It was raining when we left Vernayaz for the three and half hour drive to Lago Maggiore. Our route took us over the Simplon pass (6,600 feet). As we curled our way up the mountains we were engulfed by clouds and visibility was reduced to about 30 feet! It was a little hairy!
When we crossed the summit the clouds disappeared and we were in the midst of a snowscape (not the roads!)
We left the French speaking part of the country for the German. We crossed the border to Italy. Driving through the little village of Re we saw this beautiful basilica and made a pit stop.
The Santuario della Madonna del Sangue is in the village of Re, Italy. It is devoted to the Virgin Mary and is built where in 1494 a miracle occurred: a small fresco of the Nursing Madonna was hit by a stone and started bleeding.
We continued descending into Ticino – the southernmost canton in Switzerland and the Italian speaking area! Our destination was Villa Sarnia, a boutique hotel across Lago Maggiore from Locarno and Ascona. I haven’t been back to this part of Switzerland since I was a teenager (yikes), but my memories of the area came back to life. It is truly beautiful here with the mountains rising from the lake dotted with villas – the lush and sub-tropical vegetation – it all has a very Mediterranean vibe.
We’ve cross-crossed back and forth into Italy without detecting any difference. We took a day trip to Como and Lake Como – no George Clooney sightings!
The cathedral in Como is one of the most important buildings in the region. It is commonly described as the last Gothic cathedral built in Italy: construction on it, on the site of the earlier Romanesque cathedral, began in 1396
We visited a small botanical garden and nursery which is tucked into the mountainside near our hotel. Everything was so lush and green.
