A close-up and personal look at Switzerland
In Bernese “Zwee”, “Zwo” and “Zwöi” translate into two, two and two. That many, no more and no less. When Ben explained this peculiarity of Bernese he stated that it was “Hohe Schule” [higher education] which I promptly misunderstood. For… Read moreTwo, Two or Two?
Formal or informal? I’ve looked at this question from the Swiss side a couple of times. It’s pretty clear-cut; formal uses Mr. and Ms, informal is first name. After our last trip to the States I realized the American first… Read moreAre we on a First Name Basis?
Okay, everyone knows what a cheesecake is, right? Maybe. Well, it depends on where you are and what language you are speaking. Friends for Dinner We invited friends over for dinner. My friend said she would bring a cheesecake so… Read moreCheesecake, What is That?
Coming from a war generation, Ben’s mom’s slogan was “Make new things out of old things”. There are a lot of ways to describe what they did: repurpose, reuse or my favorite, upcycle. Whatever you want to call it, it… Read moreBeing Creative with Old Things
Nothing is quite as American as brownies; small, square chocolate cakes. Brownies can be gooey, fudgy, or cakey. They can be topped with icing, powered sugar, whipped cream or anything else, or nothing at all. You can add nuts or… Read moreBrownies, American Style
The word barber is derived from Latin and means “beard”. There was a time when barbers were not only expected to shave and cut hair. They were also expected to do healing, medical procedures like bloodletting, extracting teeth and leeching… Read moreBarbershops in Switzerland
Ben’s dad had a basement full of wine that he bought so it could age. That was cool. Some were really old, too. Although Ben and I both don’t have any major wine knowledge we thought we could try, too…. Read moreBuying Wine from Giordano
A whisperer is a person who understands and can communicate with dogs and cats. They can get to the bottom of and reverse behavior or training problems. They can spot problems and give tips as what to do to solve… Read moreDog and Cat Whisperer
Remember the Christmas song “12 days of Christmas”? Many stores want you to believe the 12 days refer to before Christmas. Time to go out, buy gifts and crank up that economy. Thing is, the 12 days start on Christmas… Read moreEpiphany or Three Kings‘ Day
Switzerland likes to be on time. Trains, buses or fundamentally anything that has a schedule is dependent on being on time. Indisputably clocks and watches are an important part of daily life. Clocks Some people like the tic-tock sound clocks… Read moreClocks, Watches and Time
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