WWOOFing in Switzerland

One of the three castles in Bellinzona

We left the pooring rain of Innsbruck in a less than smooth fashion. After realizing that we had spent a lot more on our tickets than we should have and being refused a refund we boarded the train near the back. After a few stops we found out the train was splitting and only half was going to Switzerland. Not our half. It was no problem to switch at a stop and after another bus ride we arrived in Bellinzona where our new Wwoof host Eva was picking us up.

On top of the mountain that Eva lived on

Eva lives on a mountain overlooking the city with her sons Valerio and Florian who are just a couple of years younger than us. Eva had a huge garden, lots of fruit tress, four small fat goats and a dog named Mixi. We spent our working time picking fruit, pulling out bamboo and building another stone wall. (Our favorite!) We also had tons of time to cook which we loved and the boys loved to eat so it worked out great!

Climbing at Ponta Brola

Eva's beautiful garden

Since this wwoof was a lot more laid back we had a lot of time to explore the area. We went hiking above the house. One day we hiked to a nearby river where we found really cool natural water slides! We also checked out the castles in town. Bellinzona is known for having three castles. Bellinzina is part of Tincino, the Italian speaking region of Switzerland and we found that is was very similar to Italy in most aspects, except the cost of things which were very Swiss (expensive!).

Goats!

On one of our full days off we took the train to go climbing in a nearby area. The climbing was really easy but really fun and it was just what we need to get a bunch of pitches in fast. After climbing we went swimming in a river nearby at the bottom of a gorge. The water was freezing but the location was beautiful with white rocks jetting out of the crystal blue water giving it the fell of swimming in a glacier!

Lisa relaxing on one of the glacier like rocks

Natural waterslide!

Another day Valerio took us climbing right on the Italian border with his friend, Maro. It was like a two hour approach up hill to get to the rocks but it was worth it. Not only was the climbing excellent but we had great views of Switzerland and Italy!

Climbing on the Swiss-Italian border

Florian, me, Lisa, Valerio and Eva

We also spent a lot of time paying table tennis with Florian (it was a toss up between Florian and Lisa, I was always third) and practicing english with Eva. On our last night Valerio took us sightseeing in the area. We saw the worlds highest dam (the one in Golden Eye), and a really cool traditional town. There was a really old and high bridge that Valerio jumped off of into the freezing water at night. It was nice to get to know other young people from another culture as opposed to the older couple that we were used to. The whole family was great and we had a nice time with all of them.

Goats!