Tag: Switzerland

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Mountains, mountains everywhere

Today a group of family and friends celebrated the birthday of Manu (my sister-in-law) by gathering for lunch in Malcantone, a particularly beautiful region of Switzerland.

As we drove up to the Alpe di Pazz (a group house rented out for events by the Swiss organization that’s the equivalent of the Boy Scouts) I was struck by the view of this mountain. Lucky for me, we were at a spot in the road where I could ask Ramesha to slow down so I could take a photo.

But that’s the thing about Switzerland — views of amazing mountains are so common they’re like a dime a dozen. However, I can’t help trying to get pictures of them all. 🤷‍♀️

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When in Switzerland…

We had a very traditional Swiss-Italian Christmas.

First we attended 10:00 mass at the Catholic church in Canobbio (Ramesha’s home village).

Then we picked up Silvio and drove to Bellinzona for Christmas with extended family — Nani’s (Ramesha’s father, brother, sister, and us of course), Mazzola’s (brother-in-law and his mother), Schneider-Clissa’s (niece and her husband, plus baby Aron), and Antonio’s parents from Rome.

We were there for approximately five hours of appetizers, pasta with salmon, tiramisu and marscapone, coffee, digestivo, gifts, dogs, and lots of laughter.

Quite a day!

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Blessed with meditation and satsang

We spent the day at a retreat center called La Perfetta, which is in Arzo, near the border with Italy.

Something like forty or fifty devotees from Switzerland and Italy gathered there for Ananda’s traditional 8-hour Christmas meditation. It happens every year at all Ananda communities, but since we knew we would miss the one at Ananda Village, we reached out to see if one was scheduled for here in Ticino.

Of course, the powerhouse leaders of the Ticino meditation group (Triveni, Amrita, and Monica) quickly organized and magnetized this wonderful event.

What a blessing it was.

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Phew, made it!

Pretty much our first sight in the airport was this shop. Too perfect, with cuckoo clocks, cows, and St Bernard dog toys all in the frame!

And here are a few random pics taken before we landed in Zurich.

Flying over the typical grey weather of the Swiss interior.
Our first glimpse of Switzerland this time around.
In Switzerland even the farms and fields are neat and precise.
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Lugano bound!

I can’t quite believe the moment is already here. Well, the truth is I can believe it, but I’m not ready for it! I’m close to finished with my packing, but I’ve got to get back to it.

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Friends & fondue

Our annual Christmas fondue dinner happened early this year since we’ll be in Switzerland for most of the holiday.

It was the usual great fun but now I’ve got to get to bed; we start rehearsing bright and early tomorrow morning!

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The perfect placeholder

It’s been an extremely slow kind of recovery day — unpacking; watering plants; simple household tasks; some much-needed self-care; and just a little bit of work that couldn’t wait.

But my brain is feeling depleted to the point that I couldn’t focus on a topic for tonight.

Then I saw this photo of the view from Aldesago, where we stayed during our visit to Switzerland two years ago, and felt it was the perfect placeholder.

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Cows in the neighborhood

Here’s something I love about Switzerland.

You can look up as you exit the car on the way to visiting a friend, and see cows grazing on the other side of the parking lot.

Yet, as you can see from the buildings, this is not out in the boonies somewhere but in a rather densely populated area.

Yet another delightful thing about this beautiful country.

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Patiently waiting their turn…

…are the many photos from our trip to Europe that I haven’t yet found the time to organize and share!

I was reminded of the fact when I stumbled on this photo of the house where Ramesha was living when I first moved to Switzerland.

We hadn’t been in that neighborhood in maybe ten years, but it sure brought back lots of memories.

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Switzerland on my mind (still)

It’s not that I’ve been actively thinking about Switzerland a lot; life’s way too busy for that!

But I had a dental appointment the other day and there was this beautiful video playing on the monitor. My first thought was that it reminded me of Switzerland, but I figured I was getting a little fixated. After all, there are many beautiful places in Europe, with castles and mountains and lush green grass.

However, I had to explain to the dental assistant that I couldn’t address the issue with my tooth sooner due to being out of the country. She asked me where and when I said “Switzerland” she immediately gestured toward the monitor and laughingly asked if I didn’t recognize the images.

Sure enough, it was all Switzerland!

Turns out she “visits” different locations during her workday by selecting these drone videos. I never knew such videos existed, but it’s actually really cool.