato
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| This is the Collegio Papio, now a Catholic highschool, but built 1585 next to the Santa Maria della Misericordia Church (early 1400's) as a school for priests |
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| A glimpse inside Santa Maria della Misericordia Church (early 1400's), fantastically painted walls, but unfortunately no lighting inside the church, so difficult to admire |
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Our 10 km hike as mapped on Google Earth maps
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