cristallina

it's been cold, wet and rather miserable in zurich the past few days. and the weekend was only getting worse - 12oC and rainy. so rather than suffer in the northern gloom, lars and i headed south for the day to do some walking in ticino (the italian-speaking part of switzerland). we popped out of the gotthard tunnel (17km long through the alps!) to the sunshine of the south. it was still a bit chilly (it lightly snowed on us when we were starting), but there was no rain! we did a loop around the cristallina massif, and the surounding landscape was mighty impressive. quite a bit steeper and rockier than the northern alps i've walked in before. there was time for a real pizza in airolo (big, cheap and yum - much better than zurich food!), before heading back through the tunnel to the darkness, rain and fog of the north...

pics here.