Trans Swiss Trail - The End of the Trail

So today the last stage. The end of the trail. Expected, anticipated, feared.

Can it really be that this adventure ends today?

Well, we will be able to provide this answer in a few hours. For now, we have to get up early for once, because the boat that will take us to the other shore leaves at eight o'clock sharp.

With sleepy eyes (yesterday's hardships have left traces) we sit down in the first café (our hotel is still in blessed sleep) and eat something like breakfast.

Only then do we take the trouble to consult the travel guide one last time, it has a lot to offer (which, as always, interests us at first glance, but is usually ignored at second glance).

Monte San Giorgio, also known as the «Mountain of Fossils», is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is tackled after a short passage by ship. Dinosaur fossils dated 230-240 million years can be admired in a small museum in Meride.

Dinosaur fossils? Reminds me of corresponding tracks at Lake Lucerne.

A lake and a mountain

The boat is ready, the last stage of the Trans Swiss Trail starts with a boat trip from Morcote to Terniciolo at the opposite side. Apart from us, there are no other passengers to be seen, but the boat leaves on time. Morcote lies in the soft morning sun, the church tower greets us a final time – Ciao Bello!

Despite the short time, we enjoyed it very much in this former fishing village. One could imagine spending a prolonged time here, perhaps as a retiree (like a thousand others). In the morning a coffee somewhere on the lakeside promenade, then a walk, something small to eat, a long peaceful siesta and finally an excellent dinner in one of the many restaurants.

Yep, we would know how to make it happen, maybe later, or maybe in the next life, when we might be able to do things a little more calmly.

The last Hill

In fact, we might still feel like conquering Monte San Giorgio on foot, but after more than 35 meters of altitude, the target has definitely been met. Besides, the train ride home should not be forgotten, so the time budget is quite limited.

And so we take the cable car without a guilty conscience. Apparently the traffic on the lake and in the air are not coordinated, because the valley station is as closed as it can be. So we sit down again, breathe in the spicy lake air one last time and admire the spotted sky.

In retrospect, I can't sing too many euphoric hymns of praise about the weather. With the exception of the first few days in the Jura, it never let me down, on the contrary. I wonder why I have earned so much goodwill.

Not until a young lady sleepily opens the gates (after taking the dog for a walk) do we get hope that something will come of our excursion to the Monte after all. But the wait was worth it, the cabins sway gently in the morning breeze, and then we are already at the top.

From here begins a magnificent last section with another 400 meters in altitude, where Forello is reached after a little more than an hour. Those who wish to climb to the top of Monte San Giorgio can do so with a 10-minute detour. The 360-degree view tops that of Forello by far.

Well, we believe that, but let it be anyway.

And another UNESCO World Heritage Site

Basically, I've spent the last few weeks walking past one World Heritage Site to the next (in Switzerland thirteen objects have been designated World Heritage Sites by UNESCO, four of them in Ticino alone). I am no longer able to name them all, but in any case there is no shortage of such highlights to complain about.

Apparently, the area around Monte San Giorgio has been designated a Unesco World Heritage Site since 2003. So one more gap in my knowledge: the southern foothills of Lake Lugano are famous for their spectacular fossil finds.

Monte San Giorgio is a living legend of a historical masterpiece with fossils that are over 200 million years old. 200 million years ago, the mountain was surrounded by a sea bay and was partially separated from the open sea. For this reason, it was an ideal place for marine life, which can still be admired today in the form of fossils. The Fossil Museum in Meride offers visitors the opportunity to travel back in time to the Middle Triassic and admire various fossils.

It's exciting to imagine what it looked like here 240 million years ago, because there was a 100-meter-deep ocean basin right in this area. As a miserable swimmer, I'm glad we live in less humid times today. I might have felt extremely uncomfortable in the company of fish, invertebrates and reptiles (sea dinosaurs), whose very well preserved skeletons have been found here.

And another impressive village – Meride

The miserable rest of the hike disappears at an ever faster pace, but at least there is one last village to admire before the final destination in Mendrisio. And as a farewell gift, a special jewel – Meride.

Sometimes you feel like you're in foreign world, although even the southernmost foothills of Ticino belong to Switzerland, but sometimes you prefer to visit Laos or Bolivia or India or God knows what. And in doing so, you miss many things that are so close, so beautiful, so full of historical richness.

The Locanda San Silvestro is exactly what our hearts desire, a garden, ivy or vine-covered yellow walls, a few tables, a few chairs, a few guests talking in English-tinged business Italian and feeling incredibly important.

Well, that's exactly the world we'll be returning to in a few hours, but until then let's enjoy the feeling of being in the right place before heading the last few kilometers to Mendrisio.

The last few meters

Then the final hour of hiking on the Trans Swiss Trail.

Starting in Porrentruy, there are over 500 kilometers and 35000 meters in altitude (up and down) between the starting point and the finish in Mendrisio.

Its train station is reached after a final descent through the forest and a short stretch through the industrial park. Actually, the lesser-known town would offer beautiful old town, narrow streets, old palazzi, historic churches and the medieval tower in the Piazza del Ponte, but we leave that for today.

All we care about now is the last signpost of the Trans Swiss Trail, a few photos for posterity, a high-five and a hug.

It seems surreal, as if someone else had walked this trail in another life. Always slowly, as one should do, an average of 3 kilometers per hour, with light luggage and light senses.

And always with the incomparable feeling of total freedom, of being exactly where you want to be. Sometimes far away from the world of today, then again in the middle of it.

Thinking back, the single days seem infinitely far away and yet very close. The first stages through the Jura, then long stretches through Bernese country, Emmental, Central Switzerland, the Gotthard, Ticino.

But all things pass, as they are doing right now at the train station in Mendrisio.

I am happy and sad at the same time.

Happy to have succeeded, the strains behind me, the well-being of the normal sheltered life in everyday life ahead of me. On the other hand, the sadness deep inside that it's over, that these wonderful, extraordinary, fantastic weeks are over and may never be repeated.

Or is there hope? We will see. As mentioned many times before - the world is there to conquer.

Happy and sad

And this is what it looks like when you summarize the wonderful experiences in a single video. Have fun!

https://youtu.be/DirpC3bl2ZY

And so I say goodbye and give the last word to my particular darlings:   The Beatles - Hello Goodbye

And here we continue… on the Via de la Plata