Saturday, September, 22, 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
OK enough rain
Realizing we would be in Switzerland for the next 15 days or so, we decided to stock up on groceries in Germany - everything is more expensive in Switzerland so before leaving our farm stay at Dorerhof in the Black Forest, we went into town once more to the REWE store.
The temperature was 7 degrees C when we left but warmed up to a woppin’ 14 C by the time we arrived here in Langnau, Switzerland. We had rain ALL the way - heavier at times but mostly a drizzle.
Note to self - “do not set GPS to anything less than Fastest Route” - especially when needing to go around a large city like Basel. Gertie did it again and took us right through the centre of Basel. As if that was not enough, there was much construction and that just throws her right off kilter. That added to the fact there was a Folk festival downtown only added to the frustration. Altogether we were on hour and a half getting through there. Plus a few miss turns - especially hard to get into the proper turn when you are in a underground tunnel. All in all our nerves are shot for today. There were a few scenery shots today though.
There is no internet here but there is a McDonalds within driving distance where we hope to connect tomorrow. By the time you read this it may already be tomorrow or the next day even.
Everything is within driving distance I mentioned and mean that literally. We are way up there and the winding hill is way to steep even for walking up - (it was first gear up all the way) - even after much walking the past few days in the Black Forest. And where we are is only half way up there. We are at the end of the road here but other roads must go up there because there are farms way up there. It would be great for skiing and Margit our host said they do rent the “stubli” here out during ski season. It would be one run a day unless you had a shuttle buddy willing to take you back up top. It is difficult to get proper height perspective but if you look closely, a house is visible in the valley below beside the woods.
The “stubli” is a typical Swiss style house. In this one the grandparents live on the first floor and we have the entire 2nd floor. Everything is here - it is fully stocked except for the food. The heat is wood heat and she showed us how to stoke the large ceramic/cement stove once a day to keep warm. It was very warm in here when we first arrived so we opened some windows. The stove is a large structure in the centre of the house with parts of the stove protruding into each room so that the heat is felt in every room. Smart eh? The pieces of wood are all 2 feet long and the fire box could take pieces nearly 4 feet long. There are little clean out doors in each room - supposedly there are chambers in there where the heat spreads out to each room. We think the grandparents must have the heat on downstairs because it is still warm up here. It looks like there are at least 2 flus rising up the centre of the large chimney up through the entire house.
After supper we drove back down into town to check out the time for the service at the Langnau Mennonite Church. It is the oldest still operating Mennonite church in Europe and therefore probably, the world. In some recent records we read of a Peter Lehman on Jean’s side of her family tree having originated from this area so after Sunday we may try to dig up some roots. There are some “Lehmann” tombstones in the cemetery across the street but the oldest markers are only about 30 years old. After that the stone is moved to the outside as a fence and room is made for new arrivals. Since land is scarce, most families only buy a 25 or 30 year lease. Bones are discretely moved to one side making room for new arrivals. Guess there is no need to keep things sorted out anyway.
Went to sleep with the cows - their bells were clanging in the field right outside our stubli.
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