"Oh Patricia, You've Always Been My North Star"
A little Pre-blog note - This blog is going to take a small detour from being specifically travel related because A) HIGH AS HOPE IS OUT NOW!!!!! Which means, B) Inspiration has ensued. Over the course of this new album coming out, I've loved watching Florence show her love for Patti Smith and the back and forth Instagram messages between the two of them. It's so much fun seeing someone you admire fangirl someone they admire.
I had heard of Patti Smith here and there while growing up. It's hard to escape the nostalgia of the Horses album or not see her book "Just Kids" everywhere. Thanks to Florence, Florence's book club: Between to Books, and the ever-present Patti Smith omens that have been cropping up in my life, I am officially a fan.
For four summers I have been lucky enough to call the hills of Montagnola in Ticino, Switzerland my home. Every day I open up my windows and look down upon the city of Lugano. Mountains rise up on every side of the lake and fall into the horizon while the city wraps itself around the water. It's hard for my heart to not be continuously bursting with gratitude at my never-ending astonishment of this beautiful place. It's filled with magic waiting to be discovered at every turn.
Last summer while I was here I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho which follows the journey of a boy on his quest to find his Personal Legend. Early in the book, the boy is introduced to the concept of omens. "Omens are the individual language in which God talks to you. My omens are not your omens. They are this strange, but very individual language that guides you toward your own destiny. They are not logical. They talk to your heart directly."
After I read The Alchemist I began to see omens everywhere - tiny things here and there that have lead me to this place and time. Sometimes they're everyday things that aren't very special, but sometimes things are too serendipitous and magical to be true. Omens seem to have particularly surrounded me in Switzerland. and my omen this year seems to be Patti Smith.
After a few years of seeing her book, Just Kids, practically everywhere, and knowing that it was one of Florence's early recommendations for Between Two Books, I finally sat down and read it. Just Kids and Gloria Steinem’s, My Life on the Road, shaped the lens through which I traveled through New York City this past spring. I happily envisioned myself as a young Gloria, choosing to take public transportation everywhere in order to be fully present in this human experience (a rare occurrence in LA) and then beelined straight to The Chelsea Hotel to visit the iconic building that Patti, Edie Sedwick, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and so many others have lived.
Soon after finishing Just Kids and visiting New York, my sister asked if I wanted to go to the All Points East festival in London where Patti Smith would be headlining. The festival was so much fun. I met up with my friend Carly whom I had worked with in Switzerland the year before, and we stood in line for an hour and a half to get our makeup done with a shit ton of glitter and proceeded to take a picture with a unicorn after. Because why wouldn't you?
As Patti's time slot got closer, we began to inch our way towards the front stage. When she came out I was completely blown away. It was electrifying. There are fun concerts where you leave and you simply had a good time; and then there are concerts where you are part of a collective experience and you leave feeling more connected to humankind, full of hope and love. This concert was the latter. The performance similarities between Florence and Patti are stunning. Both artists captivate an audience like they've thrown magical dust across the crowd, casting a spell. Both artists had me leaving and feeling like I just had a religious experience.
Towards the end of my trip in England visiting my family, my sister's friend gave me Patti's book, M Train, which enraptured me immediately. As I made my way through the book, I found that there, between the pages, was some Montagnola, Swiss magic sprinkled in front of my eyes. I turned the page and locked my eyes on a polaroid image of the famous author, Hermann Hesse's typewriter Patti had taken at his house which has now been turned into a museum. The very house that is located just a 10 min walk away from the campus of the school that I work at here in Switzerland.
What. Even.
As I opened up my eyes a bit more after learning Patti had been here, I discovered two posters I had never noticed in the coffee shop next to Herman Hesse's house advertising her visits in 2003 and 2010. In an interview from her second visit to Montagnola, Patti said that she had been reading Hermann Hesse since she was a kid. She explained, "If I had to choose the most important 5 books for me, The Glass Bead Game, would be among them for me…. So when I come here I'm not only being welcomed, but I am in the atmosphere where this book was created. Which, for somebody like me, and also to be in such close proximity of the typewriter, is very exciting."
Entering the atmosphere of Hermann Hesse IS exciting. The museum is located in an architecturally stunning building that Hesse used to live in. As you climb each level you are met with copious watercolor paintings of Montagnola and Lugano that he completed over the years. On the second level, you are welcomed into a room with Hesse's personal typewriter as the centerpiece. It sits in front of a bay window, dimly lit in a halo of sunlight that is trickling in through the leaves of a tree outside. The room also holds personal items of his: paintbrushes, stationary, letters, spectacles, a letter stamp. All relics from his life.
Below Hermann Hesse's house stands the remarkable church of St. Abbondino that is lined with Italian Cypress trees and a bell tower that reaches towards the sky. Across the church lies the cemetery where Hesse is buried. In true Patti Smith fashion, I decided to take a detour last week with my power walking group and brought the kids into the cemetery where I showed them the final resting place of Hermann Hesse as well as the founder of our school.
Over the years this special place in the world has attracted artists of all kinds. Hermann Hesse called this his home. Patti Smith has visited. George Harrison even spent some of his last months living in a beautiful villa not far from Hesse's house. The people here are kind, there is pizza and gelato for days, and the views never cease to leave you in awe.
If you are a fan of Hermann Hesse this is a definite spot to visit. If you are ever in Switzerland or even in Northern Italy, then you must come to Lugano! I spend my whole year counting down the days until I come back to my "personal Genovia" and get to spend time with my summer family in one of the most beautiful and magical places in the world. Below are some suggestions of places to eat and things to do!
And again, a huge thanks to Florence (and Between Two Books!) for opening me up to the magic that is Patti Smith. And thank you, Patti, for the daily inspiration and pick-me-ups from your Instagram posts. It's so beautiful to read about the magic that is hidden in plain sight in our daily lives.
Recommendations for the Lugano/Greater Ticino area
Food
I had heard of Patti Smith here and there while growing up. It's hard to escape the nostalgia of the Horses album or not see her book "Just Kids" everywhere. Thanks to Florence, Florence's book club: Between to Books, and the ever-present Patti Smith omens that have been cropping up in my life, I am officially a fan.
You told me all doors are open to the believer
I believe her, I believe her, I believe her
You told me all doors are open to the believer
I believe her, I believe her, I believe her
Oh Patricia, you've always been my North Star, oh
Oh Patricia, you've always been my North Star, oh
“Patricia" by Florence + the Machine
For four summers I have been lucky enough to call the hills of Montagnola in Ticino, Switzerland my home. Every day I open up my windows and look down upon the city of Lugano. Mountains rise up on every side of the lake and fall into the horizon while the city wraps itself around the water. It's hard for my heart to not be continuously bursting with gratitude at my never-ending astonishment of this beautiful place. It's filled with magic waiting to be discovered at every turn.
Last summer while I was here I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho which follows the journey of a boy on his quest to find his Personal Legend. Early in the book, the boy is introduced to the concept of omens. "Omens are the individual language in which God talks to you. My omens are not your omens. They are this strange, but very individual language that guides you toward your own destiny. They are not logical. They talk to your heart directly."
After I read The Alchemist I began to see omens everywhere - tiny things here and there that have lead me to this place and time. Sometimes they're everyday things that aren't very special, but sometimes things are too serendipitous and magical to be true. Omens seem to have particularly surrounded me in Switzerland. and my omen this year seems to be Patti Smith.
After a few years of seeing her book, Just Kids, practically everywhere, and knowing that it was one of Florence's early recommendations for Between Two Books, I finally sat down and read it. Just Kids and Gloria Steinem’s, My Life on the Road, shaped the lens through which I traveled through New York City this past spring. I happily envisioned myself as a young Gloria, choosing to take public transportation everywhere in order to be fully present in this human experience (a rare occurrence in LA) and then beelined straight to The Chelsea Hotel to visit the iconic building that Patti, Edie Sedwick, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and so many others have lived.
Soon after finishing Just Kids and visiting New York, my sister asked if I wanted to go to the All Points East festival in London where Patti Smith would be headlining. The festival was so much fun. I met up with my friend Carly whom I had worked with in Switzerland the year before, and we stood in line for an hour and a half to get our makeup done with a shit ton of glitter and proceeded to take a picture with a unicorn after. Because why wouldn't you?
As Patti's time slot got closer, we began to inch our way towards the front stage. When she came out I was completely blown away. It was electrifying. There are fun concerts where you leave and you simply had a good time; and then there are concerts where you are part of a collective experience and you leave feeling more connected to humankind, full of hope and love. This concert was the latter. The performance similarities between Florence and Patti are stunning. Both artists captivate an audience like they've thrown magical dust across the crowd, casting a spell. Both artists had me leaving and feeling like I just had a religious experience.
Towards the end of my trip in England visiting my family, my sister's friend gave me Patti's book, M Train, which enraptured me immediately. As I made my way through the book, I found that there, between the pages, was some Montagnola, Swiss magic sprinkled in front of my eyes. I turned the page and locked my eyes on a polaroid image of the famous author, Hermann Hesse's typewriter Patti had taken at his house which has now been turned into a museum. The very house that is located just a 10 min walk away from the campus of the school that I work at here in Switzerland.
What. Even.
As I opened up my eyes a bit more after learning Patti had been here, I discovered two posters I had never noticed in the coffee shop next to Herman Hesse's house advertising her visits in 2003 and 2010. In an interview from her second visit to Montagnola, Patti said that she had been reading Hermann Hesse since she was a kid. She explained, "If I had to choose the most important 5 books for me, The Glass Bead Game, would be among them for me…. So when I come here I'm not only being welcomed, but I am in the atmosphere where this book was created. Which, for somebody like me, and also to be in such close proximity of the typewriter, is very exciting."
Entering the atmosphere of Hermann Hesse IS exciting. The museum is located in an architecturally stunning building that Hesse used to live in. As you climb each level you are met with copious watercolor paintings of Montagnola and Lugano that he completed over the years. On the second level, you are welcomed into a room with Hesse's personal typewriter as the centerpiece. It sits in front of a bay window, dimly lit in a halo of sunlight that is trickling in through the leaves of a tree outside. The room also holds personal items of his: paintbrushes, stationary, letters, spectacles, a letter stamp. All relics from his life.
Below Hermann Hesse's house stands the remarkable church of St. Abbondino that is lined with Italian Cypress trees and a bell tower that reaches towards the sky. Across the church lies the cemetery where Hesse is buried. In true Patti Smith fashion, I decided to take a detour last week with my power walking group and brought the kids into the cemetery where I showed them the final resting place of Hermann Hesse as well as the founder of our school.Over the years this special place in the world has attracted artists of all kinds. Hermann Hesse called this his home. Patti Smith has visited. George Harrison even spent some of his last months living in a beautiful villa not far from Hesse's house. The people here are kind, there is pizza and gelato for days, and the views never cease to leave you in awe.
If you are a fan of Hermann Hesse this is a definite spot to visit. If you are ever in Switzerland or even in Northern Italy, then you must come to Lugano! I spend my whole year counting down the days until I come back to my "personal Genovia" and get to spend time with my summer family in one of the most beautiful and magical places in the world. Below are some suggestions of places to eat and things to do!
And again, a huge thanks to Florence (and Between Two Books!) for opening me up to the magic that is Patti Smith. And thank you, Patti, for the daily inspiration and pick-me-ups from your Instagram posts. It's so beautiful to read about the magic that is hidden in plain sight in our daily lives.
Recommendations for the Lugano/Greater Ticino area
Food
- Argentinos (great pizza)
- Affogato at -9 Gelato Italiano
- Gelato at Vaninis
- Gelato at Sara Li's
- Cafe next to Hemann Hesse Museum
- Bellavista (two min walk from Hermann Hesse house with great food, wine, and views)
Hikes
- Monte San Salvatore
- Monte Boglia (You will feel like you're in Sound of Music)
Swimming
- Valle Versasca
- Valle Maggia
- Locarno Lido
- Lago Maggiore
- Bellagio (a tiny town on Lake Como)
- Lake Como in general
- Borromean Islands (I have dubbed the palace, "The Little Mermaid Castle.")
- Canyoning
- Bellinzona (beautiful old castle)
- Milano
- Hermann Hesse Museum
Books to Read
- Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse - One of those life-changing, thought provoking book.
- The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse - As noted, one of Patti Smith's favorite books.
- Bloomability by Sharon Creech - Sharon Creech was my omen two summers ago. She was my favorite author growing up. I spotted this book in our merchandise display at the school I work at here in Switzerland because it's about this school! Her husband is one of the most beloved headmasters and both of them even worked at the England campus with my dad. I will never ever get over this omen path. It continually blows my mind
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| Reading M Train in between giving students Montagnola tours |
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| "Patricia" by Florence next to Hesse's typewriter |
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| Patti Smith standing by Hesse's typewriter courtesy of Swissinfo |
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| Glitter and Unicorns at the All Points East Festival |
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