Friday, July 24, 2009

Castles, Castles, Castles.

Yes, there were three of them.  
Yesterday evening I made the twenty minute train right to Bellinzona (capital of the Ticino region), where there are three castles that were built by the dukes of Milan back around the 1200-1400s.  One was a steep hike, but had a small restaurant in the inner court, another was perched on the side of a mountain and the third on a hill in the center of the town.  Bellinzona is less touristy, especially when the sites are a good amount of excersize to get to.  So, I was pretty much alone there and for a few brief moments felt like I might have been in Ireland or Scotland with the green grass and the brown stone.  One thing that reminded me I was definitely in Italian Switzerland was the fact that the castles were surrounded by domestic grapevines.  It seemed like every little house had it's own mini-vineyard.  

Here is the tourist website because I didn't have my camera (I had to rush out after work and forgot it, but I might go back):
http://www.bellinzonaturismo.ch/framework/DesktopDefault.aspx?lr=1    

No comments:

Post a Comment