holy tornado.

What a month. I have so many things to tell you, and I am so ridiculously far behind! Let's go back in time, shall we, to a sunny little month called June. Or at least, it was sunny in Bellinzona...which, for those of you unfamiliar with the geographic and linguistic nuttiness that is Switzerland, is in Ticino, the Italian-speaking southernmost canton of our fair adoptive country. The first time we passed through Bellinzona was by train, on a trip further south into Ticino, and I distinctly remember being utterly dazzled by the fact that there were CASTLES ALL OVER THIS CITY. As it turned out, there are no fewer than three castles in Bellinzona, and old castle walls everywhere, all of which contribute to the city's presence on the UNESCO world heritage list. It certainly doesn't hurt that Bellinzona has a darling little old town, too. We hopped on the bike and rode down Friday evening, spent all day Saturday roaming the streets and visiting castles, then headed back to Zürich on Sunday morning.

Piazza Collegiata, the main square. Apparently, Saturday is market day.      

Flower box on the town hall (1920s reconstruction of original building dating as far back as the 1400s.)

It just so happened the Civica Filarmonica di Bellinzona was playing a free concert in the town hall courtyard this particular weekend. They were GOOD.

The galleries, from the top floor.

A bit of the remaining14th-century town walls (which originally stretched across the entire valley in which Bellinzona is located).

View of castles 2 (Montebello) and 3 (Sasso Corbaro), from the walls of castle 1 (Castelgrande, on a big rocky hill in the middle of town).

The vineyards and city wall attached to Castelgrande (15th century).

Castlegrande, from the city wall. The original defensive settlement here dates back to prehistoric times.

Actual working drawbridge in castle no. 2, Montebello (late 13th century.).

Interior courtyard of Montebello.

View from exterior walls, looking in.

The approach to Montebello. (The green fencing is around a vineyard, naturally.)

View of Castelgrande (left) and Montebello (right) from Sasso Corbaro, the castle built furthest up the mountain.

View over the small, square courtyard of Sasso Corbaro (late 15th century) from its highest tower.

The valley, from Sasso Corbaro's tower.

The vaunted tower.

Sala Emma Poglia (17th century). The eggs are from "A Castle of...Eggs," an exhibition (ahem...eggs-hibition) currently running in the castle.

Every time we've stopped in Ticino for any length of time, I find myself disappointed both by the high prices (yup, we're still in Switzerland!) and the low standards for food. (The Ticinese share a border and a language with Italy...they should get good food and good coffee, in my humble opinion...! But alas, no.) Friday night we arrived a little bit late, so our only option was some truly forgettable pizza, accompanied by terrible service. I actually don't remember what we ate on Saturday during the day, but our meal Saturday evening was surprisingly awesome. We debated several places for dinner, only to end up in the courtyard of Piazzetta, a rather uninspiring-looking sports bar broadcasting the Euro Cup. Turns out, however, that their house-made pastas and sauces were FANTASTIC. I had fettuccine all'amatriciana, which is basically tomato sauce with loads of bacon and onions (yum), and Mike had this delicious Calabrese-style pasta with strips of spicy salami, onion, garlic, tomato, and loads of red chile flakes. Nice and spicy, with tons of flavor. (I've been looking for a recipe for something comparable ever since, it was that good.) We sat in the courtyard, eating our tasty pastas, watching a little soccer, enjoying the cooler temperatures as the sun went down, and finished off the evening with some sort of red berry sorbet drenched in prosecco (very refreshing, and not too heavy, after all that pasta). The waitresses spoke very good English and were delightful; it was truly pleasant experience all around. Bellinzona: you still pay Swiss prices, but there is some decent food, and THREE CASTLES, MAN.

What I'm reading: finished off The Historian, which I truly loved, again. It's fairly lengthy, but in a good way, as in a you-don't-want-it-to-end kind of way. Sigh. Now I'm working on A Moveable Feast--no, not the Ernest Hemingway novel, a similarly-titled collection of essays on food, written by travel writers. As you know, I love food, and I love travel, so it's an ideal combination. What's interesting about it is that the essays revolve primarily around memorable travel experiences related to food, which is a concept that resonates strongly with me. Food can be so evocative of time and place, and it's so central to experiencing culture...one can create some fine memories over food, and I can truly appreciate that. (And the eating part.)

My favorite things: homemade pasta. Mike is currently preparing to whip up some spaghetti to accompany our stuffed chicken this evening, and it is going to be delish. While I will certainly admit to using dried pasta (or even the fresh stuff you can buy pre-packaged at the grocery store, if I'm feeling indulgent) in my own cooking--it's so much faster! and easier! it's almost as good!--there is absolutely something about fresh, homemade pasta that cannot be beat. Especially if it's someone else in the kitchen who's making it. (Full disclosure: we have a Kitchenaid attachment that does the rolling-out and the cutting for us...all we really have to do is assemble the ingredients and feed the seemingly-endless balls of dough through the roller. And then the cutter. And then cook them, but only for like 2 minutes.)

Up next: a fabulous, fantastic trip to Zermatt, home of the Matterhorn. And then a month's worth of travels with Mom and Dad. Not kidding. You kids got some reading to do.