Swiss 2020 — Ursula and Chris

RETURN TO SWITZERLAND

Finally, I was allowed to leave New Zealand and join Ursula, who by this time had left Addis because of Covid and was working from the Bern office using conference calls and other technological pieces of wizardry.

I flew out on the 2nd June, first to Melbourne and then on to Doha on the second leg and the last leg, Doha to Zurich. The first leg was fine, social distancing being observed by the airline and everyone spaced out. The leg from Melbourne to Doha was packed, not a single empty seat. When an Australian man complained about the lack of social distancing, he was told by the flight attendant not to worry as Europe was going to be lifting restrictions, so the airline didn’t need to enforce any spacing! The third leg I think there were less than 10 people in the ‘plane, so no problems there.

Ursula met me at the airport and we returned to Bern by train. It was lovely to be together again, and the countryside was so green and sunny; it felt as if I was coming home.

***1. We are staying on the 8th floor of this block looking like a pile of pancakes***

We are staying in a friend’s flat in Bern. He has retired and is living just over the border in France and only occasionally uses the flat, so Ursula was renting it from him, and we have continued with the arrangement, first the two of us, and now just me, while I am here. It is on the 8th floor with a lovely view across the city to the one side, and up the hillside to the Gurten on the other. The Gurten is a hill overlooking Bern with a restaurant at the top, and lots of walks around it.

***2. The city with the parliament building in the centre. The row of hill in the distant background are the Jura***

The hillside is just a hundred metres away on the other side of the railway line connecting to Thun lake, for those of you who know Switzerland. Between us and the Gurten is a farm for young people who would not otherwise get the chance to experience anything like this. There are of course the milk cows, and they come down, or rather are fetched down, off the hillside every afternoon for milking. While we have been here we have seen two calves arrive. In both cases we missed the actual birth, but saw the calves still unsteady on their feet and being licked clean by the mother. We must have missed the birth by only minutes both times.

***3. The farm below us with the Gurten hill rising up behind***

The farm also sells milk, some vegetables and meat from a little store, a Hofladen, on the farm. In the evenings the young calves all come out of their shed to chase each other around in the cool of the evening.

And speaking of cows, cows in Switzerland mostly have perfectly shaped horns, which we assumed were a natural shape. And then one day, while walking past a field on the Gurten, we saw this,

***4. Cow with horn-shaping headpiece - sort of like tooth braces for horns.***

It seems there is a special piece of equipment, carved from wood, secured with a leather strap to the cow’s head and forces the horns to grow into the perfect shape! The Swiss are perfectionists. One of the lovely things about living in Switzerland is the sound of cowbells wherever you go in the countryside. In the flat we can hear them most of the day, unless they are high on the hill. But we hear them at milking time and also the cows in the yard.

About a week after I arrived back we decided, almost on the spur of the moment, to go to the Jura mountains, not in Switzerland, but in France. We both love the Jura, not high like the Alps, and we both love France as well. So off we went. We hired a car for the weekend, a Mini Cooper cabriolet, one of Ursula’s dream cars.

We had a wonderful time, driving about, exploring little towns and walking in the countryside. The first night we had booked to stay on a working farm. The room was lovely, and we had a longish walk in the countryside. Naturally they had cows.

***6. French cows, with cowbells, and the farmhouse, where we stayed, in the background***

It is a limestone area with beautiful wild flowers and, on a walk, I counted 22 species of flowering plants in a few hundred metres. And of course, innumerable species of grass. It is this that gives the milk and so the cheeses their distinction. It is so good to see these unsprayed fields, and the wild flowers and grasses are all harvested for silage.

It is a limestone area with beautiful wild flowers and on a walk I counted 22 species of flowering plants in a few hundred metres. And of course, innumerable species of grass. It is this that gives the milk and so the cheeses their distinctions.

***7. A small patch of wildflowers in a hillside field***

The countryside is limestone grassland and some woodland, mostly pine. At the edge it drops off over a steep cliff down to a River Doubs valley below.

8. Ursula at the top of the limestone cliff of the Doubs valley. Unusually a fence, as we find that often in Europe there are no barriers. It is expected that people are sensible and don’t take risks, I suppose.

The food was nothing spectacular, but good home cooking. The next day we moved on, more travelling about and exploring. We were heading vaguely in the direction of a series of lakes where there was a nature reserve.

(For those interested, the reason there are so many lakes in the Jura is because, according to my geology books, the Jura are formed as the shockwave from the collision of the African and European tectonic plates. So there is a series of parallel hills with lakes in the valleys between. Just thought you would like to know.)

We found the area a bit late in the day because we visited the town of Besancon, the hometown of Victor Hugo, and we still had to find somewhere to stay. Passing through several small towns with nothing that attracted us we chanced upon the Auberge de la Haute-Joux. Nothing else in the village. We tried knocking, no answer, we entered, the door was unlocked, nobody there.

Then Ursula remembered that she had seen a banner with that name on it along the fence of a vegetable allotment as we came into the village. We went back there, and, yes, they were open, this was the vegetable garden for the restaurant, but they no longer took in guests. There was nowhere else to stay. After pleading with the chef, who was doing the gardening with his mother, they agreed that as the family was away on holidays, we could stay in one the family rooms, for 50 euros for the night.

Accommodation secured we went for a short walk in the nature reserve and returned for a beer on the deck in the early evening. The room was pretty basic, but adequate in Chris’ opinion. We guessed it belonged to a teenager judging by the pictures and books. The auberge is at the village crossroads and as we sat outside we thought we would be the only guests, but about 7.30 pm people suddenly started arriving, some walking in from the village, some arriving in cars from further afield.

We decided we had better get a table before it was too late. And we had a truly memorable meal, one of the best we have had anywhere. Ursula had steak so tender it almost melted in your mouth, and I had duck, the tenderest and most flavourful I have had in many years. And you are not asked how you want it cooked, it comes rare, that’s it, no discussion. And that was just the main course, of course, there were starters, equally good. Even desserts… There seem to be so many of these types of experience to be had in France, or perhaps we are just lucky.

I looked it up on the internet when we got back and Trip Adviser gives it 5 stars for food and 4 ½ for service. I don’t know where they lost that half point. If you want to see the food, look it up, I refuse to take photos of food in restaurants.

And so the next day we left to wend our way back to Bern, but before we left I took this picture of a carved wooden flowerbox on the verge opposite the auberge.

We did a mountain walks along the way. I took this photo to show what is a stile for mountain bikes. The walking and biking trails go through farmlands and these stiles are very effective at allowing biking while keeping the cattle in. If only New Zealand could develop such a system of paths through farmland. It works in Europe.

***11. ursula standing on a mountain bike stile. Necessary because you ride through fields with cows in them.***

We found this picturesque suspension footbridge over a river leading into another lake, and stopped to enjoy it and Ursula took a swim, it was a very hot day.

***12. Suspension bridge, boating and swimming for all.***

And so back to Bern where we had, sadly, to hand the car back. As usual when travelling in France we had found so many beautiful little villages, river valleys and bistro bars, it was sad it was such a short trip – just a long weekend.

Back in Bern Ursula continued to coordinate with Addis using various apps which seem to be proliferating under the stimulus of responding to covid. We took the opportunity to visit friends in and around Bern, and travelled out to Biel for a barbecue with the family of one of Ursula’s colleagues. About an hour’s drive away and about 1 ½ hours back using the train. Lovely summer’s evening, good meat and good company.

***13. Preparing dinner at the barbecue***

We made day trips in Switzerland to towns we wanted to see, including Murten in the French part of Switzerland.

***14. A view along the battlements of the old town wall of Murten. Lake Murten in the background.***

And our friends, Ingrid and Susan at their allotment vegetable garden. We were just observers and did the essential duties like opening and pouring the bubbly.

***15. Ingrid and Susan at work on the allotment, Ingrid in red.***

Cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli, onions, beans, courgettes – they have it all.

In summer the people of Bern take to the water, swimming in the Aare river which flows through Bern, or floating down it on anything that floats. But more of that in another blog as I am doing a little photo project on Summer on the Aare.

***16. In summer the Aare is packed with swimmers and anthing that floats.***

Sadly, for me, Ursula too soon had to return to Addis, but it is only fair that she did so. It is difficult to coordinate effectively using WhatsApp, emails and conference calls. And it is also, I think, not good for morale for the Ethiopian staff to have Ursula in Bern and leaving them in Addis. So, we had a sad goodbye, again, at Geneva airport. This is beginning to become a habit. Perhaps, in September, I will be able to join Ursula in Addis.

Back in Addis Ursula had to spend two weeks in quarantine before being allowed to be about again. Our house there is small and surrounded by trees and so quite dark, and with a small kitchen. Fine for the two of us but not a place to be alone in, a bit depressing. Fortunately, we have friend who left for the US just before Ursula arrived back and he kindly agreed to let Ursula use their house, and look after their dog, while they are away. It has a big garden, and is much more open and light, so a definite improvement on ours. Also, it has professional security, a big bonus.

Just after Ursula returned there was the assassination of a political singer closely aligned with the aspirations of the Oromo people. This led to some big demonstrations and caused a lot of civil unrest; many dead, burning and looting, until the government clamped down on all social media. It seems under control for now, but was a frightening at the time.

The Red Cross in Ethiopia is, of course, very involved in all aspects of the response to covid. Supplying masks and advice

and home visits

and establishing handwashing stations.

Ursula flew south for a planning meeting with the branches and at the end of it she was presented with a traditional Ethiopian dress. Beautifully made.

***21. Ursula in her traditional dress***

Meanwhile I continue in Bern, occupying myself writing, taking photographs and taking long walks along the Aare river or on the Gurten behind the flat I am staying. I will deal with all that in our next blog.

For those of you who don’t know, our mother died in July. She was 99 years old and sadly failed to reach her century. I was unable to travel for the funeral, so I include a photograph of her taken a few years ago with her whole family and their partners, except Brian, sorry Brian but I guess you were taking the picture.

***22. The family. L - R. Mike, Marg, Heather, Barbara, Martin, Ursula and Chris. Mom in the centre***