It is only about a half hour car ride from Basel airport to Gelterkinden, the beautiful little village where Ursi and her family live. It was all very exciting because, since we last saw her she had married Andreas and has had three beautiful children, Silas (sea-lass), Jeremias (yerra-me-ass) and Lisa (lisa). By the time we arrived, all the children were in bed asleep. After our introduction to Andreas, he said he had something to sort out. In preparation for our arrival, he had asked Ursi what our names were as she had only ever referred to us as Mum and Dad. The question had taken her by surprise so she had to think about it before answering, ‘Brian and Rob’. However, he said it would make life easier if he too called us Mum and Dad and asked if it would be OK. Of course we agreed so we are now Mum and Dad to the whole family – or sort of. I’ll talk about that later. Of course Andreas got his brownie points up immediately.
After assuring Ursi that we did not need dinner as we had already eaten twice - once on the way from Oslo to Copenhagen and again on the next plane from Copenhagen to Basel - we sat and talked and talked. We had so much to catch up on. Eventually, Andreas asked if supper would be OK. He disappeared into the kitchen and returned a little time later with tea and a most magnificent cheese platter with lots of meats, breads, etc on the side.
On the way to her home from the airport, Ursi had mentioned that life had been very good to her. Not long after their marriage, she and Andreas had moved to London for twelve months where they both undertook postgraduate studies – Masters degrees. Ursi is by profession a physiotherapist and Andreas is the head of Research and Development for an American chemical company in Basel. Upon completion of their studies, they returned home to their small unit in Basel by the Rhine River. With children on the horizon, it would apparently have been fairly crowded. It was at this time that Andreas’s parents, who had built their home and lived in Gelterkinden for around 40 years, decided to shift back to a little town on Lake Lucerne where his mother had been born and raised. They therefore offered Andreas and Ursi the opportunity of buying their home.
Of course, they jumped at it, so for a few years they have been the proud owners and occupants of a beautiful four story mansion in the centre of Gelterkinden, surrounded by a good sized block of land that adjoins the village sporting fields. Just like Tonjé and Christian’s place in Norway, a wonderful place in which to raise a family.
The bottom level comprises a double garage, laundry, rumpus room for the kids, workroom, storeroom with an 8000 litre tank where oil for the ducted heating system is stored and, of course, the bunker/bomb shelter, complete with strongroom door and air purifying system. The latter room was apparently a government requirement in many areas of Switzerland during the cold war but now is an ideal wine cellar. Andreas’s main disappointment in life was that when he left, his father had either taken or sold his entire collection of very fine wines. However, Andreas has since started his own collection.
Living areas comprising formal entry, lounge/library, dining room with conservatory and a large eat-in kitchen are on ground level. Up the stairs are the family bedrooms and bathroom then, up more stairs are the guest bedroom, bathroom, an office and, what we liked to call the ballroom, a very large area where you could easily have held a dance for many people. When we arrived, we carried our suitcases up from the garage to the first level. I must admit, I would much sooner pull the bags along on their wheels than carry them, especially up stairs. Anyway, when we finally decided to retire for the night, Ursi said that Andreas would take our bags up to our room. I protested (very weakly I must admit) but he wouldn’t listen, hurried out, grabbed them and bounded up the stairs. It wasn’t until a couple of days later that we learned that he has only recently resigned his commission as a Captain in the Swiss Army Reserve, a position that required him to remain physically super fit. The brownie points were certainly mounting up.
For the past twelve months or so, Rob has been taking bedroom vista photos. No, not that sort, but photos out of the bedroom window in places where we have parked the van overnight. We do stay in some truly magic spots. When we arrived in Norway and looked out of our bedroom in Tonjé and Christian’s place at the magnificent view of the fiord and multicoloured trees on the opposite bank, she decided to continue the practice in Europe. On our first morning in Gelterkinden, we looked out the window to see the sporting fields surrounded by synthetic running track, the steeple of a little church, some houses, and in the background, the beautiful green rolling hills that surround the town. Oh, so Swiss! (as we had pictured it).
I guess that one of the drawbacks to living in a small town in a Christian country (and the whole of Europe we visited was certainly very Christian) is the plethora of church bells. Both the catholic and protestant churches in Gelterkinden have steeples with clocks and bells that ring on the quarter hour. The ringing, which can be heard throughout the village, is one thing but unfortunately they are not in unison. The time difference is such that when one lot of bells finishes, the next one starts. To add to the cacophony of early morning joy, at 8am one of the church’s bells peels out an invitation to attend mass/service. The first time I heard the 8.00am show I thought they were ringing out the hour but, when they continued for what appeared to be more than eight bells, I started counting and got to eighty five before they gave up. According to Andreas they used to ring at 6.00am but the locals had asked for some compassion and it is now 8.00am. I joke about it but, in reality, it was just another of the wonderful and quaint experiences of our visit to Europe.
By the time we saw the light of day on our first morning, the rest of the family was up and about so we went downstairs to meet the children. They had had a recent experience of a visitor who spoke a different language to theirs so we were not so much of an oddity. After a couple of high fives with the two boys, our initial nervous introduction faded into the start of a wonderful friendship. Come breakfast time, Silas decided that we should at least learn to count to ten in Swiss German so he proceeded to teach us. I did try but I have to say I am a pretty hopeless learner. Just to jump ahead 24 hours for a moment, until breakfast the following day when I announced to Silas that I was going to count to three. I thought I did so very well but knew there must have been something amiss when I saw the look on his face. He said something whereupon his mother and father burst out laughing. Eventually they were able to translate that he said, “Tell dad that two comes before six!” After that I stuck only to counting to one.
After breakfast, Rob and Jeremias started working on a jigsaw puzzle while Silas and I played cards. What a con man he is. He has a full set of cards each having a picture of a different make of tractor. Under each picture is a schedule of eight specifications/capacities including maximum speed, cubic capacity of the motor, towing capacity, horse-power, etc, etc. The object of the game is to get as many pairs as possible and you do that by turning over the top card from your pile then nominating one of the specs, e.g. speed. (Silas would name his choice but would help me out by pointing to it on the card.) The opponent then turns over his/her top card and whosever tractor is, in this case the fastest, wins the pair. Unfortunately, four year old Silas just loves tractors and knows almost all of their specifications off by heart. As he had first nomination in our first game, and because the winner of each game went first in the next game, I never stood a chance. Well, that’s my excuse anyhow. I ended up handing over to Rob and helping two year old Jeremias with his jigsaw – not that he really needed much help at all! In the meantime, four month old Lisa lay in the corner enjoying the little playthings that surrounded her.
Because of the ages of her children, Ursi is not working at present and Andreas had taken a couple of days off work to show us around. Accordingly, after being made look quite inadequate in the area of tractor specifications and struggling with the jigsaw puzzle, Ursi and Andreas took pity on me and suggested we all go to Lucerne for a paddle steamer ride on the lake and a special surprise. We readily agreed and after an hour or so drive had a wonderful morning on a beautiful old boat with, like all forms of transport in Europe, first and second class areas. The formal dining room in the first class section even had linen tablecloths and chandeliers. To add to all this, the scenery was just breathtaking. Eventually, some way down the lake, we left the boat for our special surprise. Just a short walk from the jetty we came to a railway station where a mountain train was waiting to whisk us up the very, very steep slope to the top of Mount Rigi. It was not quite as steep as on a funicular but still the train needed a ratchet to get it to the top. What a wonderful experience it was, made even better not only by the magnificent views of the lake as it slipped rapidly away, but also by sight of dozens and dozens of hikers trying to look like it was easy clawing their way along the walking track that snaked its way up the 1800 meters to the top.
Along the way, I remembered my mate Bob Crampton’s oft stated observation that on top of nearly every mountain peak in Europe is a restaurant and bar. Surprise, surprise, when we got to the top of Rigi, there was a restaurant and bar where we had lunch and a refreshing drink. Later we went for a walk around the summit with breathtaking views in all directions – lakes here, mountain peaks there, alps over there, etc, etc, etc. I mentioned Bob’s comment to Andreas who thought it a bit of an overstatement. However, as we walked around, he would gesture towards what looked like pinpoints in the distance and say, “There is a restaurant on the top of that one.” And on and on it went. Finally, he had to admit that it wasn’t such an overstatement after all.
I mentioned earlier that I sometimes suffer from vertigo. Well it certainly gave me a bit of a touch up as we looked over the safety wall and saw a family of goats and a number of sheep all perched on narrow outcrops of land just below us. There was nothing between them and oblivion but they appeared totally unaware of their peril. Fortunately, I was soon distracted for, as we stood surveying the world from above, a cloud rolled by. Initially it was below us but as it hit the face of the mountain it rolled and swirled its way up until it enveloped us. A truly wonderful experience.
Soon it was time to leave. Whereas we had come up in a red train, we left in a blue one that, about a half a kilometre from the top, branched off the line that had brought us up and headed down the other side of the mountain. Along the way we were entertained by further spectacular views of mountains and valleys. At the bottom, we had a couple of hundred metres walk over a footbridge and down to a real railway station where we caught a real train back to Lucerne.
Back at Lucerne it was time for Lisa to have a feed so, while Ursi fed her, the rest of us took a walk across the 1000 year old wooden footbridge to the old town. The bridge was resplendent, dressed on either side with flower boxes laden with beautiful, colourful geraniums. What a shame it was that the bridge had been partially destroyed by a fire a few years ago after a boat crashed into it. The loss of several of the ancient paintings that adorned parts of the structure would have been devastating. However, the burnt sections have since been lovingly and faithfully restored except that the places where the paintings had stood have been left blank as a reminder of the sad event. This was our first introduction the fascinations of ancient Europe and we were enthralled.
After a truly wonderful day, we made our way back home to Gelterkinden. The children had had a big day and did not take any encouragement to go to bed straight after dinner. We commented to Ursi and Andreas just how well behaved the boys had been in spite of it being such a big day; however they hastened to assure us that it was an aberration and they would surely be back to normal the following day. Once the kids were in bed, Andreas prepared a beautiful Swiss cheese fondue that we washed down with a bottle or two of Ursi’s dad’s wine. He, his brother and a family friend have a small vineyard where they grow the grapes to make the wine for family consumption (around 700 bottles a year). It is bottled under the brand name Bämbeller. The 2007 vintage was a most enjoyable Riesling x Sylvaner. Now Andreas’s cup began to overfloweth with brownie points.
Next morning, after breakfast we all set off again for a short tour the district. Our first stop was near the abandoned ruins of an ancient castle, not far from Gelterkinden. To me, the final few hundred metres to the castle involved walking for what seemed an interminable length of time up an almost vertical path. Obviously I was the only one who thought so. Everyone else seemed to find the stroll a most enjoyable event. (Not only Andreas and Ursi but Christian and Tonjé are walkers also. They all trot up mountains and down the other side and proclaim they love it. I can’t work it out. When would they find time to sit in front of a computer and do really important things!!!)
Anyway, our “stroll” led us to the ruins up which we clambered to the top to be greeted with an absolutely spectacular vista. Rob described it in her diary as being of ’rolling hillsides dotted with trees that looked to be painted on, amid a patchwork quilt of farmland interspersed with tiny villages and a backdrop of mountains. The roads meander over hill and dale and complete a picture of calm serenity’. Wish I could have said that.
Later, we drove along many of the roads that we had viewed from our lookout. It was all so beautiful and interesting as we drove the tiny narrow roads that meandered through the villages.
We had been having late nights ever since we arrived, just chatting, so it was time for me to have a rest. It was going to be another late night and an exciting one for, before going out to dinner, we were finally going to meet Ursi’s real Mum and Dad, Heidi and Werner, who lived in a nearby village. When we did go over to see them it was great that Ursi’s sister Monica (whom we met during a trip to Oz back in the 90’s) was there also with her daughter Ronya. We had a wonderful time with a specially and beautifully prepared (by Heidi) afternoon tea, washed down with a couple more glasses of Werner’s wine. Because of our close relationship with Ursi we almost felt as if we knew her parents, so meeting them was very much like catching up with old friends. I happened to mention to Werner that a bottle of his wine would be a great addition to my cellar back home so, of course, it was readily made available. To cap it off, Heidi gave us a box of individually wrapped Toblerone chocolates– my two favourite consumables in the entire world!! I usually try to mature wines in my cellar for at least a week. Unfortunately, Werner’s bottle didn’t last that long after we got home. The first night back we stayed at Kylie’s place and, at dinner, it was the instrument for the toast to our safe return. The chokkies didn’t make it home. We enjoyed one each night as we sailed south along the mighty European waterways. Very pleasant.
We left the children with Heidi and Werner then Ursi, Andreas, Rob and I drove to another little village where Werner had been born and raised and Ursi and Andreas were married. Again it was picture postcard stuff. The church was on the village’s main through road that was narrow and bendy. The purpose of our visit was to go to a quaint little restaurant for dinner. It was straight across the road from the church and is where, after the wedding, the guests were provided with nibbles and refreshments to fortify them for the trip to the reception. Motorists passing through may have felt a bit intimidated at the site of 200+ guests spilling out of the village church and onto the roadway where they enjoyed the pre-feast feast.
The restaurant was truly wonderful. It is run by an older couple, husband and wife. She is the waitress and he the chef. After learning that we were from Oz, we received what appeared to be extra special treatment. Rob and I both ordered schnitzel and vegies and asked if it was possible to have rosti instead of baked potatoes. Ursi had introduced us to it when she was staying with us and we loved it. Of course, it was no problem to mien hosts and when our dinners did arrive, after we had been offered and enjoyed a starter course of canapés, there it was on our plates with a total of eight other different vegies. Half way through the meal, the husband appeared from out of the kitchen with another dish of rosti which he shared between Rob and me. And that’s not all. We thought we were finishing the meal with “confecs”, a variety of sweets with coffee. With the coffee came an individually wrapped piece of Toblerone, one for each of us. I somehow got the message across to the wife that I believed we were in heaven whereupon she disappeared and soon returned with another plate of Toblerone, two more for each of us. I don’t know how many I had, but it was more than my share. After I had finished, she appeared with yet another full plate of this food of the gods. I’ll tell you, the rest of the group was not much help, but I persisted and ended up having them all myself. It wasn’t easy but, much to the apparent enjoyment of the good lady, I got there.
Next morning Andreas had to go back to work so Ursi thought it a good idea to set us free to explore Basel by ourselves. She walked us to the railway station, arranged for the purchase of all day tickets on the trains and trams, then pointed us in the direction of the platform – the start of our first big solo adventure in Europe. After arriving in Basel we caught a tram out of town to the Beyler Foundation where the current exhibition was of paintings of Venice. It really was mind boggling stuff. Each of the old masters had a room or rooms devoted to their paintings of the island city. There were Manets, Monets, Sargents, Turners, Renoirs, Canalettos and many more. The gallery also had large displays of paintings by Picasso and Jackson Pollack, the creator of Blue Poles, which was a controversial purchase several years ago by the Australian National Museum in Canberra. We spent the morning there before hopping the tram back to the city. I caused a bit of a stir at a lunch cart outside the town hall when I asked for a bratwurst sausage on a hot dog roll instead of on the very dark and heavy bread that it seemed normally to come with. The young lady serving us could not speak English but seemed to take it as an affront to Swiss national pride when I pointed to what I wanted. She obviously knew the meaning of the word “No” which she repeated several times as she prepared and handed me my sausage in the piece of very dark and heavy bread.
After lunch we headed up to the tourist information centre where we joined a two hour guided walking tour of the city. It was extremely enjoyable and we did learn much about the place. At the end of the tour we walked across the Rhine via an old bridge and up to a little punt that plies across the river between the new part of town and the cathedral. It has no means of self propulsion, depending solely on the current of the river to drag it along a wire rope stretching from bank to bank. All the driver does is set it at an angle to the flow of the water and the current does the rest. Have a look at it in Rob’s Switzerland album at http://picasaweb.google.com/rovin.richos .
After a visit to the Lackerli (a type of gingerbread unique to Basel) shop, we found our way back to the railway station where we caught our train home. How easy was all that!! We arrived at Gelterkinden station to find Andreas and Jeremias waiting for us and happily we walked home together.
After dinner, Ursi and Andreas announced that it was time for a celebration. Since we were unable to make it to their wedding, we should celebrate it now with a bottle of fine wine that they had saved from their big day. They produced it from the cellar and it turned out to be very special indeed – Chateau Talbot. We knew of it - as the aforementioned Bob Crampton had bought a bottle for friends Tom and Jo Talbot at a special point in their lives. Try buying one of them in Oz and see how much it costs! It really was a wonderful celebration for us. I don’t think any of us wanted it to end so Andreas produced a second bottle which was drunk a lot more soberly than the first. We knew that, when it was finished, it would be time for us to say goodbye to Andreas. We would be leaving the next day and as he goes to work around 5.00am he would be long gone before either Rob or I saw the light of day.
Yet again, all good things must come to an end and we sadly said farewell; but happy in the knowledge that we still had at least some time to spend with Ursi and the children whom we had grown very close to.
I mentioned at the beginning that we were Mum and Dad to the whole family – sort of. I can’t remember at what point Ursi realised that young 2 year old Jeremias was a little confused at the newly learned English words, “Mum” and “Dad”. He would often come up to us, grab me around the leg and say, “Mum and Dad, Mum and Dad, Mum and Dad”. She realised his confusion when one morning he asked her, “Where are Mum and Dad and the lady?” God love him, I was Mum and Dad and Rob, the lady. In the circumstances we thought we should give him some Oz culture with the result that before long he was saying in true blue Oz fashion – ‘G’day mate’.
The next day we spent what time we had left in Gelterkinden meandering with Ursi through the streets of that pretty little village before she and the kids drove us down to the railway station for yet another very sad and emotional farewell, prior to the continuation of our European adventure.
Next stop, Geneva, where Sébastien Dubail would be waiting for us at the train station.