In these crazy Covid times we decided that we would not go on a proper holiday. But when my hubby told me he had a business meeting in Switzerland I was more than happy to accompany him.

So instead of going Monday for the meeting we already drove down on Saturday.

We arrived in the afternoon and after freshening up we decided to scroll over to the beautiful Madonna del Sasso which was located just a few hundred meters from our hotel in Orsolina.

Along the inside of the church there is a display of votifs believers had gifted to the madonna as a token of their gratefulness. Some of them were framed together with beautifully embroidered cloth which we took to be shawls. An elderly monk who saw me looking at the votifs came up to me and told me about their meaning and from him we learned about the church’s history. It was build after a priest in 1480 saw the madonna on this rock overlooking the lake.

I love these personal encounters on our trips. They are usually some of my fondest memories because they connect me with a place.

The monk also told me that the cloth wasn’t a shawl after all but the tabernacle coverings of which the most artistic ones were preserved over time.

We ended the day with a some aperitivi and delicious plates of risotto and pasta overlooking the lights around Lago Maggiore.

The next day the temperatures had dropped quite bit as it had rained all night. Hoping for dry weather we drove along the coast toward the Italian border and stopped in Ascona for a stroll and some coffee.

Ascona is much more beautiful than Locarno which is the next village on the lake from our hotel. While the Locarno lake side has more than its share of ugly hotel buildings Ascona’s historic center has preserved its original buildings giving it the rustic flare I so love.

So if we ever come back to Lago Maggiore I would definitely look for a hotel in Ascona’s idyllic “città vecchia”.