April 2023 – Music. Life. Joy.

April 30, 2023

Brunch American-style

Though it originated in Valtellina (northern Italy), yesterday’s pizzoccheri is a dish typical to Ticino (the part of Switzerland where Lugano is located).

Today was something completely different: Ramesha and I fixed a full-on American brunch — French toast, scrambled eggs, and potatoes — for our dear friends, the Lo Menzo’s.

There was even peanut butter, although we made sure to explain that’s not typically offered when you order French toast in an American restaurant!

I’m happy to report that they thoroughly enjoyed the entire meal. And we thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with them; so much so that it was almost 6:00pm before we managed to tear ourselves away!

April 29, 2023

Making pizzoccheri

For today’s adventure we joined Fulvio in making pizzoccheri for lunch. It was great fun and turned out delicious.

The pasta is made from 80% buckwheat flour and 20% wheat flour

In America we’re used to measuring cups; in Europe they weigh ingredients instead

Then it gets worked by hand

Ramesha begins the process of rolling out the dough

Fulvio rolls it out even thinner and also flips it over

Dividing the rolled out dough into sections, then cutting it into strips

First the potatoes are added to boiling water, then the Swiss chard

Time to melt some butter, to which is added garlic

The view from the kitchen while all this was going on

Akuna hung out in the kitchen with us, hoping someone would drop some food on the floor

The cheese and butter are mixed in with the (drained) potatoes, chard, and pasta (definitely NOT a low-calorie dish)

Ramesha dishes it up; boy oh boy was it good!

April 28, 2023

Quando il gatto?

I hope Mantrini won’t mind, but I just have to share this story…

As I’ve mentioned before, I was one of six Americans who moved to Ananda Assisi in 2002 as part of a singing group that toured Italy for a couple of years. Of course, we all tried to learn some Italian as quickly as possible.

We were frequently at the home of our manager, Rosella (for meetings, rehearsal, coffee, or delicious meals), and there were usually a few outdoor cats hanging around.

The Italian word for cat is “gatto.”

As we were arriving at Rosella’s one afternoon Mantrini (another one of the singers) didn’t see any cats, so she asked: “Quando il gatto?” (When is the cat?).

Now, we all knew that what she meant to say was: “Dov’è il gatto” (Where is the cat?), but it was too adorably funny and we couldn’t resist teasing her about it for days.

Fast forward to our first three-week tour, which included Lugano. Much hilarity ensued when we happened to see the boutique, “Il Gatto”!

Now that you know the backstory, I’m sure you can appreciate how delighted I was to discover that the “Il Gatto” boutique is still there, reminding me of those sweet memories from over twenty years ago.

April 27, 2023April 27, 2023

Back to the beginning

The other day we visited one of Ramesha’s oldest and most important friends.

When he was seven years old, he started attending yoga classes with his mother, and Adelia was the yoga teacher. She eventually became a close family friend and it was from her that he borrowed Autobiography of a Yogi (in Italian, of course) when he was thirteen years old.

An key moment in finding his spiritual path in this lifetime.

This is the actual copy of the AY that Ramesha borrowed!

April 26, 2023April 26, 2023

Hotel Dante: then and now

With Swami Kriyananda at Hotel Dante in Lugano (2012)

One of the things we planned to do in Lugano today was visit the spots where we had spent time with Swamiji — especially Hotel Dante, where the above photo was taken.

Swami loved coming to Lugano on vacation and always stayed at Hotel Dante. We have a number of precious memories with him there; we even got to have breakfast with him on my birthday in 2005.

We had thought it would be nice to take a picture by the chair where Swamiji had sat, as a way of remembering our time with him. You can imagine our dismay when we arrived and discovered the room had been remodeled and is completely different!

It’s still Hotel Dante, but the lobby where Swami would sit and receive visitors is now a very modern looking restaurant. It wasn’t just disappointing, it actually felt like a loss.

But then I remembered that I can feel Swamiji close to me by tuning into him inwardly. An important and reassuring reminder.

The traditional lobby is now “FLAMEL Bistrot & Mixology”

April 25, 2023April 25, 2023

Follow-up to yesterday’s walk

Funicular tracks near our apartment in Aldesago

Here are three little videos to give you a sense of the delightful experiences we had yesterday.

First of all, as we were walking up the driveway on the way to our walk in the forest, I just had to stop and listen to the joyful birdsong.

Then, while we were still standing there, we noticed that noise was coming from the funicular track. We waited a few minutes in order to video the funicular passing by — one going up to the top of Monte Brè while the other headed back down to Lugano.

Finally, while walking through the forest we heard a cuckoo call. I had never heard a live cuckoo until I lived in Italy.

I always get a special kick out of hearing them because of playing Mahler’s 1st Symphony back when I was a student at the SF Conservatory of Music. Mahler famously orchestrated the cuckoo’s call, although his cuckoo sings the interval of a perfect fourth, while the actual bird sings a (not-so-perfect) third.

Writing this blog post made me curious why I’d never heard the cuckoo before living in Europe. I learned that there actually are cuckoos in the United States, but the numbers in California have declined drastically in the last 100 years due to destruction of their preferred habitat and to pesticide use. 😕

At any rate, it was lovely to hear not just one, but two cuckoos going at it. And then the church bells started to chime! It was the perfect “aural” nature experience.

(The cuckoos were fairly far away, so you’ll have to listen carefully — maybe with headphones — to hear them.)

April 24, 2023

A quiet kind of day

Today we pretty much put on the brakes and stopped.

We both slept in and then took things slow and easy.

We didn’t go anywhere or see anybody. We didn’t even get in the car.

Our only excursion was a walk on the forest path that’s minutes from our apartment.

It was exactly the kind of day I needed.

Left at the top of the driveway to reach a path into the forest (notice the funicular tracks behind the trees; more on that in a future post)

A sweet chapel to St Joseph at the beginning of the path

Heading back from our walk, with Ramesha up ahead and the rooftop of our apartment building below the path to the right

Almost “home”, with Monte San Salvatore straight ahead

The entrance to the apartment complex parking area

My attempt to capture the beautiful night sky with crescent moon and bright stars

April 23, 2023

Drained and out of steam

All I’ve got in me is to share a few photos from a short walk we took before meeting Ramesha’s niece and her new boyfriend for coffee this afternoon.

In the first photo below we’re in Cassarate looking at the view of the mountains across the lake, but all the rest are of the Grand Hotel Villa Castagnola and its beautiful grounds.

When we left Ananda Village the tulips at Crystal Hermitage hadn’t yet put in an appearance. The ones we found today were lovely, but nothing like Springtime at Ananda will be by now!

April 22, 2023

Making new Ananda friends

The village of Maglio di Colla (which translates as “Mallet of Glue”)

We spent this evening at a pizzeria called Ristorante Washington and located in the village of Maglio di Colla, about thirty minutes outside Lugano.

We traveled along a small, curvy road in a sparsely populated area. As we got out of the car I felt like we were really out in the countryside. Until we walked into the restaurant, that is!

It had a cozy, homey kind of feel, but was quite large. And within half an hour it was completely full, and felt like a popular restaurant in the middle of a big city.

We were there to meet new friends Gianna and Maria Grazie (who are friends of a friend of Graziella’s) who are acquainted with Ananda Assisi.

It was delightful getting to know them. And as they’re relatively new to Ananda they really enjoyed hearing our stories and about our experience with Ananda over the years.

We also learned from them that there’s going to be an Ananda event here in Lugano in early May, which we’re definitely looking forward to attending.

Maybe you’re as curious as we were about how a restaurant in Switzerland came to be called “Washington”. Turns out the great-grandfather of the current owner emigrated to the United States back in the 1920’s. He eventually returned to Ticino and had a family, naming his son Washington and his daughter Philadelphia.

Washington opened the restaurant named for himself and it’s still in the family. A fun story, but I really have to wonder what became of the daughter named Philadelphia!

April 21, 2023

Swamiji: gone 10 years today

We were living in Los Angeles ten years ago when the email arrived saying Swamiji had left his body.

My immediate response was utter denial: “NO!”

Now I can hardly believe it’s the ten year anniversary of Swamiji’s Moksha day. Although I miss being in his presence — hearing his laugh, seeing his smile — at the same time it feels like he hasn’t really gone away at all.

Maybe he’s not right in front of me, but it’s as though he’s simply visiting a different Ananda community at the moment (a very long moment!).

And maybe we’re no longer receiving emails and messages from him, but he’s still managing to instruct us in what we should do.

Thank you, Swamiji. My loving gratitude is yours forever.