In our case, we were on our way to visit Kenneth and Wonny ("Vonny"), Amanda's Great Uncle and Aunt - that is, her Mum's Uncle and Aunt. Although, they were both pretty great in their own right. They live just outside Baden in Switzerland.
I met Kenneth in person about 6 years ago when he visited Australia, but had never met Wonny and Amanda hadn't seen Wonny since she was nine. We had a delightful few days with them talking about, well, practically everything! The Swiss voting system, church tax, the local area (Baden, Switzerland), amateur radio (Kenneth is an enthusiast), what it was like to live through the second world war, how they met, the demographic profile of Switzerland, and electronic turtles!
Some of those are self explanatory, but a couple deserve a brief explanation:
- church tax: unbeknown to Amanda and I, some countries in Europe pay a 'church tax' on their annual tax bill. It seems that the money is apportioned to the country's official churches to cover the costs of upkeep and general community services. Such state-run tithing was a very foreign concept to us, but I guess in this part of the world the old decorated churches are costly buildings to maintain, historically significant, and they are tourist magnets after all. (And as we mentioned in the our last post, the Swiss love to milk cows, goats and tourists.) But still, a church tax! So, to any readers who have ever paid this, we appreciate your donation and we enjoyed visiting the buildings. Thankyou!
The concept of a church tax, in the midst of declining attendance at these more traditional places of worship, also highlighted for us how 'being a Christian' in Europe can often be a traditional and cultural thing for many, and may not be based on an actual personal faith. This was very sad for us and in some ways made it difficult for us to fully grasp people's frame of reference when conversations turned to the deeper things of life because while some of the words and terminology are the same, it is a completely different frame of reference. For us, our faith is about our absolute dependence on, forgiveness and salvation from, and love for God and it is accompanied by a personal relationship with God where we can talk to Him and relate with Him, thanks to Jesus.
- Swiss demographics: Amanda and I noticed that for everything Switzerland offered, there was one thing it was missing - children. It has plenty of kids (ie goats...maaaa!) but not many children. It took us a while to realise, but no matter where we looked we just didn't see them. So, I asked our hosts about it and they confirmed that Switzerland does in fact have an aging population and immigration is quite a controversial subject. The hills may be alive with the sound of music, but it is not the children singing it.
- electronic turtles: here is a tip for all you 'first movers' or 'early adopters', or even some entrepreneurs - look into electronic turtles. Ok, if you google it, you might need to use different terms like 'robotic lawn mower', 'automatic mower', or 'Switzerland Husqvana products', but we think they look like electronic turtles (or wombats). The basic idea is you put an electric wire a couple of inches underground around the perimeter of your lawn and it will automatically keep it mowed and looking perfectly manicured. They are all the rage over here. You can even buy industrial sized ones!
As well as being lovely people, our hosts were very generous. Wonny made us a traditional Swiss dinner, and we enjoyed delicious fresh berries for breakfast and dessert. Many were picked from their own garden. We ate like kings.
One night we went to their daughter Julie's place for dinner. She and her husband Marcel visited Amanda's family in Canberra a few years ago but we missed them. We were in Brisbane holidaying with my family and getting engaged at the time, so we had a pretty good excuse. We thoroughly enjoyed our evening with them. They also have an electronic turtle, so we got to see one in action. Oh, and they made raclette for dinner, which is a classic Swiss meal a little like fondue. You take chopped up pieces of meat, cheese or vegetables and grill them on a mini grill that sits in the middle of the table. However, this isn't an ordinary grill, it also has 6 little slots underneath it and 6 little trays. Each person gets a tray. So the device grills your food on top and melts your cheese underneath at the same time. Sure, I can't eat cheese, but Amanda was very happy to eat mine. It's a very relaxed way to cook and eat, which makes it the perfect accompaniment to good conversation.
On our last day in Switzerland, Kenneth and Wonny took us to the Rhine Falls. While the falls are officially in Switzerland, we had to drive through Germany to get there. The falls are incredible with beautiful crystal clear water (see pictures), but don't be tempted to swim because there are a lot of powerful currents generated by the 600,000 liters of water that cascade over the falls every second. (These currents treated that boat you can see in the picture like a matchstick.)
With great fondness... or was that fondue... we made like Vikings in Autumn and headed north on our way to Bavaria, the romantic road, and the land of fairy tale king, Ludwig II.
And for the record, we didn't eat a single piece of chocolate while in Switzerland.
J.
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