Quaint hamlets hug the slopes surrounding Lake Lugano. During an afternoon cruise, we disembark at Gandria, where we scale streets that squeeze between fieldstone houses and perch on a terrace to admire the peaceful view. A downpour awakens us the day of our outing to Bellinzona, Ticino's castle city. Protected by rainwear, we slosh over cobblestones to the street market. Rain doesn't bother the locals.
Mothers calmly push their children in strollers encased in plastic covers.
Carrying colourful umbrellas, shoppers lean under stall awnings to select huge, juicy strawberries, thick stalks of white asparagus and donkey sausage. Strategically built to control the crossroads of major routes to the Alps, three medieval castles dominate Bellinzona's skyline. The castle's signature Black Tower and White Tower, named for the hue of their rocks, stand like stalwart sentries. Saso Corbaro Castle up even higher in the mist, forming a solid line of defence. On the train back to Locarno, we discover that the track courses through a tunnel under Grand Castle.