Tag: Memorial Day

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Next Stop: PZM

Last weekend we once again visited the Dampfbahn in our town of Münsingen. It is a small sized train that people can ride. Kind of like a cross between a model train and an actual train. It is run by a club of train enthusiasts, the Dampfbahn Aaretal, who are really serious about their trains. They have several real steam engines that require them to shovel small hunks of coal with a tiny shovel and to fill the tanks with water from the watering stations. The track is quite extensive, taking riders about a quarter mile from the main station, train sheds, and turn-table, around a playground, past switches, and through a tunnel. The kids love it, especially Henry. He waves at all the spectators along the way.

Some of the spectators here, however, are a little… different. See, the Dampfbahn is located on the campus of the PZM, or Psychiatriezentrum Münsingen, a huge psychiatric hospital located right in our town. It is actually a beautiful campus with nice architecture, a green house, a cafe, playground, mini golf, and of course the Dampfbahn. It is a popular place to hang out, especially for families. But, between the kids and parents sitting on the train, you will often see a patient riding on the handicapped train car. They wave from the steps of their buildings or from their wheelchairs as they are pushed around by nurses. Depending on their level of care, they also ride the buses in town going to and from the center.

The whole point is to integrate the center with the community as much as possible so it doesn’t become isolated. And, from what I can see, it has been highly successful. It reminds me a little of the St. Ann Center in Milwaukee where both Emily and James went to daycare a number of years ago. There was an adult daycare program for elderly and mentally handicapped people along with the children’s daycare. They got to interact with each other, which is wonderful for both groups. But, St. Ann’s didn’t have a Dampfbahn!

We have visited the PZM many times, even bringing some of our guests there. I put together a collection of pictures of the good times we’ve had at the PZM:

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Keeping it Local

It was another beautiful, sunny fall weekend in Switzerland. People here keep telling us this is not normal, and in fact this is the warmest November on record in Switzerland in over 100 years! Is it global warming? Who knows, but we are enjoying it anyway. Though the Swiss people are complaining that there isn’t any snow yet, as they are itching to start skiing. We stayed home this weekend and did our best to be like the locals.

On Saturday morning, we headed outside to bring our yard and our garden up to snuff. The Swiss are meticulous about their gardens, and ours has been sorely neglected for the past several weeks. So, while the kids played in the street with the neighbors, Joe and I raked leaves, swept walkways, turned over the garden and covered it for the winter. It felt great to dig our hands in the dirt one last time this season.

On Saturday night, we rewarded ourselves by going to the Chäs-Fescht or Cheese Festival that was put on by the local yodeling club (Jodlerklub Alpenrösli Münsingen). Talk about local! It was a lot like a church fish fry in Milwaukee, only instead of fried fish and french fries, they served all-you-can-eat Raclette and Fondue. It took place in a school gymnasium packed with families intermingled at long tables. There was an accordion trio playing traditional music. Unfortunately, there was no yodeling, as all the club members were serving food.

Sunday, we spent the morning basking in the sun by the Aare river. Henry worked up an appetite throwing rocks into the river. As we’ve mentioned before, people are allowed to build a fire anywhere they want in Switzerland. So, Joe built a nice fire on the rocks and we roasted hot dogs for lunch.

To finish off the weekend, I had a performance with the community choir I belong to. In Switzerland, there are a lot of community “clubs.” From sports clubs to cooking clubs, outdoors clubs, music groups, cultural clubs, etc… Once someone joins a club, they often stay committed to it for years and years. I joined the local choir, Kantorei Münsingen, and it has been a great way to meet people and get out of the house one night a week! We performed Antonio Caldara’s Missa Dolorosa at a service in honor of Totensontag or Sunday of the Dead. It is a traditional German holiday, similar to Memorial Day, honoring those who have passed away. The choir performed with a chamber ensemble and four soloists. I don’t have a recording of our performance yet, but you can hear a selection of the piece here.