Sue's Village Observations

Finding the locations where our relatives may have lived, been married or worked as farmers, often meant exploring smaller towns and discovering charming aspects of village life. Sometimes while meandering to cemeteries or down side streets after dinner, we would find pleasant surprises like these. 



An earlier blog mentioned the carefully tended cemetery plots. Beside the standard stone water trough gracing most of the cemeteries, one could find neatly hung garden tools and carefully placed watering cans. 



I would like to meet the creative and thoughtful artisan who crafted this moveable bench both for family members wanting to sit with their sadness and for those taking on the responsibility of maintaining the lawn.


One Sunday afternoon we encountered a community cheering on their local handball teams. The small ball was rapidly dribbled or passed by hand down court to be flung at the goal.



In many of the towns and mid-sized cities, mopeds, motorcycles, scooters, roller blades bicycles and e-bikes were used for getting to work or school. In Frankfurt, we witnessed a roller blade parade flanked by police cars. This photos shows the sea of bicycles that dominated the bus area in Heidelberg.



Our Heidelberg motel was surrounded by walking paths through densely forested areas. Appearing suddenly on one of our walks was this charming slide built into the side of the hill. 




On numerous occasions, we spotted cut logs stacked next to houses, along roads and in the middle of wooded areas. Trees are carefully managed by each community and used as renewable energy for heating and production of electricity with the goal of reducing dependence on energy imports. An article online mentioned an increase in forested areas in some European countries. 



Care for the environment was evident in the unmowed natural landscapes and in this small town recycling bench next to a self-serve cooler offering cheese and other locally produced products. 



Public toilets (toalet)  and WCs (water closets) were conveniently available in churches, public squares, and restaurants. They were clean and well stocked. A “Restrooms near me” Google search would generally show several nearby options.


In some of the smaller Swiss villages, charming wooden signs, sometimes with a birthdate, could be found mounted on a fence or house, recognizing the children who lived there. 


These delightful discoveries showing community life and the care of others and the earth added richness to our travels. 

by Sue


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cows, Cows, Cows (Think Cheese)

Image
  Sue, Janice and I grew up around cows and cattle so this was another interesting theme of our travels. In France, Montibéliarde cattle were developed by two Graber brothers, Mennonites from this region of France. This cow is known for good milk production especially used in cheese making. The location of the Graber farm is now a highly acclaimed cheese plant. Gerald Metzler, a friend of Marlin’s from Christiana, PA was in Switzerland and introduced us to the Dexter breed on the farm he was staying. They are one of the smallest European breeds, one third size of a Holstein and half the size of a Hereford. They are appropriate for small farms,  and town pastures. Here pictured is another small breed grazing next to us at a restaurant in Switzerland.  Some other pictures of cows for your enjoyment. This headband with dangling strings helped keep face flies at bay. I regretted not buying this chocolate cow at the Bäckerforum Aeschlimann in Zollbrück, Switzerland. by Ma...
Read more

Some Stuckeys Stayed

Image
Stucki's abound in Switzerland. "Our" Stuckey/Stucki goes back to 3 Stucki brothers who appeared in France in the early 1700s, but we do not know who their father and mother were or what village they came from. But there is some evidence that it could have been the mountain village of Diemtigen, west of Bern and Thun.    Or they could have originated in neighbouring Wimmis because in that village church, one of the coloured windows' coats of arms is for Stucki. It features a cannon, so perhaps this historic Stucki was a fierce defender of the local castle. From Martyrs' Mirror , we learn that a Peter Stucki from Wimmis was executed in 1538 for being an Anabaptist. He displayed a different sort of courage. It was interesting to note that two woman pastors named Stucki were speaking in their church on Sunday, June 19, Greti Stucki in the Reform church in Wimmis, and 50 kilometres away, Natali Stucki at the Mennonite church in Langnau. We also saw grave markers for a...
Read more

Abbaye de Gellone

Image
The ancient Benedictine Abbaye de Gellone in Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert was founded c. 800 by (now) St Guillaume de Gellone.  It became a tremendously important pilgrimage destination because it houses a piece of the true cross, given to the abbey by none other than Charlemagne (Charles the Great) himself.  For those not aware of such things, we are told that every time a piece of the true cross was cut off, the cross healed itself; hence the impressive amount of holy cross timber now spread across Europe.  Sadly, we did not get to see this relic, but across the crucial centuries, it attracted pilgrims and serious money, making this abbey a very wealthy establishment. As time passed, the abbey saw vast swings of the pendulum, going from great wealth in its early days to utter ruin by the Protestants (1568), then back into use until the Revolution of 1790, which saw some of the outer buildings be dismantled.  The cloister's sculptures were (unbelievably) sold to a certai...
Read more