Tuesday, September 25, 2012
The Highlight of our stay in Langnau
I hope you are not tired of our ramblings - this process is mainly for our trip report/records but we are happy to share them with whom ever may be interested.
Dave:
Today was a highlight of our days here in Langnau, Switzerland. We began by going directly to the COOP store to get e-mails and send the blog. That process usually takes about 45 minutes. The internet connection is good once connected but the process of getting connected often takes some time.
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| How cows are watered when in remote pastures. |
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| The farmstead at Emmenmatt CH |
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| Half way up to Emmenmatt |
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| Close up sheep pens |
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| From a distance |
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| Cheese "factory" - locals process milk into cheese for other farmers then either share the results or pay the farmer. |
After leaving the COOP store we decided since it was a good sunny day, to walk in the countryside and found a narrow Wanderweg just outside the town of Schupbach about 5 km west of Langnau. Well for a narrow Wanderweg it sure had a lot of traffic. We figured there must have been a school back up in there but never did walk far enough to see it. It was a slow steep climb so after an hour climb we turned around and headed back . Along the way we passed a cheese factory - the guy was washing up the equipment outside from the mornings work. Further up the road we heard a chainsaw running. The man had a sawmill and was using a rasper attached to the chainsaw to de-bark some logs by the side of the road . When he saw us coming he turned off the saw and we walked over to talk. He did not understand English and we didn’t understand his German but we gestured about it being a lot of work… I gestured about letting him get back to work but before we left I asked him if I could take his photo and he posed for a shot.
On the way back down at the cheese factory we found a bench at a Y in the wanderweg so decided to eat lunch there. At that point was a sign of a Wanderweg heading down through the pasture across a bridge and up into the woods. The sign on the Wanderweg read Emmenmatt with an arrow so after lunch we headed in that direction. After a 10 minute climb it opened out into a farm yard but the yellow Wanderweg arrow pointed up higher into the woods on a gravel path behind the farm. Wanderwegs are considered open “roads” for hikers - just open the wire fence but be sure to close it behind you. Jean decided to stay and I went on up higher. In another 10 minutes the trail opened onto a large flat plateau with visibility for miles around. Closeby was a farm with cornfields surrounding the farm. Considering the time we decided to head back to the car and into town to McDonalds to send some e-mails.
The highlight though was our visit to Marianne Roethlisberger’s family farm. Turns out it was just around the corner from where we had walked this morning but we did not realize then where she lived having set the GPS on Sunday while there to say hello.
Jean:
Back to the apartment for a short rest and then off for coffee to Marianne Rothlesbergers. We met her in 2010 and we were hoping to connect with her again this time. She was not at church on Sunday but Hans and Heide (we did not get their last names) offered to phone Marianne to see if we could drop by just to say hello.
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| L-R Sarah, Marianne, Jean, Marianne's father, neighbour man and wife |
We were quite disappointed on Sunday when she was not at the Mennonite Church, but Hans and Heidi helped us out some. As it turns out, Heide's father was a brother to Marianne's father (I think :-), so she phoned Marianne to tell her we were looking for her. As it turns out, Marianne was having her cousins, uncles and aunts at their farm on Sunday for a reunion--the first ever, so that is why she was not at church. Funny thing, we were meeting her family as they arrived and someone mentioned that the fellow getting out of the car was 100--turns out he is 101--and right behind him was a lady that we learned spoke English. In chatting with her we learned that she is originally from Switzerland, is a cousin of Marianne's, was visiting her sister in the Langnau area and this reunion was a surprise for her --it had been 40 years since she had seen some of these relatives. Amazing to learn that this sister now lives in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada, served with Sudan Interior Missions where she met her Canadian husband. Small world, eh? Dumb us, we did not get her name--we seem to be doing lots of that this trip.
On Sunday we had arranged for coffee for today at 3:00 and another visit with Marianne. We had a wonderful visit with Marianne by herself and then she told us she had invited her neighbours and her father for what we thought was going to be coffee. As it turned out, it was coffee/tea/fruit punch/tomatoes/4 or 5 kinds of cheeses/breads/4 or 5 kinds of sweets/apple pudding/brown pudding/berries in syrup/grapes and whipped cream!!!! We remember well in 2010 the "spread" she put on for us :-) She is an amazing person. Sunday they had 40 and by afternoon 48 relatives for lunch, had us and that spread today, has Bible Study tonight for 8 people, tomorrow she has kids club with 19, and serving them lunch--chicken nuggets!!!! She seems to thrive on this activity in her life. Her husband, Kurt, came home from work just about 5 minutes before we were leaving, so we got to meet him. Her daughter Sarah was there but the youngest one, that we met in 2010, was not there.
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| Our kitchen |
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| Our kitchen - bedroom on right - balcony door straight ahead |
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