Our First European Adventure, Switzerland

One of the many reasons we decided to pick up our lives and move across the world was to satisfy our urge to see more of what the world has to offer. It just so happened that while we had a week off 4 of my relatives - Dad, Grandma (age 90), Aunt Rosemary and Uncle "der" Bob - were visiting Switzerland. No better reason to have our first European Adventure than that.

So the adventure started. Once we landed we were met by Dad at the Zurich Airport. It was great to see him again. I haven't felt too homesick here in Turkey, but it was comforting to see a familiar face again. Dad drove us directly to our first meal in Switzerland, Alpen Magronen - the swiss take on Mac 'n Cheese. Onions sauteed in lots of butter poured over macaroni and "a good helping" of Swiss cheese, mix in a little applesauce and it is perfect, a great way to start our swiss tour.

If I were to label the first two days of our tour I would label it a "Country Life Tour." The region of Switzerland we were in is the Canton of Obwalden, a rural community directly in the middle of Switzerland. On our first day we were taken by a distant relative to visit their farm. For those of you that are interested in living on a self-sustaining farm where little is wasted this would be the place. They had about 20 milk cows, 15 chickens and several gardens where they could harvest produce. Connected to their house was a small store where they sold their goods to passing hikers and neighbors. They made everything from cheeses to liqueurs.

After we toured their farm we had lunch in the house, then up the mountain to their cabin where we had dessert, an award winning dessert of ice cream, meringue cookies and a sauce made from coral berries. If the family didn't make it they had friends in the community that did, it was a testament to the small town spirit and what hard work can do for you.

Day 2 of the Country Life tour was the first annual "Obwaldner Hilla Rundfahrt" or the Obwalden Church tour. In every small town in this area there is a Catholic church. It was surprising to me the opulence that each of these churches possessed for the small villages they were in. One of the most opulent churches was in the town on Melchtal, a town of less than 500 people. The amount of marble and gold in the church would definitely have been able to feed the poor in times of need. After visiting 8 churches of different sizes and amounts of gold it wasn't too surprising why the Protestants objected to how the Catholics were using their money.

Our tour of the swiss country life came to an end with another nice meal at the house of Maria Achermann, whose visit to California was part of our Tour of California back in July. While my grandma was visiting this is how it went. Someone who had come to visit California had come to Grandma's house for coffee and they wanted to do the same for her while she was there. My Grandma must have hosted the entire area of Obwalden because it seemed like every day was spent going from house to house eating. The people had a genuine need to pay back her kindness.

Our final day was spent in Zurich with Joseph, a 3rd cousin, who is a principle at an elementary school. We first went for a tour of his school and then out to lunch with Joseph before we set off to see the city. Zurich is a beautiful city filled with a pervasive sense of calm even during it's rush hour times. Once again we toured 2 of the largest churches in town, Grossmünster and Fraumünster. Although these two churches were the size of the cathedrals of Rome, they were surprisingly bland compared to the churches of Obwalden. If the goal of the builders was to provide a sense of grandeur and awe both sets of churches did so, only Zurich's were grand in size, not opulence. After his parent meeting Joseph met Erin and I for a drink next to the Limmat river. It was a beautiful end to this brief glimpse into the Swiss life.

Overall the Swiss trip didn't include seeing the sights. Instead it was spent visiting family and getting what I felt was a true vision of what the swiss life is like in the smaller towns. Everywhere you go in Switzerland you are surrounded by beautiful views of the mountains, lakes and rivers. What I really felt I learned this trip was that Obwalden is built on the relationships of the people and their sense of duty to their community, their neighbors and their relatives. It was touching to see how much they went out of their way to make us feel welcomed. Not only will I be traveling back there some day, Erin and I want to look in to the citizenship process for Grandma, then we can make a chain down to my Citizenship, it's a long shot, but worth a try.