Prof. Dr. Albert Einstein recommended his son Hans-Albert in his letter of October 27th, 1938 to consider moving to Ticino because it would be “……. cheaper and warm”. Well, this applies even today, at the real Ticino in Southern Switzerland as well as to our restaurant.
A right mouse click into the following pictures open the letter (in German language) and extracts in a new window. A “Meat Fondue”  (Beef Bourguignonne or Chinoise) for one person was won by Alan B. (presently in Nigeria, Hi Al), Hans B., Pascal Z., Rolf W. und Sepp W. and is theirs until May 31st, 2011. Congratulations to answering a difficult question.

Russian President Medvedev honoured Field Marshall Александр Васильевич Суворов, who went into Swiss history as General Suvorov. Latter congregated his troops on Mount Ceneri in Ticino to advance towards the Gotthard summit. In the “Schöllenen” gorge he freed the historical Devil’s Bridge from French troops on September 24th, 1799. A hundert years later a monument in his and his troops honour (left picture) was erected; a further 110 years later the first ever visit of a Russian President led to said monument. The entire matter has obviously nothing to do with the Grande Capos younger son Terry; this served as an April’s Fool intermezzo - except that Terry danced (centre picture) more than ten years ago at the very spot where Russian President laid a wreath to honour Suvorov and his men (right picture).

Correctly answered and hence lucky winners of a Merlot-filled Boccalini were Alan B., Dietrich M., Felix H., Felix M., Felix R., Hans B., Hans-Peter F., Jürgen L., Léon D., Lungpepsi, Pascal S., Paul K., Peter R., Peter S. (Santiago de Chile!), René N., Ruedi S., Rolf R. and Roger. A la salute and cheers!

The common denominator of Athanasius, born 1931 and Terra, born 1929 and their foal Ticino (1939-1958) is, that all of them are thoroughbred horses?

Ticino’s breeding line remains the most successful in German horse breeding history as it produced - uninterrupted over six generations - the winner in the German Derby and remains internationally an unchallenged success. By clicking onto “Family Tree” you’ll get the full details.

The correct answer - thoroughbred horses - came in twice only, yet we’ll accept all “similar” answers, which were filed by  Bxjohn, Dietrich, Felici, Felix, Fredi, Greth, Hardy, Herbi, Leon, Mugi, Mysli, Pascal, René G., René N., Simone and Thomas R.

Until February 15th, 2011 we gladly bake a pizza of their choice and very much to our surprise we realized how popular horses are among our guests.

We asked in our last quiz about the moveable items at our Ticino restaurant. Originally they were supposed to be called “paperino” but the owner, upon getting the latest prototype presented, changed its name …. to what?

Well, Enrico Piaggo worked with his engineers and designers to develop a scooter allowing to maneuver efficiently throught streets pock-marked with countless potholes of WWII-torn Italy.

The 5th prototype displeased Piaggo to the extent, that he called it a “paperino brutto” (click to see “ugly gosling”). His approval over the MP6 was expressed with “sembra una vespa” (”resembles a wasp”) which gave the first globally successful scooter the name it still bears today.

Frederike, Sepp, Fredi, Hans, Felici, Léon, Tibor and Felix knew the answer and hence are invited to a Spaghetti dish of their choice until January 15th, 2011. Buon Appetito!

What are we using at our Ticino Restaurant to correct coffee? Well, corrected coffee in Italian reads as “Caffè corretto”. Caffè corretto consists of a shot of  espresso “corrected” with a shot of liquor, usually Grappa. Alternatives are known with Sambuca or Brandy. The standard is Grappa and that is what we at Ticino Restaurant use to “correct coffee”.

Erwin, Felix R., Hans, Karo, Léon, Rene T. and Sepp knew the answer (this Caffè Corretto seems to be a male thing); congratulations! They may enjoy a pizza of their choice on the house until end of the year (except 24th, 25th and 31st December 2010).

The last quiz referred to the combined age of the Vespas displayed at Ticino’s entrance. Correct age is 138 years, being 1963, 1965 and 1964 in sequence as parked from the left on the left of this screen. All three scooters are in perfect running condition and are used daily.

Gianni’s answer was closest with 139 years; one Fondue Bourguignonne or Chinoise until December 15th, 2010 is his. All the others are invited to a glass of house wine or a local beer; it was indeed a guessing rather than a knowing.

Ever scissored a pizza?

The picture to the right translates into:

Confirmed throughout 2010
Buy 3
Pay 3
while stock lasts

Italian logic, capito?