We begin today in Vallemaggia not having specific plans –
just knowing that I want to visit the Val Bavona – another side valley from
Vallemaggia. On our way there, we spot a lovely waterfall and stone Roman
bridge over the river, called Ponte della Merla, near the town of Broglio. We
park and take a hike to explore!
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Crossing the river on the stone bridge.
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The old Roman bridge
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Hiking up towards the waterfall
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The waterfall
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There is another little stone bridge at the top
of the waterfall. You need to look closely to find it, as it blends in with the
stone surroundings.
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Rick on the bridge
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Another view of the Ponte della Merla |
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We then make our way through the Val Bavona,
which is a very magical valley. It’s full of huge boulders that have fallen
from the steep mountains above. We stop for lunch in Foroglio (I also speak
about Foroglio and Val Bavona in my blog from 2015) Near the restaurant is a
little handmade craft shop. Two years ago I bought the best, handmade wool
slippers. I was hoping the good weather and many tourists over the holiday
weekend would find the shop open. I was in luck!
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| My new slippers! |
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Enjoying the spectacular April weather and lunch
outside by the beautiful waterfall |
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The little town of Foroglio in Val Bavona, with
the restaurant along the river.
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Next we stop at one of my favorite, little
ancient towns – Sabbione. I consider it
the home of hobbits and fairies. Many of these old, stone towns had been
abandoned, but fortunately there is much interest in restoration and making the
homes into vacation homes.
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This stone path leads from the town to their
washbasin.
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Another hiker taking a snooze on a typical
“prato pensile” – a rock that was built up with stone to make more grazing
land. Let’s not waste the space!
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Rick was able to walk through under this huge
rock, which originally was balancing on a couple smaller rocks. More support
was made with stone, but I find it comical to see a stick propped between the
lower and upper rock – like that stick is doing any good! There is a date of
1847 on the rock.
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From Sabbione, we can see the waterfall in
Foroglio in the distance, and another prato pensile.
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Through Val Bavona there is a Sentiero di Pietra
(hiking path through the stones). The path is mossy and so lime green with new
buds coming out on the trees. It’s such a peaceful, fairytale like hike!
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We wind our way through huge, mossy boulders.
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Back in Sabbione. I can see where one of these
boulders fell from!
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Lots of beautiful, lime green lizards in the
forest here.
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Our little Smart car parked by Sabbione. It was
a beautiful hike!
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Before we leave Val Bavona, Rick and I stop for
our favorite drink – Panaché, at the Grotto Balöi in Fontana.
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Our view from the Grotto. A wonderful atmosphere!
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Saturday evening, the church in Sornico was
having an Easter vigil. We didn’t really know what to expect. It began at 9pm
outside the church, where a little fire was going by the bell tower. |
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Candles were passed out (but not lit yet) and
the women were singing. I know back where we live near Lugano, there is a late
evening procession with candles at Easter and we thought we were going to be
walking with the group through the old town with the candles. How exciting!
Well, after a few minutes we all walked back into a VERY dark church (why
didn’t we light the candles before walking back in?) Then a mass started and we
all lit our candles. After a few minutes the candles were extinguished (all
these long candles just for a few minutes??) The church had a full mass, which
happened to be the longest mass I’ve ever attended! Actually, by 10:30pm, we
were so tired and starting to fall asleep that we left early! I still don’t
know how long it ended up lasting!
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