journey to Moscia

19.09.05

Today I had a good breakfast with Herbert, and met his little boys. I had to take the small train from Steinen to Schwyz, where I could catch a fast train in the same direction to Locarno. During the wait in Schwyz, I visited the post office to mail cards to my Grandparents. It was a bit foggy, so not much to see - no little church in Wessen to circle around as we climbed the mountain. Well, it was still there, somewhere — I just couldn’t see it.

After journeying through a 17 mile tunnel, I was in the Ticino region. It seems like a different country, even though it’s only another canton. Signs are all in Italian. Houses still have the Swiss-style stone shingles, but are colorfully painted and don’t have the standard flowery balconies.

From Locarno, I found a bus to Ascona. In Ascona, I figured out that I actually needed to go a little further — Moscia is its own little town. So much for arriving too early — in the end it worked out fine.

When I checked in at Casa Moscia, I found there was wireless Internet access outside. Even better, for the first time in my tour of Switzerland, I have a desk in my room with a nearby plugin (plugins usually seem to be in the strangest places) and Internet! It’s a simple room, they said - because it doesn’t face the lake — but the common rooms do (cafeteria, dining room). I also have a sink, so I can do all that stuff in my room and only need to share the WC/shower. And the price is quite reasonable, so I am very pleased.

I’m glad that I opted for half-board, a European concept which means breakfast and dinner are included. Supper seemed to be rather simplistic with meat and rice, but there was a very full salad buffet and even dessert. They actually have a very smart approach - serving some food to each table prevents a lineup for the buffet.

Having supper also was a way to meet people - I met Ruedi Peter and his wife. He is a deacon at a church in Zurich and met his wife here. We talked about the usual travel stuff, and also about languages. How Italian and French are both Latin-derived, where as English is Germanic for the most part. Just like English adopts some French and Latin words, there is a small town near here that is German speaking but uses some Italian words as well. But it’s somewhat out of the way to visit, especially when relying on infrequent buses.

After dinner I went for a little walk, but it was already very dark so I cut it a bit short. Back to my room for some playing on my computer.