June 4-5 - Mogno/Fusio in Valle Maggia overnight stay

Rick and I had a wonderful opportunity this Thursday and Friday! Our friends, Roberto & Giovanna, invited us to spend the night with them at their summer mountain home in Valle Maggia. Not only was the home in Valle Maggia, but WAY deep into the valley - a great way to get away from the sweltering heat of Lugano. Driving from Lugano, the trip takes at least 1 1/2 hours.

I start with the picture above to show you the end of the valley. This is the reservoir forming Lake Sambuco, above the last town called Fusio.
But let's start at the beginning of the trip:

As we come into Valle Maggia, where it splits off also into the Centovalli, there is this big rock face. Climbers come from all over Europe to practice climbing. There are maps, routes, and things bolted in to hook your ropes to. Believe it or not, there are about 12 people on the side of this mountain! (and in the heat! ugh!) You'd have to enlarge the picture to hunt for them! 

The rock face and this great river are found at this same intersection of valleys, by the town of Tegna at the Ponte Brolla.

Further down the valley we stop in the town of Peccia which houses an art school. The artists display their work around town and it was a delight to see! These wooden sculptures were made only using a chain saw! 

This sculpture is like a paper maché but with a lacquer over it so it could be displayed outside. 

Our new friends in Peccia! 

Another sculpture in Peccia.

To continue to Mogno, we drive up 16 switchbacks to reach the upper part of Valley Maggia!!!

Phew! After those 16 switchbacks we arrive in the town of their mountain home, Mogno. Mogno is now famous for its modern church which was built by the famous Ticinese architect, Mario Botta. The church is the round building with the slanted roof. I am taking this picture from our friend's back yard.
Why is this church so modern? In 1986 an avalanche came down the mountain from the left of this picture and destroyed the old church. This new church is a very popular tourist attraction now! 

Our friends, Giovanna & Roberto in front of their fireplace. 

To warm the house they use the fireplace and this little wood burning stove. 

It is about 10 degrees cooler in Mogno - about 80F, but at night it gets quite cold and we have both the fireplace and stove going. 

A panoramic of inside the little house. It was so awesome!!!

It had all the comforts of home. Hot/cold water, fridge, stove, oven, clothes washer, full bathroom etc.
Giovanna's father was an engineer who worked on making the Lake Sambuco dam. It was at that time that he bought these mountain homes/stables and then renovated them. 

The wildflowers are in bloom. We are fortunate. These fields will be cut soon to provide feed for the cows. 

We are walking the path from Mogno to Fusio, through the woods. We begin the hike from their house - just up and left of the new church. There are many waterfalls at this time of year. Giovanna grew up spending her summers here and knows all the paths like the back of her hand. She also knows all the locals! 

More wildflowers.
At one point on this hike we heard a hiss noise. A poisonous snake on our path! It's very rare to see this. We spoke with a couple who had a mountain home right where we had seen the snake. They said they have never seen even one in 40 years living there. Fortunately it slid away.
Our steps after that were more cautious! 

A little house along the way - with a huge rock next to it, which fell many years ago. 

Here we are, in sight of the town of Fusio. 

Another view of Fusio, Switzerland

When you think you come to the end, you don't. The valley keeps going and we see more summer homes up the mountainside in the background. See them way up there? Those homes used to be stalls for the animals and they have been renovated into little cottages. 

Every valley makes its own kind of cheese. You can often find self service cheese stands. It's run on the honor system. There is an electric, refrigerated box, with a money box next to it. 

Everything is in bloom, and so beautiful!

We visit the old mill up this hillside. These buildings are here because there is a stream running down. It used to power the mill. 

Giovanna knows that we can open the door and go inside to see. The water flowed below, turning the paddles, which then turned the stone to grind the grains, in which the stalks were put in from the top, letting the grains fall to the stone. 

These little "fences" for the cows are actually an electric ribbon. It won't hurt you - you'll just get a little sting, but if the cow's wet nose touches it, he gets a bigger pinch and knows not to pass the "fence"! 

Roberto and Rick going to check out another mill. The water is running under the building on the right edge of the picture. 

This mill pounded the grain on the rocks. 

Me, in rural Fusio, Switzerland

The old "lavatoio" - wash basin, in Fusio. 

Fusio, Switzerland. 

Some of these houses are quite large. Long ago there were many people from this valley who went to California to make their fortunes. They came back with money to build big, beautiful homes!

Looking back again on Fusio.

We take our hike back to Mogno by walking on the road. The sun is getting lower. We are looking south. 

Back in Mogno we visit the new church by Mario Botta. The two colors of stone are grey granite and white marble - both from this valley. 

Admiring the church.

The slanted roof has a channel which funnels rainwater down this "waterfall" in front of the church. 

Inside this marvelous church! The people in Mogno (which are only summer residents) use the church in Fusio. This church is only used on special occasions, and there are no marriages here. If they allowed it, there would be too many people doing weddings here all the time. 

The two modern pews in the church. 

It's really a very small church, but gives the allusion of being HUGE! 

This is a grain holding building, which sits in front of the church. It had been pushed into the house on the right after the avalanche of 1986. It has been restored and is an historical building. Look closely...it is perched up higher, with round, flat stones just above the supports. Why? When grain was stored inside the little top building, the mice could not crawl around the stone - they would find themselves upside down and drop off! 

Just across from the church, and around the corner from our friend's house, is this rushing stream. Giovanna says that she has never in her life seen it run slower - it has always been gushing! I'm on the bridge, and behind me is another, old mill. 

The view from inside their house. Rick enjoying the evening light. 

Mogno is dark, but the rest of the valley still has sunshine. 

A more close-up view. 

The next morning. We take a little walk in Mogno. This grass street is right down the hill from Roberto and Giovanna's house. Their house is the white one in the background. 

Such a cute summer house!

In Mogno, as in a number of these old towns, you cannot buy property and build a new house. To preserve the integrity of the history of these towns, you can buy an old home or animal stall and renovate it. But no new houses, please!

We are on our way to another hike today, our second day in Valle Maggia. This time, we hike on the west side of the valley, which is steeper. We are hiking between Mogno and Fusio again.  Giovanna knows all the paths well, so we were glad she was with us. This path was narrow, and in many parts there were so many old leaves covering the path that sometimes you may not know where to go. 

There were also a number of very narrow parts right along a steep drop off - Yikes! At one point there was a thick chain rope bolted into the rock in order to give us a something to hold on to. An exciting hike!

Enjoying a waterfall.

Giovanna pretending she's swimming!

Rick and Giovanna cooling their feet. 

Love those Swiss cows! So cute!

We have now passed Fusio, and we are climbing in the area where I had showed you previously that there were more summer homes perched high on the mountain side near the reservoir. 

High up, we look back down to Fusio.

Now, we also learned about a woman who lives in one of these rustic, mountain homes. She lives here year-around (very unusual now) with no electricity. She makes all sorts of things year around and especially during the winter and then sells them at the Locarno market. 

During the summer she also has a little shop between the dam and Fusio. We stopped there and I bought some homemade soaps and face cream. She also had socks and kid's shoes, cookies, etc. 

What an interesting life! With the deep snow in winter, she is sometimes "trapped" in her home for a long time. She's tough! 

Wow! We stop to have our picnic at one of these homes - it's the summer home of Giovanna's sister! Her house overlooks the dam - see the concrete wall on the left side? 

A great terrace to have a picnic! 

Inside the "Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs" house! It's just one room, with a loft upstairs.
This house used to be a stable for the animals - as were most of the houses up here. Then they were renovated into summer homes. 

The upstairs loft. There are two single beds up here, plus an old, handmade and decorated baby cradle.

The summer cottage from the front. What a treat to have gotten the chance to see this. I've always wondered what they looked like inside. 

Then there is this little Hansel & Gretal path with a little wooden bridge which goes to the next 2 houses. Just too cute! 

Walking down to Lake Sambuco reservoir. 

Looking back at Giovanna's sister's house. 

The dam at Lake Sambuco.
Actually, the public road continues alongside the lake on the right, and goes into that back valley. What I've learned these past couple of days is that these roads go on and on - you can really drive up through the top of the Alps! Usually this is because there are several dams. They have to have, of course, roads to service them. 

Lake Sambuco. There is a white line, barely visible, in that shadow in the back of the valley. That is the road that continues. I've got to drive that one day! 

Looking south from Lake Sambuco back to Mogno, from the dam.

 This side of the dam is dry. They let water out as needed. There are several power plants in the valley and down by Lake Maggiore near Locarno. 

Here is where the river starts again. When the dam needs to let water out, it comes out of the big pipe in the rocks. See the big hole?

Hiking back from the dam to Mogno. From this side of the valley we see the open "alpe" where Giovanna's sister's house is. You can see the two houses in the middle of the "green". Her cottage is a bit to the right of those. 

Rick and Roberto on the path down. 

On our hike back to Mogno. Almost there. We stop to cool off our feel in a waterfall that passes over the path. I only went in while holding on to the bridge. Giovanna walked through and even kneeled down to cool her knees. I was afraid it could be slimy, slip, and get swept down the waterfall! 

Roberto is driving us home - Giovanna is staying by herself in the mountain home until Sunday. We stop back in Ponte Brolla to see the very special "grottos". Ok, this first one isn't that special - and it's called Grotto America! Grottos now are restaurants that are usually near the rock, because it's cool and food used to be stored in the rocks. Here are cool examples below! 

We walk a few steps past the Grotto American to discover grottos made from holes under rocks. Many years ago there was a big rockfall. The spaces under the rocks were made into grottos - where food was stored because it was much cooler. This area has many privately owned grottos. Most have a little rock seating area where the family that owns it can have a picnic and access their grotto. 

Rick is sitting in one of the eating areas. It's amazing....it's like 90 degrees outside today. As we walk in front of one of these "holes" - even with doors on them, we feel very cool air escaping - like 30 degrees cooler! It's amazing and natural air conditioning! 

This was so much fun to see. I was expecting to see Fred Flinstone and Barney Rubble having dinner! 

Can you get an idea of how those steps go up to more grottos on the left, and other grottos on the right.

A few steps further from the grottos, Roberto shows us an old tunnel from the Swiss military. The front is hidden by a mesh covering painted in the colors of the rock. The tunnel goes on for more than 1/2 mile in the mountain. During WWII, the Swiss defended this area well, being able to destroy, at a moment's notice, the bridges to enter Valle Maggia or the Centovalli from this location. 

Roberto pulls back the mesh and opens another covering in order for us to peak inside. Usually these places are well equipped for many men to live inside. 

Well, we are very thankful to Roberto and Giovanna for sharing their home and their valley! What a wonderful treat! We are grateful for the friendship. :-)