Locarno

Near the end of January it was a bit gloomy, and we were in need of some Vitamin D.  So off we went for a weekend getaway to one of Switzerland's sunniest cities - Locarno.  Locarno is located in Ticino (the Italian speaking canton of Switzerland), and averages almost 600 hours of sunshine more than Zürich.  Taking advantage of the warm weather we spent the weekend outdoors and explored Locarno's Old Town, dined along Lake Maggiore, and visited the Sacred Mountain of the Madonna del Sasso.

Old Town & Lake Maggiore

View from our hotel room balcony.  We stayed at Hotel Garni Millennium.

Sacred Mountain of the Madonna del Sasso 

The church is situated on top of a mountain, where in 1480 the Virgin Mary appeared to a local monk.  Leading up to the church are small white walls with murals depicting the Twelve Stations of the Cross.

Engelberg

On December 27th my family headed back home, but we still got to hang out with Alan and Sam as they had two more days left in Switzerland.  We had already given them a Swiss Christmas filled with sledging, wine, and cheese, but there remained one last very important box to tick on their Swiss To-Do List -- snowboarding in the Alps.  Needing to get these two Trinis to the slopes, we took the train over to Engelberg for a weekend snowboard/snowshoe trip.  Check out the pics....

Walking to the lift

Sam & Alan on the ski lift

Kevin, Mya, and me on the snowshoe lift

And they're off 

And we're off

Look at us go

Oh my goodness this puppy is cute

Prettiness

View from our hotel at night

More hotel views