Saturday in Almere, R&R

Not much happened today but I'll enter this. We hung out at our cousins' home and worked on our packing of luggage. Yes, the luggage arrived in Amsterdam having passed the Bole airport authorities but we took some coffee out, an Ethiopian black pottery dish broke and we were buying some stuff in Europe (mostly cheese). So we rearranged luggage weight until everything was under 23 kgs. per bag (but as I write on on Monday night we are rearranging a bit more with a few more purchases).

But it was also such a nice day to hang out with Bob & Miriam and talk with them about all sorts of ideas, issues and hopes. We have been blessed to have as our hosts and tour guides friends and family in Almere and Basel but it was very helpful to have folks from our cultural background help explain Dutch culture for us. They are observers and still outsiders even as they have learned the language and are living as Dutch. But being from the same family and being from the U.S. was very helpful to interpret Dutch values and mores.

Alkmaar: Cheese Market and Cheese Heads

The Cheese Market at Alkmaar, something I had read about and wanted to see. Bob & Miriam were kind enough to offer their car for the trip so we headed out on the Dutch highway system (A1 to A6 to A10 to A8 to A9). We didn't get the early start I hoped for, oh well, I continued to repeat our mantra to myself, after all we are on vacation.

We arrived at the edge of town not knowing how to get to the cheese market. With a little guess work (that says Centrum, must be the city center . . . let's follow all those cars, bet we're all going to the same place) we parked in a parking garage and walked over to the Waag plein/ weighing square. A big crowd had already gathered before us but there were metal stands for people to stand on and there was room so I got up on the stands with the family following. Men were dressed in white hauling the large round cheese into the square on sleds with ropes. The men operated in pairs, one in front, the other in back of the sled. The ropes were strapped like harnesses over their shoulders and they ran in rhythm. It was clear they had done this many times, they talked to the crowd, they shouted to each other and generally seemed to enjoy putting on a show. The large wheels of cheese were being taken from cheese makers to be weighed and then sold to buyers. Here is the wikipedia link which gives a good account; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_cheese_markets

We got down off the bleachers and went around the square to the back where the cheese museum shop was. It was busy. Eventually we headed down the street into other parts of the city, actually to find bathrooms (the trip took its toll). I have become used to paying 50 cents for access to bathrooms private and public. It was hard to do at first for a North American but when ya gotta go . . .

Alkmaar is another old city in Holland (here's another link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkmaar). A short reading of history shows that it was often at war with the Frisians. It was also a principle city during the times of the Spanish attempts to control the low countries and later during the Napoleonic Wars. The city is clean and orderly, cobble stone streets and high narrow houses facing the street front. As with all cities in Europe there is a large church/ cathedral in the center of the city. We walked the city streets with a tour map and started to learn about the city and it's history.

That is until the rain started. The rain was only spitting when it did come down (except for one down pour, but it was over lunch time when we were in a Greek restaurant) but the gusts of wind added to the coolness and soon my little family was complaining of cold. So we cut short our walking tour and headed back to the car.

By now my North American readers will be asking, so what does cheese heads have to do with Alkmaar? Just this, back in the day when the Frisians (or was it the Spaniards?) were attacking the people of Alkmaar the men would wear the wooden cheese molds (you know for the big round cheeses) on their heads during the attack for protection, which led to the rise of the nickname 'cheese heads' in Alkmaar! And now you know the rest of the story . . .

Riding the rails, a Bohemian thing to do in North America but a very bourgeoisie thing to do in Europe. Our family comes from a driving culture so taking the tram or the train is a novel experience. My anxiety level rises because in order to take trains you cannot miss the connections, if you do you'll be screwed up the rest of the day. Then my anxiety will go through the roof. So we need to make our connection at 9:23 at Tram number 10. Ok if we miss that one we can get the next one at 9:33 but that's the last chance! 9:23 to 9:28, get off and get bus 36 at 9:35 which will take us across the Rhine river to the Basel Badischer Bahnhof by 9:48 which is great because we need to be there by 10:11 so we don't miss the 10:22 departure.

Which is what happened. Our friends Andy and Manuela and their kids Eleanor and Jonathan met us to say good-bye. Sad partings and fond farewells. They were also good hosts for us. Our time in Switzerland was memorable because of the people we met as much as the places we visited and things that we did.

So what's it like to ride first class in a train in Europe? Anything special? Yes and no. There were no free meals (although the girls got free popsicles and gummi bear candy and Wanda & I each got a small piece of chocolate). But we found a compartment in each train where all six seats were sealed off from the rest and we could talk and laugh and argue freely. The seats were made of soft leather but reclined only slightly. The train ride is relatively smooth with swaying around corners and the occasional rough start and stop. The girls were enamored at first but by hour 5 the novelty was wearing off.

The landscape changed from a rural south to an urban north. Golden fields of wheat interspersed with green fields of corn dotted the countryside with towns and villages clustered around churches with steeples. The urban landscape is both wonderfully ordered and at times filled with tagged bridges and walls. Graffiti is an urban reality everywhere, not just in Europe or North America. The culture of tagging is something I cannot fathom but those 'artists' don't see it as an eyesore or vandalism, it is art in their eyes.

We finally arrived at Amsterdam Centraal at 5:30, about 5 minutes late. The Centraal was hopping, it was rush hour at the station. We managed to not get run over by hordes of commuters, tourists and bicyclists. We eventually found the ticket office and purchased tickets to Almere Musicwijk. Finding the right train took some time but eventually we found it and rode the rails one more time in the day. Miriam was there to greet us at the station and we packed all our bags in the car and 3/5's of our family walked (2/5's of our family needed to use the bathroom quickly).

We were warmly welcomed once again by Bob & Miriam. The girls went out to pick the blueberries on his bushes which were used in pancakes for supper. It did feel like coming home. Everyone was tired, at least that was the story, but the parents were in bed first with the girls staying up late. Oh well, its vacation . . .

A Full Rich Last Day in Switzerland

What to do on our final day? Should we visit great museums? Go to historic places? Ride the rails (trams) all day long? Shop until we drop? Given these options which do you think took precedence with three daughters?

The morning was for the shopping spree. Apparently the girls have grown out of their clothes and we can't wait to buy in NA, some things had to be bought here. So off they went on the tram to the MParc stop and went clothes shopping. That gave me some time to catch up on the internet and other things. I went up later to bring Sophia back by tram as she insisted that she stay only as long as needed to try on clothes (she is not a born shopper like her sisters, good for her!).

We had lunch at the Sagessers, Heidi made us another typical Swiss meal consisting of Birchermuesli and bread. Then we headed out to meet up with Mary Friesen Amstutz and her daughter Anna. The girls and Anna went out for the afternoon; swimming, eating, going around. Turns out that they went swimming only for a short time, they thought the water was not warm enough. So they went on to a music museum, to McDonald's and other places, all on the public transportation. It was a great education for them, getting around town.

Wanda & I, in the meantime, had an afternoon to ourselves. After going back and getting the camera we headed out to see if we wanted to go to the Basel Kunstmuseum. But when we got there and saw the price of admission I wanted to have an idea what kind of art I was going to see. What better place to go than the book store where they sell postcards and posters of the art in the museum? Yes, they had many great artists' paintings displayed but not necessarily their well known works. So we saved ourselves the money and time, we'll go to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and walked back out.

We wandered somewhat aimlessly now, relaxed in the knowledge that we didn't have to do something or be somewhere in the moment. We needed to keep track of time to go to the Amstutz' for supper but otherwise we could roam. We wandered into what we discovered was the shopping district of Basel. Beautiful shops, outdoor cafes, little boutiques. I bought a pretzel bun that was sliced in half and filled with butter, I could have eaten several of those! Wanda & I sat down at a cafe for a drink and a snack and watched the square as people of all walks of life paraded past. We then continued on down back streets into another square, where the 'Spalentur' stood. What was its history? Don't know, have to look it up. But the dates on the tower were from the 1500's.

Thanks to our handy dandy Basel transport map we looked for and found the no. 14 tram to take all the way down to Muttenz where Aschli & Mary Amstutz live. We were to meet up with the girls there. Mary gave us good directions, we got off the tram and walked with no problem to their home. Aschli was there to greet us and we took a look around in their house and back yard. They had green space in their back yard along with an amazing variety of fruits and vegetables. Potted blueberry, raspberry and tomato plants all becoming ripe. That's what we'll do if we are in a city, plant small fruit trees and berry plants in pots.

Aschli had ordered a pizza cross town at the club where the girls swam (it belongs to Mary's business) but they don't have a car. No, rather he has 1,400 vehicles at his disposal! The Amstutz' are part of a vehicle sharing plan in Switzerland. In Muttenz are 8 cars which they can sign up for and use, sometimes on a moment's notice. All red cars and all stationed in one place. We took bicycles there, he used his special card to swipe the sticker on the car and voila! it opened. Great system. 3 Swiss Francs per hour and .40 pfennig/ km. All the insurance is paid for when you buy in. I have heard of such a system in some cities in the U.S. but not in Canada. We'll have to see if we can do that, maybe when we return in the beginning.

Once again we had a great supper of pizza and salad and ice cream for dessert. Time went by so fast that suddenly it was 9:15, once again the light in the evening sky through me off. So we had to bit adieu to our new friends Mary & Aschli and Anna. We piled into the Amstutz' (shared) vehicle and Aschli drove us back to the Sagessers. In the twilight of the early evening we said a farewell to our hosts of one week. Heidi and Bruno, Mattias, Lukas and Hannah were wonderful hosts. They tried their English out on us which was their greatest gift of all. We said good night very late (11:30 p.m. is late for us) anticipating and, in some sense, dreading the morrow . . .

Monday in the Juras

Once again we took the Fiat van with Stephan driving us, the only sad part was that Andy couldn't accompany us. But between Manuela (Jonathan) and Stephan we were well taken care of. We headed out for the Jura region to visit the area where I lived and worked for 6 months as an MCC trainee 25 years ago.

After getting off the main 4 lane highway we wound our way up twisting roads into the mountains finally stopping in a quiet place of cows and a bed and breakfast to walk up to a former Anabaptist meeting place.

Known as the 'Geisskirchlein', it was an open shallow cave, a rock formation in the form of a music shell really, where our spiritual ancestors gathered in secret, far away from prying eyes and ears. It was a long trek up hill most of the way and at times we wondered if we were on the right trail (no signage below) but as we got to the path that diverted from the main path a wooden sign quietly pointed the way. So we sat and then we sang a few songs including 'What is this place' (that would be HWB 1) which seemed to have the appropriate words:

What is this place, where we are meeting,

only a house, the earth its floor.

Walls and a roof, sheltering people,

windows for light, an open door.

Yet it becomes a body that lives when we are gathered here,

and know our God is near.

I kept humming it the rest of the day (including verses 2 and 3, although I'm not sure I had all the words down right).

We then headed for Les Reussilles, the farm of Daniel and Teresa Gerber. On the way we saw a Tete de Moine cheese shop open in Bellelay and stopped and bought one cheese. It was expensive (about $28 USD) so we'll have to take it home with care and eat it sparingly.

Our meeting with the Gerbers finally arrived. I had to admit I couldn't show Stephan and Manuela the way, I was turned around. Where was the farmhouse? We drove into Les Reussille, still couldn't get a reading. We followed the GPS in the van and went past tennis courts (well, those weren't there 25 years ago). The GPS led us up the hill and finally the farmhouse came

into view. And there was Teresa coming out to meet us. Time changes all of us yet we remain recognizable to each other. I introduced my family and we went immediately to a table outdoors to have lunch. The weather was absolutely perfect, warm and sunny, low humidity, gentle breeze, if at all. The cowbells tinkling on the nearby field, goats next to us. The vista was out of the Sound of Music. We were joined by Daniel and then later Olivier who is running the farm now with his wife. Daniel and Teresa are retired and living downstairs in the farmhouse. But as anyone who has lived on a farm with generations, one is never completely retired from farm work if you live on a farm. So Daniel was off with Olivier after lunch to go another farm to pick up farming equipment. It's the middle of hay season and they needed to bale hay while the sun shines.

After a short tour of the house and barn we bid a fond farewell to the Gerber family and headed out to one other site of Anabaptist historical significance, a 'Taufer brucke'. A bridge under which the believers met in secret for years until the time of persecution had passed. A brand new bridge was up with historical markers on site. It was good to see the Swiss acknowledge this as part of their history.

One last stop, to see the house and kaserai I worked in with the Amstutz'. They were no longer there, they had move the operation to another place. The town of Moron was quiet except for some farmers working up the road. Outside of a few changes, the town remained the same from 25 years ago. But it did bring back a lot of memories, walking around the house.

We got back into Basel at 6:30, another long day but good one. Tuesday would be a 'day of rest'.

Sunday in Basel

We gathered for Sunday morning breakfast with the Sagesser family. Swiss Sunday breakfasts include the special bread 'Zopf', a braided bread made simply of flour, salt, butter and milk. Every breakfast includes jams, breads, butter, milk and coffee.

We would be going to church this morning but ironically not to the Schantzli Mennonite Church (although that is Schantzli's sanctuary in the photo) that I had hoped to worship in. Instead we were to go to the neighboring Reformed church for a combined service. This is now a yearly occurrence, something that started 4 or 5 years ago, always on the first Sunday of July. The Mennonite pastor preached and the Reformed pastor presided over the service. There was an infant baptism to start the service off. I thought it a bit odd to put that ceremony front and center of a combined Mennonite/ Reformed service, almost like rubbing it in the face of your guests. But maybe Mennonites have had an adult baptism when they hosted. But everyone sat there quietly except the baby, who screamed away at the action of a strange woman (the Reformed Pastor) holding him and making him wet (just sprinkling).

After the service I did have a chance to talk to several people, one was a woman who knew a genealogist who is working on an Amstutz family history in NA. So I gave her my email address to give to this woman. My advice was, if she was going to visit the US, she should surely visit Kidron and the historical museum downtown. I also talked to a young man of 16, Daniel, who was a missionary kid with his family in the Congo as a boy. I also talked with Mattias and Sylvia Hofer who were MCC'ers in Botswana for several years. I also knew Mattias when I was a trainee in '86.

The rest of the day was mostly rest and relaxation. The girls needed to hop on the razor scooters and bicycles and go up and down the local street where the Sagessers live. We enjoyed lunch and supper there, including grilled sausage for supper with at least half of the family (that would be 4 of the children) present. Bruno & Heidi have been wonderful hosts and it has been fun to get to know their children, the majority are adults and gone.

I did show some photos as a power point presentation of sorts. I just pulled out groups of photos at random, which did remind me that I should go through all the photos and put together some presentations for family and friends.

In the evening as we were relaxing outside in lawn chairs on a beautiful summer's eve, we met Ernst and Mary Amstutz and their 14 year old daughter. Our girls seemed to hit it off with her while we enjoyed talking with Ernst and Mary. Mary is Canadian Mennonite from B.C. and Ernst was a trainee in Canada (its amazing the number of former trainees I have met). We enjoyed hearing their stories. Mary's story was amazing. Born in Tajikistan, emigrated to Canada at 6, now here in Switzerland, she was part of a Mennonite remnant in central Asia. Such stories are always fascinating to me.

Another day to remember in Switzerland.

Amsterdam to Basel

True to form we rested on Thursday. Wanda and the girls went uptown for a walk and some groceries but otherwise we hung around the house. I was committed to getting caught up on these blogs. We also did laundry, what a blessing to have a house and a place to relax and wash clothes. We are grateful for the hospitality of Bob & Miriam.

Thursday evening Miriam and Wanda drove our carry on luggage to the train station in Almere while the girls and I walked (5-10 minutes) in the glorious summer weather of Holland (sunny but cool). Miriam helped get us pointed in the right direction, we boarded the train and said good bye for now and headed to Amsterdam. We found the right track and waited for the ICE (Inter-City Express) that would take us to Basel.

The sleeper car was also a bicycle rack car as well. We managed to get our luggage on in the crowd (in spite of some German man impatiently telling my girls, come on, get on, with their big carry on pieces, not helping but full of bark) and find our compartment. Tiny in size, 6 beds just with the length of the beds being no more than 5'11” in length. Since we were a family of 5 we wondered if someone was joining us. Not in Amsterdam. When the conductor came through he told me to keep the lower bunk bed open for someone joining at the Frankfurt airport stop.

The excitement of travelling on a sleeper car soon wore off for me but the family managed to sleep once it turned twilight. At 2:10 a.m. We stopped in Frankfurt and sure enough a woman joined us. We had locked the sliding door with a chain and sliding lock that is common in hotels. But this also had a plastic pincer at the top that needed to be squeezed properly in order to release the round bolt. I couldn't do it. With the woman and the conductor waiting on the other side I tried again and again to squeeze that plastic piece, to no avail. A rare failure in German engineering. Finally I squeezed just right (what did I do differently this time?) and it came out. I opened the door. The woman came in with a huge suitcase. With no place to put it (too big to go under the bed) it stayed on what little floor space there was making it almost impossible to get past it if one needed to go out to the bathroom. But she was quiet and managed to get her bedding ready in the semi-darkness. I couldn't sleep well after that. Should have paid for that 6^th spot in our compartment.

Nevertheless we arrived in Basel SBB right on time. We were given the wake up call a half an hour before by a conductor (wish I had known that, I also couldn't sleep because I didn't want to wake up and miss our stop and end up in Zurich). We pulled all our belongings from the compartment and headed out into the narrrow passageway to the bike area. We pulled all our stuff off and looked around to see what to do next. Got to find the main entrance, someone will be waiting there for sure.

But that someone came to meet us at the train. I realized that a young woman pushing a baby stroller was coming toward us who looked familiar, it was Manuela Kohler Martin. What a nice gesture! So we met Jonathan, her 3 month old son. After greetings all around we made our way to the main hall where Manuela purchased public transportation tickets for us, two adults, the girls ride free with us. We managed to get our luggage (and the baby stroller) on the trams and headed for the Sagesser house.

We were warmly welcomed by Heidi (and later Bruno and family) to her house and a typical Swiss breakfast of hearty bread, butter, jam and honey. Of course coffee was on the table as well. I remember such breakfasts well, I ate a lot of bread as a trainee 25 years ago! We were shown to our rooms on the 3^rd floor and then talked plans for the weekend and week. We hung out in the morning around the house, catching a cat nap to feel more ready for the day. After a lunch Wanda and Amani and I headed for the tram and into the city. Abby and Sophia didn't want to go but just stay around the house and ride on the razor scooters the Sagessers had.

We took the tram back to the train station and got some money (Swiss Francs). I got out the transportation map and we hopped a tram further into the city. We walked the city streets, ended up at the large church cathedral, the Munster, and saw the beautiful vista of a city on a hill (the church too). Eventually we found our way back to the train station, stopped for some ice cream at McDonald's (I know not kosher for American/ Canadian tourists but it is cheaper and clean and the food is good) before heading back to the Hofmatt stop where the Sagessers live near.

That night we enjoyed a supper at Andy and Manuela's home, traditional Swiss fare again, Rosti. With salad of course and other goodies. It was fun to ride the rails to find their home and even more fun to be in their home with them after having planned this for months. It was a very nice time together. Hard to believe we were in Basel! We planned the logistics for Saturday before heading back to the Sagessers (actually Andy and Manuela had done all of the planning, we were just asked to affirm the details). Saturday would be fun.