Saturday May 24th Bellinzona Market Day

Today, although it was cloudy and drizzly we decided to head over to Bellinzona to the market.  We pulled right into a parking place not even a block from the market.  The smells, sounds and sights at the market were amazing.  First stop was a booth with rocks, the lady was so nice and spoke great English.  She shared with us these fine needle like crystals that came from this region of Switzerland, the Tecino Region.  We bought a small grouping of these crystals and she said, "Now you have a bonsai of the Swiss Alps!"  The next booth we visited was a spice booth.  What a variety!  We chose a few special spices and asked lots of questions.

We saw whole chickens and rabbits and decided that would be a yummy lunch.  Mom bought already roasted chicken and pork roast.  The first meat we could afford in Switzerland!!  And those 2 pieces were $40!!

Their were so many cheese booths and there was sausages and salami hanging all over the place.  And bread booths galore!  And of course veggies and fruit like you wouldn't believe.  We are very curious about the veggies and herbs and try to ask questions, but even if someone knows a little English they generally do not know the translations for vegetables or herbs.  So there were quite a few things we were not familiar with and still are not.  We were admiring and photographing this crinkly  cabbage and the shopkeeper asked me if we would like to just buy 1/2, so I said yes and she just chopped it in half and asked me to choose the half I wanted.  What a great idea!

    Another interesting thing was that a lot of the veggie booths had plants for sale.  Well that's not the interesting part...they are not in pots or 6-paks or anything, you just buy the plant with the dirt and roots open.  I love how much they don't waste in this country.

     The town of Bellinzona had a fortified wall that went across the whole valley to protect the town from the Romans.  There are portions of the wall still evident throughout the town, it was very neat.

    We drove home and enjoyed our roasted chicken and pork and some sautéed Chard and fresh bread, all purchased at the market!  We napped for several hours this afternoon, the rainy day was very conducive to this activity.  When we got up Don and Edith were playing Cribbage, Donna was working on pictures so i went for a walk around the neighborhood.

     It is so amazing walking through the neighborhoods...you cross over so many waterfalls, everything is on a hill, there are stairs everywhere, and the landscaping is amazing.  It is very temperate here so there are palm trees, yuccas and tons of succulents.  Of course there are the familiar geraniums, petunias, impatiens and things like that too.  As you walk along, if you sneak a peek down into yards you see the  most amazing raised bed, rich soil, and perfectly tended vegetable patches.  Even big apartment buildings around here compost their scraps and have vegetable gardens beside them.

   Looks like we are finally up to date with this blog.  I am writing this on Saturday night.  Sunday A.M. we are going down to the internet cafe again to download everything and do some research on weather and to see if certain mountain passes are open so we can plan out the last week of vacation.  Today, after one full week of vacation I am lonesome for home.