alpine passes ii (11. 663)

Reluctantly we headed back home after our adventures in Italy and Switzerland, this time consulting more local sources and news, discovered that the portion of the Swiss Autobahn washed away by a rockslide had in less than two weeks been made once again navigable for traffic with engineers incorporating material that had destroyed the roadway.

Navigation services had not yet cottoned onto the completed repairs and the way was notably clear and without congestion for the beginning of high season for the preferred San Bernardino Pass connecting Bellinzona with the Mesolcina Valley of the canton of Graubünden, the watersheds of the Po and Rhein river basins and high-road parallel to the ancient bridal path—mostly restricted to donkeys—known as Viamala (in Romansh, the bad route due to the treacherous nature of the gorge) and made open to wheeled conveyance to undercut Austrian-controlled trade.

This nspshot above was not an atypical Swiss highway rest stop with lowing cattle and cow-bells.

cascata della froda (11. 662)

Returning to the Castelvecca area, we took a nice stroll the the forest to see the waterfalls cascading from the top of Monte Cuvignone from a height of a hundred meters and carving out a space suggesting an amphitheater above the collecting pools.  

Along the trail through Montegrino-Valtravaglia, part of the fiefdom of il Quattro Valli, there is evidence of past use for aquaculture and raising trout with characteristic enclosures as well as the remains of an ancient stone quarry where petroglyphs have been recently discovered and are under study.

🥗 (11. 661)

On this day in 1924, the Caesar salad was invented in Tijuana by restaurateur of Italian-extract Caesar Cardini, from Baveno on the shores of Lago Maggiore, in his eponymous dining establishment. Caught unprepared by the large number of Americans crossing the border to legally purchase liquor otherwise unavailable during Prohibition for the long holiday weekend, Cardini improvised to stretch his food supply by mixing a large salad in the middle of the main dining hall, making due with what he had a surplus of on hand with the addition of tableside tossing by the proprietor for some dramatic flair. Several food columnists and Julia Child, who sampled the original sometime in the 1920s, helped popularise the dish whose reputation proceeded it, with the latter celebrity chef helping to codify the recipe with the help of Cardini’s daughter in the 1970s, romaine lettuce and croutons dressed with lemon juice, olive oil, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, black pepper, Dijon mustard, anchovies (substituting capers and tahini for a vegetarian version) and Parmesan cheese. 

synchronoptica

one year ago: the US national anthem (with synchronoptica), David Bowie’s trans-Siberia railway journey plus Uncle Sam’s predecessor

seven years ago: a botched memorial

eight years ago: a space probe arrives in Jupiter’s orbit plus the chemistry of a candle

nine years ago: pyrotechnic effects 

ten years ago: hyper-capitalism plus anti-migrant sentiment

maccagno inferiore (11. 660)

We took a nice stroll through the village and explored the oldest part of the settlement with the Oratorium Madonna della Punta, a sanctuary with grottoes at the head of the old harbour. 

A path around the road tunnel at the beginning of the city crossed over the street and continued into the maze of alleyways and picturesque residences that formed around the core of the imperial tower and mint (Zecca). 

We got a little lost in the passageways but eventually found our way and returned via the promenade along the beach, the weather turning stormy again and the water roiling with waves.

 

synchronoptica

 

one year ago: superlative drone photos (with synchronoptica), Ziggy Star-Dust retires, assorted links to revisit plus composer Ligeti

maccagno superiore (11. 659)

Slowly scaling the mountain rising behind our lakefront campsite, we were afford some amazing views and walked the path around Lago Delio, a reservoir first constructed in 1911 and dammed in the 1960s for hydroelectric power. 

The trail was nice but one could not get too close to the water and continued upwards to the top of Monte Cadrigna and the alpine pass at Forcora. 

It would be an equivocation to say we had climbed the mountain but did trek the last fee hundred metres along the gondola stanchions to the summit for a really breathtaking look at Lago Maggiore’s expanse from two sides.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronoptica) plus a miscellany of Americana

eight years ago: a cancelled vacation

nine years ago: artist Peter Max, fantasy politics plus bans on yoga

ten years ago: diplomatic blackmail 

eleven years ago: check-out line etiquette plus dragnet surveillance

clearing the docket (11. 658)

Along the expected ideological lines, the US supreme court has ruled that the president, past, present and future, are entitled to the presumption of immunity from prosecution for any official acts—but not in an unofficial capacity, however that is defined. 

Refusing to rule on what constitutes what falls within the high office holder‘s scope of practise and remanding that judgment to a lower court—such as stoking insurrection or ordering a vendetta on political rivals—guarantees that no further criminal proceedings will be carried out against candidate Trump prior to the election and nullifies potential consequences as a reinstated individual can halt and reverse the proceedings. The experiment become cult of personality and vanity project that was American democracy seems to have been quickly regressed from a republic to an absolute monarchy and repressive theocracy with precious few transition points.

castelli di bellinzona (11. 657)

Returning to Ticino, we visited the UNESCO World Heritage site, the ensemble of fortifications, of the cantonal capital and strategically important location occupied and defended since Neolithic times as the place where several Swiss rivers converge and near the Alpine passes of San Bernardino, San Gottardo and Lukmanier, and maintaining hold of Bellinzona meant control of traffic and trade between northern Europe and the Mediterranean. 

 

It was not however until the reign of Augustus in the first century that a stronghold was built on the rocky outcropping in the middle of the city, and while the garrison was neglected for several hundred years, Castelgrande was expanded into its present form as the defence of Helvetia under Diocletian and Constantine.  Under Frankish rule in the 700s, the second castle, Montebello, was constructed as a chain of watchtowers and as part of expansionist

ambitions of the Duchy of Milan, the third and highest, Sasso Corbaro, was added in the sixteen century with reinforcement on the lower existing structures, and is now a symbol of Swiss unity and identity.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a venerable Viennese newspaper folds (with synchronoptica)

six years ago: negotium and otium

seven years ago: an AI names cats, moss walls, the Tour de Trump plus the Hong Kong transfer of sovereignty (1997)

eight years ago: on listicles plus the fantastic illustrations of François Schuiten

nine years ago: West Germany’s NATO accession (1955), grail candidates plus assorted links to enjoy

sacro monte di varese (11. 656)

One of nine UNESCO designated sites, the holy mountains of Lombardi and Piedmont were came into their present form after the 1571 Battle of Lepanto, in gratitude for the decisive maritime victory for the Holy League over the Ottoman Empire, a mediative pilgrimage to the summit and sanctuary that showcases religious artistic and architectural skill of the Duchy of Milan while in harmony with the natural landscape. 

The sacred location above the provincial capital has a series of fourteen chapels decorated with polychromatic figures illustrating not the usual stations of the cross but with each triplet representing one of the joyful, sorrowful and glorious Mysteries of the rosary as one ascends the mountain. 

At the top is the cloister—a community of the order of the Romite Ambrosiane—a sisterhood who promoted public conveniences and sanitation, among other good works, a Marian church and a small village called Santa Maria del Monte originally built to accommodate pilgrims and church staff but now with a few dining establishments and hotels.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: the US supreme court strikes down Biden’s student loan amnesty (with synchronoptica) plus Night of the Long Knives (1934)

seven year ago: more telephone trivia, German marriage equality plus assorted links worth revisiting

eight years ago: Mid-Century Modern library posters, a robot lawyer, the place of English in the EU post-Brexit plus mobile beach-changing rooms

nine years ago: the Greek drachma, more links to enjoy plus more independence, secessionist movements

ten years ago: electromagnet forensics plus essential oils