Bellinzona, Switzerland and 2am Hokie Football

View From Train

After 2 weeks and 9 days of class we had to wake up early Saturday morning in Riva to take our final exam for Finance. The first 'semester' of class was over. After the test it was nice to just relax and hangout around Riva San Vitale for the day. The more time I spend in this town, the more I like it. Even though there is a major language barrier and some cultural differences, all the locals are so friendly and try their best to be accommodating. My favorite part is the unspoken competition between the different bar owners to try and get our business. Our favorite is Nancy at Bar Ticino who always brings out free plates of her homemade appetizers. Prosciutto, salami, bologna,  and fresh bread. One thing I have noticed about the food here is that everything seems fresher, I don't know if it is the lack of preservatives or what, but I can definitely get used to it. The meals at the Villa are cooked every day by Guytano and Luigi and consist of daily fresh bread with pasta for lunch and some kind of amazing entree for dinner. I am trying all kinds of foods I wouldn't get a chance to have otherwise.

View of CastelGrande

Sunday morning we woke up and caught a 45 minute train to Bellinzona, Switzerland for the day. It was the first time I had been north of Riva and the whole train ride was amazing. Most of the beginning was following along the edge of Lake Lugano. It was cool to see all the different towns and buildings in between the lake and mountains. After the short ride we arrived in Bellinzona a little after lunch time ready to check out the town.

'Great-Wall of Bellinzona'

Bellinzona is famous for having beautiful mountains and castles. We also happened to be there on the weekend of one of their open air markets. Since it was later on a Sunday though, we weren't able to shop there. It was still cool to see how the town was decorated and set up for it. After walking through the main part of town we came to Castelgrande, the biggest of 'The Three Castles' in Bellinzona. From the very beginning right when we saw it it was unbelievable. Everything from the high walls to the stone walks gave you the feel of walking through a castle back in the 1st century. We first walked through a tunnel that brings you to a gradually ascending stone walkway. The walls had windows that were small on the outside and large on the inside that were used for watching and protecting the castle.

View from the top of the highest tower

The walkway led to a huge staircase that took us up to the main courtyard area of the castle, and completely out of breath. The courtyard was where we first got some amazing views. There were multiple towers connected by grass covered 'great-wall' type walls. After walking around that entire level of the castle we walked up to the tallest point in the castle. We took a very narrow spiral staircase to the top that let us see the entire city and miles beyond. From the top of the mountain we could see all the buildings and plazas in Bellinzona. It was also a great view of the surrounding mountains.

Bellinzona Mushroom Festival

After checking out that tower we headed back down to have lunch in the courtyard. There were a bunch of locals just hanging out there and you could tell it was a popular spot for even them. After lunch we headed back down to the city to walk around. Bellinzona is one of the coolest cities I've been to yet because it had the feel of a 'true' European city. All stone roads and alleys with fountains and plazas. The narrow streets allowed us to take in a lot of the surroundings without having to choose between what we did and did not want to see. Somehow we ended up in the middle of some kind of mushroom festival. It was one of the weirdest, yet most interesting things I've ever seen. Everything was in Italian, so we could just look around and guess what was going on. It was in the middle of a plaza and there were tables and tables of mushrooms lined up with people presenting them and comparing them. After a while we got a feeling that it was pretty obvious we were American tourist that didn't know what they were doing so we decided to head out. Everyone was getting hungry so we stopped at a Gelateria and I had my first gelato of the trip. It was amazing! Once again, something about the freshness that makes European food different. After getting Gelato we walked back into town and made our way back to the train station to catch dinner back at the Villa. Bellinzona was a great city and I would recommend it to anyone that is traveling to Switzerland.

2 am set up in the Classroom

Monday night was the first Virginia Tech football game so naturally everyone on the trip was excited for the big game against Georgia Tech. Being on a monday, it was nationally televised on ESPN back home so it was definitely a big deal. The only problem for us was that it didn't start in Riva until 2 am. Our teacher canceled class Tuesday morning so everyone decided we were gonna stay up for the game. We made our kind of 'tailgate' at Bar Ticino in town with Nancy's prosciutto and bread. We set up a projector in the classroom with a live online feed from ESPN3. It was really nice to be able to watch the game with a bunch of Hokies. Even though I wish I could have been there it felt almost like home watching it with a big group like that. The game went in to over time and we didn't get to sleep until around 5:30 but it was all good because we got the win!