A nice walk into the new year

Buon anno a tutti!

The weather for January 1 was not looking very promising in northern Switzerland. Of course, it changed to “not bad at all” after I’d decided to head south of the Alps. Murphy and such. I could have easily changed my plans in the morning but decided that that bright big sun on the weather app for Bellinzona was where I wanted to go. Also, I had not walked along Route 7 since July 2023. Part of that was because there had been an accident in the longest rail tunnel of the world and to this day, they don’t run trains through there on weekdays because of ongoing repair work. And I didn’t want to add to the stress of the situation when I didn’t need to travel at all.

Yesterday, I did travel as it’s not a traditional travel day, especially not heading south early in the morning. I caught the 6.50 train to Arth-Goldau and then took a train on to Bellinzona from there. No stops as it traveled along the panoramic route. That’s the route that I had walked earlier last year. I got to Bellinzona at 9.33 and took a bus to Claro, Ponton where I’d left off on July 27, 2023.

Sun still pretty low over the hills at 10 in the morning.

Yesterday morning was quite a bit cooler than in July. Temperatures where around freezing when I started walking. I had to be careful since the road down to the Ticino River was a bit icy. The sun had just appeared from behind the hills at 10. Lucky for me it soon got a little bit warmer. The walk itself was nice and easy – mostly flat, always close to the water and at times up on a little dam. I loved that there was a bit of fog in places and that I walked across some frozen moss. I made a video of my walk and posted it on YouTube. You can watch it here.

Initially I didn’t see many other walkers and I had to really concentrate to say hello in Italian. Swiss people tend to greet each other when out walking. I kind of like that. What I hadn’t expected was that everybody added “Buon Anno” to their greeting. That I absolutely loved! I started doing it too. A little too well apparently as a dogwalker started talking to me in Italian. I went into panic mode and told her - in Italian - that I understood what she was saying but that I didn’t speak Italian myself. As many people living in Ticino she was able to switch to German. We had a nice chat, but it left me feeling super lazy because I could easily pick up Italian or rather learn how to actually speak it. Everybody is so friendly and the whole “Buon Anno” thing makes me think that a bit of effort being put into mastering Italian would not be wrong. Stay tuned.

Of course, if I’m gonna marry a Norwegian I should learn that too and I’m meeting so many Dutch/Flemish speakers online that that’s made the shortlist as well. Gotta keep busy, I guess.

I didn’t really have much of a plan when I started on my walk. Follow the route, I guess and I knew that I would pass a few bus stops at some point and even a train station. None of them were right along the route, but close enough to stop walking if I needed to. The entire walk was supposed to take me around three hours – without any breaks. And breaks were difficult anyway because all the benches were either wet/icy or made from a material that was too cold to sit down on comfortably. It was only after 3h 11 minutes that I found a bench in the sun that I could have a little rest on. And no, along this route there aren’t usually any cafés. Shortly after my break I had to leave the river behind and make my way up to the train station. The hiking route passed above a public swimming pool which I found a bit peculiar. Not that there were any swimmers there today, but still.

I then found a public restroom – the free kind – just a couple of blocks from the station. Total RESULT! The one at the station would have cost me something. No idea how much, but I’m too Swiss not to enjoy the victory of a free public restroom in a city close to the station. Swiss people will get this.

I had hoped to walk around Bellinzona for a bit, but my feet said: “are you freaking kidding us?”. So, that wasn’t gonna happen. There are three beautiful castles in Bellinzona and it is the capital of Ticino. More on that some other time.  

Remember when I told you that regular service through the tunnel had not resumed yet? Since yesterday was a public holiday they were running some trains through the tunnel and at the change-over (if that’s what you call it) there are no trains for a while. There was a train at 13.17 (panoramic route) and then the next one at 14.47 (through the tunnel). I happened to arrive at the station at two, which would have been perfect for a 14.17 train had there been one.

I then saw that the 14.47 was 15 minutes late.

I wasn’t going to sit around for an hour and wasn’t sure if the later train (15.17) was a better option anyway – I was expecting fewer people to take that one. And with that kind of a delay, I would have ended up on the same train from Zurich to Aarau anyway. There’s no way I would have made my earlier connection there.

So, since I had the time I took a train to Lugano (that’s 20 minutes in the “wrong” direction) to go check things out. I got there 10 minutes before the earlier train was expected to depart. There were a lot of people on the platform debating which train to take. The trains would leave on opposite sides of the same platform. The later train actually arrived first and it remained pretty empty. People just desperate to get on the first train to leave Lugano it looked like.

*if you couldn’t follow this I don’t blame you* table.

When I saw that the earlier train was a short one, how crowded it got and that the train right next to it remained almost completely empty, it really was a no-brainer. Now if you’re wondering why I went to Lugano to figure out which train to take, I made a little table. I would not have had any reliable information about crowdedness of trains etc. had I stayed in Bellinzona. You gotta know how to play the system. The later train originated in Lugano and that’s why I knew the two trains would get there at around the same time. That’s what I call advanced train-ing. I’m such a pro.

My train remained pretty empty. The doors are in the middle of the car, and I had a full half car entirely to myself. Okay, I’m riding in first class, but second class was also not crowded at all.

I obviously regretted ever going down to Ticino when we entered the tunnel – have I mentioned that it is freaking 20 minutes long? That’s a panic attack waiting to happen. I think I might have stopped breathing about halfway through and annoyed friends with minute-by-minute updates. Glad to report that I made it through and home in one piece. What an adventure.

And it hasn’t put me off going down to Lugano again this week. I love long train rides and I always bring books (yes plural), my laptop and a notepad. All three things I regret when I start walking with a heavier than necessary backpack. But there you go …

I took this picture out of the train - somewhere between Airolo and Bellinzona

Hope you all had a good start to the new year.