Coiffeur

One of the first places where my papa worked as a barber in Münsingen. He worked here for about a year before he went to New Zealand. When he came to visit before he passed, he said the house looks very much the same as it did when he worked there, some 60 years ago.

Medieval clocks and churches

Bern is truly a medieval town. It quite extraordinary to see the houses and fountains and clocks that have been here for centuries.

A church built about the same time as the Notre Dame in Paris.

Where Einstein lived in Bern. Unfortunately the museum there is closed for renovation so we saw only the exterior.

A beautiful walk near a castle and church where a wedding is going on. Quite a princess castle I think. I should love to get married here. These pictures unfortunately do not really do it justice.

Church near the castle

Double Rainbow

I cannot believe I already am leaving in a week. Although it will be so nice to be back at home, I should be very sad to leave. Last night, we enjoyed a lovely dinner on the terrace, enjoyed some laughs and talked about everything from religion, to the occupations of Werner's brothers and sisters, and about the huge extended family we have here (Werner is one of 10 children and his parents each had about the same amount of siblings)--And then we saw it...yep, a double rainbow. At first we just saw the single from, nearly from beginning to end (except for a tall tree blocking the middle of it) and then I saw the faintest image of another one just above it. It is very faint so I am not quite sure you can even see it in the picture, but it was definitely there.


The double rainbow

A beautiful little church in Schwarzenegg (no -er at the end) where we took a nice Sunday walk before lunch.

At the Beau Rivage, the owner always puts some nice flowers on the table for us as Catherine and Werner have been coming there for years. I tried to capture the nice intricate little green and pink one, which unfortunately did not come out quite as well as I hoped.

Lake Thun

Goethe

All of these photos I took while walking just through the fields outside the house.






über allen Gipfeln
ist Ruh,
in allen Wipfeln
spürest du
kaum einen Hauch.
Die Vögel schweigen im Walde.
Warte nur, balde
ruhest du auch.
--Goethe

(On all hilltops
There is peace,
In all treetops
You will hear
Hardly a breath.
Birds in the woods are silent.
Just wait, soon
You too will rest.)

'The purpose of poetry is not to dazzle us with an astonishing thought, but to make one moment of existence unforgettable and worthy of unbearable nostalgia.'
--Milan Kundera, Immortality

Another beautiful meal at the Beau Rivage, Catherine and Werner's favorite restaurant in Thun, and one of the best meals I have ever had. I really must remember to take my camera if we are to go again (which I am sure we will as we have gone three times already), for the food is always as beautiful as it is delicious, and the owner always places nice flowers on the table since Catherine and Werner have been going there since the restaurant opened 10 years ago.

Yesterday we had delicious beef with mushrooms and asparagus with a goat cheese cream sauce accompanied by a delectably sinful risotto and preceded by grilled shrimp. For dessert was a symphony of little bites of everything, creme brulee and chocolate mousse and ice cream and truffles galore, and followed by the requisite espresso and limoncello. The waitstaff is so friendly here and reminds me very much of my time in Italy a few years back.

Today Werner joked with me more: he told me that when one of the waiters says 'How do you do?', I am to say (I cannot remember the words in German) that he can spank my bottom. He had quite a laugh hearing me repeat the words--although I repeated them only to him, not the waiter of course. Afterwards, a man who looked like the now infamous Dominique Strauss-Kahn entered the restaurant and Werner told me to draw nearer to him if he happens to pass our table.
I so love being here. Even just driving through the little villages in the rain brought me such joy.



One of the oldest houses in Bern.

The gorgeous blue-green Thunersee ('See' meaning 'lake' in German, just a bit confusing for the English speaker)

I watched Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart in Sabrina for the first time a couple days ago and upon its conclusion (or even at its beginning) I could not believe that I had never seen it before. It is a most beautiful story, with just the right amount of predictability and suspense and the most extraordinary of characters. I should very much like to feel like Sabrina--a willful stubborness that gives way to a graceful sophistication and yet never lacking in imagination and a desire to always aspire to more than mediocrity.

On learning German

The path behind the farm where Uncle Werner and my papa used to take frequent walks.

From a walk near another beautifully bright castle.

I spent an afternoon with my Onkel Werner while Tante Catherine was at the doctor and we took a few nice walks, near castles and around the small farm school where he and my papa used to take walks when Werner was a child. We spoke an odd hybrid of German and English and with my handy pocket German dictionary (thank you Alex for giving this to me!), we were able to talk a bit of my papa and their family. Although my German is quite terrible to say the least, it was so nice to be able to talk with my Uncle. He was quite a bit younger than my grandfather, his brother, (about 15 years) so they were not particularly close but we spoke a bit about my grandfather and about their father, my great-grandfather, who was a furniture salesman and a very hard worker, Werner asserted. Our conversation even got so far that Werner imparted to me a piece of advice (ein Ratschlage), that I should not get married too young (for life is very long), unless I find a millionaire, he joked. But most important, he said was that I am independent before I get married, which I find to be excellent advice.

How important it is to know the language of another, I have realized. How much we glean and learn of another from the way in which they use their words. I do hope that I improve my German more during my stay here and particularly when I return for I should very much like to enjoy more conversation with my uncle. He is a very smart, humble and loyal man, with the Heimberg humor and suave nature which I believe he inherited from his father. I hope especially to better my German if only so that I may not appear so dull on receipt of his many jokes.

Bern

I spent some time walking around Bern while my Aunt Catherine was at the hairdresser. I must say I was already a bit shocked at being in such a large town--although Bern is small compared to most large cities. Just being in a small village for just a few days has made me accustomed to its quietness and the fact that I only see a few people each day. Nonetheless, I could put aside the discomforting catcalls from strange men to enjoy a short walk through the grounds of the Parliament building, see some older men enjoying a game of chess, and watch the dark clouds passing behind the bright gold of the Parliamentary building.

Viele Schloessen

The little park around the Schloess Huenegg

I love the lettering for all the signs--it is common in all the little villages.

There are the Alps in the background, though covered by some clouds. When it is clear, you can see their peaks.

The castle of Thun again--I find it so beautiful.

Sorry these are all a bit mixed up. They take a long time to load so I have not done much to re-organize them. I will load all my pictures onto my Picassa when I return so there will be much more to come later. This is just a sampling.

Schoessen

I have visited many castles with my aunt and uncle. They are much quainter than the sometimes frightening facades of the Palais Royale or Versailles. And much less crowded inside, which is lovely not having to battle crowds while trying to get a sense of a certain history.
The water near the castles, whether just a river or the Thunersee are so clear you can see right to the bottom. I don't know if I have seen clearer water anywhere else. And Lake Thun is a glorious greenish-blue--very cold as it is run-off from the mountains but very clean and fresh.



The Turkish smoking salon at the top of the Schloessen Oberenhof

The colors of the Canton Bern are gold and that beautiful Swiss red--just like the House of Gryffindor! I knew there was a reason I liked Harry Potter so much.

On seeing

I feel as though I could have been here four days or four weeks. Each day is calm and passes with just the perfect pace, and yet so quickly I find again that it is dinner time and then I pass quietly into sleep. I have never felt so comfortable with routine. I wake usually an hour or two after Catherine and Werner; Catherine leaves out some bread and butter and jam for me, as well as the tea pot with an earl grey tea bag--all I must do is heat the water, she reminds me as I come down the stairs from my room.

Time is so quaint and habitual here that I think I should feel the same on my last day here as my first--not that I will have gained nothing from beginning to end but that my affections for this place should always remain constant. It is strange perhaps that I find such comfort in traveling, yet traveling for me has never been about seeing all. In fact, I find that it is largely about halting 'seeing', the desire to see all and thereby know all, that is the essence of traveling for me. I find that such a desire inevitably just hinders seeing. Why are we always so intent on seeing? Our old phrase 'seeing is believing' evinces that it is through sight that we come to know. But what of our other senses? I am perhaps the worst offender of this tired phrase, for I am always reaching for my glasses even in the moments that I could pass by more on feeling or another sense. It is not that I romanticize blindness but rather I like to think how it may be that to truly 'see' is to relinquish any desire to see at all.

But of course, photographs are still a joy to have, so long as we first see and look and feel before the camera comes in the way. Here are a few from a trip to Thun, where my grandfather and his family spent much of their time.





A home where my grandfather's family lived...the rightmost window I believe.
And the castle of Thun--beautifully perched up on the hill.

My uncle Werner has quite a brilliant sense of humor, much like his brother my own Papa. Catherine tells me how a friend of theirs came to visit and on the way received a traffic ticket. The friend left it at their house, expecting Werner to pay it. Werner jokingly only paid 2 francs out of the 50 which were due, resulting in another ticket for his friend and court date. Werner loyally accompanied his friend to court to explain what happened--suffice it to say, the judge was not amused.

Werner also has strong political involvement as he writes letter to the government to ask questions and make complaints, particularly those concerning injustices against animals. Although he enjoys normal servings of meat, he is one of those who believes that the animals must not suffer in the process of their raising. Switzerland has high standards for the handling of animals and Werner is intent upon buying only Swiss meat, rather than American, although I imagine that even with transportation costs it may be cheaper to purchase US meat. A half a kilo of chicken cutlets costs 20 francs, which with the ailing US dollar amounts to about 22 dollars. I am of the mind though that we should spend a larger percentage of our earnings on food, and I think we have it very much backwards in the states.

Huebeli

This country is beautiful. I do love the city of Paris but I must say I enjoy the tranquility of Switzerland. It began to rain as I rode the train from Paris to Bern, which was just perfect. Catherine picked me up from the Bahnhof in Bern and Werner and their dog Molino greeted me at home. Werner, with his sweater tied around his shoulders, reminds me so much of my own Papa. They look very much alike and share much of the same humor. I was in awe when I walked into my room at Catherine. A little wooden writing desk is perched up on a small platform and it has the most spectacular view. All I can see is green and the snow-capped Alps in the distance. Catherine made us dinner of salad, potatoes, meat and Zopfe, a bread common in the canton of Bern. She rolled it out to to Werner and me on the little trolley cart and they showed me the popular European song contest, similar to American Idol but with one competitor from each European country. Apparently, it preceded American by about 40 years and Celine Dion got her start on the show singing for Switzerland. The UK boy group performed, each wearing open leather jackets with one just wearing a leather vest--Werner joked that he forgot to finish his costume.

I woke this morning at dawn to the sounds of the birds singing outside my wind and the fresh air after the rain floating through my window. We took a drive to Thun, where my grandfather grew up, and had an amazing Italian meal there of grilled beef and vegetables cooked to perfection with some white wine and semifreddo for desert. Then we watched the horseraces live from Paris...an Englishman with a funny hat smoking a huge cigar was in the background during the interviews with the winners. 'Sehr komisch', Werner laughed.

Catherine showed me some family photos and her and Werner's wedding video. On 5. Juni they will celebrate their 44th wedding anniversary.

I must go as dinner will be prepared soon. I really wish you could see the view from the windows here where I sit.

x x

Justine

Here we are as the Eiffel Tower twinkles behind us. And Conrad wrapped in his sister's sweater as he forgot his own.

Now that I have settled in Switzerland, I will be able to dedicate more time to writing and hopefully write some more eloquent posts.

Much love to you all. Wishing you could be here with me.