Bellinzona Wine Festival & Potatoes

So Baba and Angi are in Lugano now--they’ve checked into their hotel and everything. I called there but they didn’t pick up the phone, so I’m not sure what I should do now. I guess I’ll write and tell you about my day today.

So last night instead of going out and partying like every good college kid does, I stayed in and cleaned my room--changed the sheets, vacuumed, washed the dishes… you know, the usual. Then I went to sleep by about 11:00pm, just went everyone else was heading out. In any case, I woke up at about 7:00am, had breakfast, got cleaned up, and then walked up the hill with Keely and Deniz. We got up to the school and started waiting by about 9:30. We wanted to make sure that we were part of the first 25 students to get to the Grotto, so that we could go to the Bellinzona Wine Festival for free. And we were, indeed, successful. But then we had to wait around until 11:00 for Jeff to actually show up and give us the plan.

We all walked down to the train station, and we missed the 11:45 train because Jeff wasn’t there yet because there was some problem with the tickets I think. So then we waited until 12:15 for the next train to Bellinzona. And then when we finally got on the train, all the seats were reserved or taken so it seemed, so about ten of us didn’t have seats. But that was okay because it was only a 25 minute ride there. So I took my first Swiss train ride today! How exciting is that? It was quite easy. Bellinzona was a beautiful little city; it’s the capitol city of Ticino (our canton). I think I almost liked it more than Lugano; it was just a bit friendlier. Actually everyone we met there was friendly. We tried out all of our German and Italian skills there and they were happy to meet us halfway. So that was fun.

When we first got there around 13:00, most of the little booths were starting to pack up, which we found rather confusing. I mean, the actually wine-tasting part of the festival didn’t start until 16:00, so we figured they’d be sticking around trying to sell stuff, but no. So everything sort of slowed down for a couple of hours. Kyle, Marcel, and I found a little food place that was set up specifically for the festival and we all ordered maccheroni with Bolognese for six francs a plate. It was a pretty good deal. After that we went and explored the Castelgrande. It was so cool! There were great views from the castle walls, and the castle itself was gorgeous. Part of it was actually just made out of rock that was already there. And there was a moat with actual water in it! How cool is that?

We stayed up there and explored for quite some time. Around 15:00 (the 24-hour clock system really makes a lot more sense, but I’ll try not to get annoying about it), we went and got gelato from this really great little place. I had stracciatella and chocolate; it was excellent once again. We stayed there for a bit, and then we walked around and went into a few shops as we waited for the festival to pick up again. Jeff passed out the wine glasses for the wine-tasting and by 4:00pm, everyone was tasting wines (except for myself; I think I was the only one who didn’t… but I did get a glass anyway, a lovely souvenir). I got really tired for a bit in there. I found a great stand selling breads of all sorts, so I bought one chocolate-filled croissant, two jelly-filled croissants, and four rolls so Baba and Angi could have some snack stuff tomorrow, when everything is closed. I wanted to buy some cheese, but I couldn’t decide what kind. There were lots of different salami stands and cheese stands. Everyone was so nice, too.

We got back on the 5:45pm train, which everyone just barely made (we were in no danger, but a lot of kids cut it rather close…). We actually got seats on the way back! That was nice, especially since we were rather tired. Once we got back to the train station, then we walked back to Girasole. And I made dinner for Keely and Deniz, and then Katie heard there was food up here, so she came and joined us too. We had quite the feast--tortellini with “Napoleonic” sauce (just tomato sauce, pretty much), penne pasta, peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches, and baked potatoes that eventually became mashed. It was fun.

Now I’m trying to figure out how to get a hold of Baba and Angi. I did call the hotel and I know that they’re there, but they didn’t pick up the phone. They’re probably eating dinner or something. Deniz and I were going to go walking or jogging downtown tonight, so I sort of need to know if I’m going to get the opportunity to see them or not (because of course I’d love to!). And plus if they’re going to come see my room this evening I sort of need to make sure it’s in good order. The dishes are washed but they’re on the drying rack right now and I need ot make my bed. It’s really not too bad; I just need to know! All right… well I’m going to try and get a hold of them again.

Miss you guys!

Smile :-)