My wife does not approve

Nazy is aware that I am working in the Financial Sector, and hence have a lot of spare time. (“If your customer has no money, Dan, then you have a problem.”) She talked me into joining the American Women’s Club on an outing to Bellinzona.

Bellinzona is located in the Ticino (Italian) part of Switzerland. We left Zürich in the morning (on a clear day) and drove toward the St. Gotthard tunnel. Amazingly, it was raining on the Italian (normally sunny) side of the tunnel. Strategically located between German and Italian communities, Bellinzona is the site of several medieval castles. We chose to see….

“Castelo Grande, Dan.” Nazy explained. “There is a special exhibition of sculpture by Nag Arnoldi.”

“Nag?”

“Bronze sculptures, Dan. They are on display all over the castle grounds.”

The castle, it turned out, was really a fortress. According to the guide, it was built to keep the “Germans” (from the north) out of Italian-controlled areas. The Duke of Milan constructed the fortifications in the 12th and 13th century. The plan worked very well because:

“Although the Germans attacked many times,” the guide explained. “They were always repelled.”

“Really?” I asked. “Every time?”

“Every time for hundreds of years. The German army was not very organized.”

“Obviously this warfare took place a long time ago,” I thought.

Note: Nazy believes that the photograph my limitations as an artist. In particular, she has complained about the “unfortunate composition”. I am, of course, an engineer and, therefore, do not understand her point. (Besides, she is not named “Nag”.)

I have, nevertheless, included the photograph just to see if she is checking the blog.