We started out after what can only be described as another pretty ordinary hotel breakfast at about 10.30am for a wander around the back streets of the old town.
However Sandie got the idea that she should try to get a bit more info about her Swiss /Italian Roots.
So first stop was the Municipal Offices, where the guy in charge, who could only speak a few word of English tried his very best to give us some information and also told us to go to another Government Office where more info might be available. This time we were a little thankful for the info we got.
We found out that any info about the family prior to 1850 would have to come from church records in the area....he was able to provide contact information.
We left him suggesting he google Yandiot and Daylesford.. to find out what happened to many Swiss /Italians who left this area....some family names vanished from the area as people left for California and Australia... its a shared history of interest to both countries.
Anyway the back streets revealed an old church from the 1100cent and Roman Ruins of a once thriving settlement dating back moor than 2000 years ago.
One other interesting place we found was an Aldi store. Now this may seem stupid but I have had to look at every Aldi store I have come across. I can report that the company was set up by 2 brothers, that make up the Aldi name, and secondly the brothers had a falling out and sort of divided Europe into north and south, each brother running their section.
Well those stores in the North are no where as slick as those in the south, those in the south are exactly the same as the stores in Australia...the product layout and the position of products in ailes are almost the same.
I could see common brand names from chocolates to Work Zone hardware goods.
Its a proven commercial success story, they keep it simple, keep prices down, and do funny things like selling , tents, clothes etc down the middle of each store for limited times.... The drinks on sale are amazing , wine from all over Europe from the best regions AND A FEW FROM Australia, but you guessed it with an Aldi name label.
Day ended at 3.00pm for us.... its hot and humid, and we needed to rest up before our last meal in Locarno....what will it be tonight??
Sorry no pics.
But if you can find Sandies facebook page or Polarsteps page she as usual has some goodies.
Tomorrow we head to a small town close to the MILAN airport where we fly out Saturday night about 11pm .The hotel provides a free airport shuttle service.
The best part of tomorrow will be 4.5 hr train ride through the Alps and along the lake shores. Should be good.
Then that's our Eurail Pass done and dusted with 50 train rides documented..it has been fun.
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