July 26 Ersigen Waldfest

Even though Switzerland is only 1/5 the size of Nebraska, it has 4 languages (German, French, Italian, and Romansh). German is used in the greater part of the country. My German vocabulary is  limited to a few 100 words so I can not read newspapers or brochures. But there are some tools available that are very helpful. We have a German-English dictionary on our phones and we also have the Google Translation app. Using this app when connected to the internet, we can speak a sentence in English or German and the app translates it to the other language. With this app, I can also take a picture of German text and the app will translate it to English. A pretty amazing tool.

Last Sunday afternoon we attended a small festival near the village of Ersigen. 

The picture below shows the menu for beverages and food. The prices (in Swiss Francs) are very close to the cost in U.S. dollars. See if you can read some of it. I have added some translation below the picture.

"Forest Festival, Men's Choir, Ersigen

Sunday, 24 July, 1916

Mineral water (50 cl = 2 cups)

Beer

Wine white

Wine red

Coffee, Tea

Dishes from our grill

Cutlet with  bread

     Cutlet with french fries

Pork or grilled sausage with bread

Pork  or grilled sausage wth french fries

Cermelat = hot dog

For the preparation of the dishes, we only  use 

Swiss products and meat from local butchers."

Now - Here is  your Kaffee Creme - Enjoy

The Alphorn group  at the festival

July 25 Trub

Trub is a small remote Swiss village (in a dead end valley) about 8 miles (14 km) from Lauperswil. Following the Protestant Reformation, it was settled by anabaptists. Between 1532 and 1732, they were severely persecuted because of their beliefs regarding baptism (rejected infant baptism in favor of believer baptism) and literal interpretations of scripture. There were signs along the Wanderweg (walking paths) that described the history and plight of the anabaptists. It is now a popular hiking region. Some pictures from our time there today:

Village church

Church Entrance

Interior

Friedhof (cemetary)

One often sees spring fed watering troughs/fountains

of this kind throughout Switzerland.

The water is safe to drink (if not there is a warning) and

are frequently used by bikers and hikers.

The ever present window boxes and flowers

on the homes and barns.

Hillside sheep in a valley near the village.

Trub

einfach Heimat

(simple home)

Auf Wiedersehen

July 24 Friedhof in Lauperswil

The cemetaries (Friedhof) in Switzerland are well maintained. Each cemetary marker has a well tended flower garden.

The village church bell typically rings at 8:00, 12:00, 15:00, 18:00, and 21:00. Today (Sunday) it rang at 9:15 calling members to the 9:30 service.

July 23 Jakob-Markt, Bern map, Chalet models zu verkaufen

Eine Mischung aus Bildern von der letzten Woche (A mix of pictures from the last week):

Even in small villages like Lauperswil one can sometimes find a market with an extensive selection of groceries, clothing, and household items. In Lauperswil, there is a store called "Jakob-Markt". It is not obvious from the steet or parking lot, but inside it is close to the size of a football field.

The top 3 shelves have a variety of Swiss chocolate bars.

Ovaltine (known here by its original name Ovalmaltine) 

was developed in Bern and introduced in 1905.

Rosti is often on restaurant menus and is similar to hash browns fried in butter.

Nutella (available in the U.S.) is a creamy chocolate 

flavored hazelnut breakfast spread 

(also fantastic on frozen banana bites).

A map of the historical part of Bern where we strolled last Thursday.

Bern was originally founded  in 1191.

The Aare river formed a natural barrier to potential enemies.

The Einstein Apt is 29.

The Parliment building is13.

These handmade Swiss Chalets were on a road side stand in Lauperswil 

(beside a walking trail)

We passed them while walking to Jakob-Markt.

The sign says "Zu Verkaufen" (for sale).

House beside the walking trail near

the apartment where we are staying.

July 22 Emmental countryside pictures

Switzerland is a constant feast for the eyes and it is difficult to stop taking pictures. Today we took some less traveled country roads through the Emmental region (roads only wide enough for one car).

A village shop that sold cheese and dairy products.

A view from a higher elevation as we passed from one valley to the next. 

A farm house typical in the region.

Some of the smaller villages are not the map or included in the gps, so we have to check both to be sure we do not deviate from the route we want to follow. The names of the small villages are themselves interesting and if I  ask for directions I usually find that I am pronouncing them wrong. Want to take a try: Zollbruck, Langnau, Wiggen, Marbach, Schangnau, Oberei, Rothenbach, Ruegsegg, Bowil, Signau, Schupbach.

Hmmm - Which way should we go??

The atmospheric conditions in Switzerland result in a frequent haze (due to humidity and not smog) as can be seen in the next picture. Sometimes a limitation for taking pictures.

July 21 Lauperswil and Bern

Some pictures from  today:

These steps lead to the Lauperswil apt.
Our hosts Jurg and Heidi live in the  lower level.

The view from the living room.

This bridge is about 200 meters from the apt and crosses

a stream into the village. It is just wide enough for one car and has a peak in the middle so you can not see if

a car has started to cross from the other side.

Wheat awaiting harvest.

The apt is in the house with the red roof.

Village house  on the way to Bern.

Overview of the historic part of Bern.

The Aare river borders the south, east, and west sides of the city.

The government building for Switzerland

The Aare river flows behind it on the south side of the old city.

Albert Einstein lived in Bern from 1902 in a small second floor apartment on the street shown below (behind the yellow truck). For 4.50 CHF (seniors and students), you can view his apartment much as it was when he lived there. There is a museum on the 3rd floor that summarizes his youth and his life in Bern, Zurich, Berlin, and Princeton.

While recognized for his remarkable contributions to physics, his personal life was often one of a rascal. He was an average student in the primary grades and a lazy student later during his technical training and often at odds with his professors.

He had a daughter with his first wife before they were married that was abandoned to relatives (Einstein never saw or met his daughter).

He eventually divorced his first wife and married his cousin. A close friend had to prod him to meet his family responsibilities to his first wife and their son after they divorced. 

My "positive entry" for the day. :-)

Einstein lived on the 2nd floor (the living room widows are above the arch).

This is where he first started to develop his theory of relativity.

The flag with the bear is the Bern Canton flag (a canton is a bit like a state in the USA but smaller - more like the size of our Nebraska counties).

Aare River on the south side of the old town.

The streets in the old part of Bern are lined with archades

in front of the shops. You can stroll under the arcades but cars, trams, bicycles, and pedestrians all share the streets (traffic is light).

The public transportation is highly developed throughout Swizerland.

Clean, convenient, and well used.

July 20 Iseltwald on Lake Brienz, Emmental Farmhouse

Today we left Hasliberg and our view of the snow capped Alps for the region in western Switzerland called the Emmental; a region of farms, pastures, forests, and small villages not far from Bern.

The Swiss raise some corn and wheat in the lower elevations and the wheat is now a brilliant gold with the harvest in progress. Compared to Nebraska, the fields are small but they add bright splashes of gold to the otherwise green landscape.
We took the 100 km (60 mile) slow route passing through Interlaken and then along the north side of lake Thun (to the city of Thun) and then north to the small village of Lauperswil. Our one bedroom apartment (with livingroom, kitchen, and bath) is on the 2nd level of our hosts home. Jurg and Heidi live on the ground level with their son and 19 year old twin daughters.

You will notice in the pictures that Lake Brienz has a green hue This is due to the milky glacial water that feeds the lake and the effect on the reflected sunlight. The ice at the bottom of the glaciers in the Alps grind the rocks into a fine flour like powder that stays suspended in the water for a long time and give the river a milky color. The flour reflects the green part of the spectrum.

In this screen shot, you can see the difference in the color of Lake Brienz and Lake Thun (in the middle). Much of the glacial flower has settled out before the water flows through Interlaken into Lake Thun. The snow in the Alps is visible in the lower right. The small blue circle east of Bern is our current location.

Small villages line the shores of both Lake Brienz and Lake Thun (connected by the Aare River which flows first into Lake Brienz and then through Interlaken into Lake Thun.

These pictures were taken in the village of Iseltwald on the southern shore of Lake Brienz. If you look close you  can see the villages on the opposite shore.

Part of the charm of Switzerland is, of course, the flower boxes with the brightly colored flowers (most often geraniums).

They like to put flowers in nooks and crannys on the barns to brighten them up.

Different regions in Swizerland have different styles of homes. This style is common in the Emmental - the Emmentaler Bauernhaus.