German is the predominant language there, although some French has made it into the everyday spoken language. Being in a country where little of my native language is spoken gave me a very real sense of how immigrants must feel when they come to the United States. The Swiss are very friendly people and always willing to go the extra mile to help whenever possible. Still, not knowing the language made for interesting challenges when it came to food. More than once I ordered food at a restaurant not knowing what I would end up with. It also made grocery shopping and cooking interesting. Who knows what measure 3 dcl is? Eventually I figured out it is 0.3 liter, which is the amount of tea you get in a restaurant. It's actually printed on the glass with a fill line. I was tempted to buy a local cookbook (if I could find one written in English) but since the measurements were all in liters and grams, my cups and teaspoons wouldn't really work.
So, because we were there for a month, we did our share of sightseeing and exploring. We went to Luzern, happening upon some sort of festival going on. We also went to the capital city of Bern, a busy city which also includes some ancient (by USA standards) architecture alongside modern buildings. On the way back from Bern one day, DH took a little detour into the city of Thun in search of a gas station, where we discovered a real, authentic castle. We were tired and hungry at this point, so we decided to come back to Thun another day to explore the castle/museum. The castle was built around 1190 a.d. and contained some fascinating historical objects, such as armor, weaponry, clothing, furniture. When my oldest grandson saw the photo of me standing in front of the castle, he decided it was Disneyland and was not impressed at all!
Because DH was tied up at work most days, I had time to search for interesting things to do while we were there. I enjoy visiting thrift stores, so when I discovered one in a nearby town, we decided to visit and see what they had available. What we found was a treasure trove of things I would have loved to bring home with me, including pottery, military items, clocks, and even a couple of sewing machines. One of them in particular caught my eye: it was a Naumann hand crank sewing machine that looks very much like a Singer model 27. The price was reasonable, and I had been thinking about adding a hand crank machine to my collection, so I took a picture. Of course, DH didn't like the idea of having to deal with shipping it back to California, so we left it behind. I posted the photo on The Quilting Board, telling about the machine. Several others encouraged me to get the machine, commenting on the beautiful decals and the fact that it is something not often seen in America. For the next week, he teased me about visiting a country like Switzerland and wanting to get an old clunker sewing machine. The following weekend, we went back to the thrift store and brought it back to our lodging. Later he took it to arrange for shipping it back home. So far, I haven't found much information about the machine, such as when it was built. After winding a bobbin with the hand crank, I have decided the machine definitely needs some serious cleaning and oiling before it will be useful. It also needed a needle clamp screw which was generously donated by AshleyR of The Quilting Board. Thank you Ashley!DH thinks I'm crazy for loving these old machines, and maybe he's right. The fact remains, however, that these old machines were made to LAST, and with proper care and maintenance they will last indefinitely, continuing to sew as well as they did when new. The same cannot be said for today's computerized sewing machines.
