With a few notable side trips, we spent September 2001 in Locarno, Switzerland. This picture-post-card city in the Italian speaking canton of Ticino is nestled at the northern end of Lago Maggiore, a lake which straddles the Italian-Swiss border.  Like many places in Switzerland, Locarno has ancient streets, excellent restaurants, and old-world charm.  What makes it different as a Swiss location is its lush vegetation and sunny, Mediterranean-like climate. Near the end of September the weather is still very nice. 

Besides Locarno, our home base, we visited these locales:

• Ascona

• Basel

• Lucerne

• Lugano

• Stresa (Italy)

• Zermatt

• Zurich

The trip was notable in its own right but will forever be remembered because of the terrorist attacks in the USA on September 11. 2001.