A close-up and personal look at Switzerland
When I came to Switzerland I fell in love with the geraniums on the windowsills. They are epitome of Europe, history and tradition for me. In my mind they are warm, inviting and are always red. Although I think they… Read moreGeraniums in Switzerland
“If that happens then I can call myself ‘von’”. I’ve heard many people make such exclamations. That means that you’d be somebody, somebody important or as they say in Swiss German you’d be “more better”. To be sure, the Bernese… Read moreA Point in Time: 1980 – Madame de Meuron
Gnomes (pronounced ‘nome’). Some people love them, trust them, talk to them and others hate them. Personally, I had never even heard of them until I moved to Switzerland. I found out quickly my mother-in-law was not a gnome-lover. My… Read moreGnomes in Gardens Everywhere
The concept of parking lots are known in both Switzerland and the States. There are, however, some subtle and not so subtle differences. Numbers I may be hallucinating here, but methinks there are a lot more empty parking spaces in… Read moreParking in America and Switzerland
How many seasons does Maine have? Two: winter and July. And North Dakota, how many does it have? Two too, but they are called winter and road construction. Luckily Switzerland has 4 seasons although road construction could possibly be used… Read moreRoad Construction
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
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