Ich Liebe die Schweiz but it might not be always mutual. Why? I look like a Swiss grandma but I can’t understand Swiss German. So when a young woman at the grocery store said, €%~€|#%\#}\%#|€%#.£^%!” To me yesterday because I had improperly brought apples to the cash register (no tag for weight) I could only stare at her. Sigh.
Ich bin nicht ein Dumbkopf….
I did a bit better at the airport when the clerk selling overpriced salads told me to order from his colleague because his shift was over. He didn’t speak Swiss German, but so-called high German.
I have actually studied German for three years with Rosetta Stone and yesterday — my first back in Switzerland in 11 years — proved its value at least in the development of the passive language skills, reading comprehension and listening. The problem is I have never tried speaking German.
We are staying in a converted 18th century barn owned by expat-Australians. It’s absolutely stunning — as are the owners. It is in the village of Obfelden in Canton Zurich a few minutes by foot from the village in which my ancestors lived. The house reminds me very much of my little stone house in Descanso. The living room floor tiles came from an old church! The floor is heated.
From our window we can see the total romance of the Swiss countryside — and the Rigi, a mountain loved and painted and described in poetry during the Romantic period. Eight or ten sheep graze in a small field below us, the cheery sound of their bells says “Switzerland.”
For dinner I had Appenzeller cheese and truly good bread and one of the apples of shame. 😬 Breakfast? Yoghurt from Swiss milk and strawberries… And coffee but no Dusty to share it with.
Today we will be taking it easy. Lois has gone back to bed. I will go out soon to see where the Wanderweg sign outside the front door points and leads. At least my tiny Swiss German vocabulary in the Zurich dialect is Gruezi! = Hello.
South
Beautiful scenery. Hope you get a grasp of Swiss German so you can enjoy your stay a bit more.
My Dad’s mother’s side were Swiss German and my mother was from Bau, Germany. She spoke high and low German and also Danish. Their farm was on the border of Denmark and Germany.
The photos are great. Hope you will post a lot of what[ you see there.
Swiss German is probably impossible but we’re doing better and in town they now know that we are Americans so the cashier at the store spoke to us in English today 😊
Well that was good to have someone speak English.
Yay! Love Switzerland. Keep up the reports, please. And have a blast!
We’re trying. We get lost a lot 😳
Guete Morge – Wilkomme i dr Schwiez. I envy you at the moment, being let loose in the countryside. I find you have made an excellent choice, tramping the paths of the Swiss countryside. You have the great advantage of staying in wonderful lodgings and not in the tourist traps of the city. Bis Mäntig – Pat 🙂