A few days in Switzerland: from Basel to Thun--Part 1

Hoi! One might think a wedding in a Swiss castle would be enough for one weekend, but no--not for this chick! =) When Simona and I got to her house on Saturday night (which was really Sunday morning), we showered and went straight to bed for a few hours; her parents were coming to pick us up for church in just a few hours! 

The service that morning was, of course, in German, but Holger (the preacher) always types out his sermons and translates them into English for the English speakers in the audience--and there were several of us that morning! Every time I go to church there, one of the things I look most forward to is the singing. Sure, the words are in German, but the notes are all the same! Music is truly a universal language. =) A lot of the songs we sing, they sing there as well. Sometimes I can sing quietly in English while they sing the same song in German, and sometimes (especially if it's a slower song) I read the words and sing along in German! It's so interesting how languages work and letters have different sounds. Letter combinations are cool because in English we rarely have more than three consonants in a row, but other languages can have entire words of just consonants. I think it's interesting. =) 

At any rate, it was fun to sing along in German and follow along with the lesson in English! Prayers were said in both English and German, which all we Americans so appreciated! Language differences are not at all the barriers they seem to be. It sounds corny and silly perhaps, but the things that tie us together--our faith and love for our brothers and sisters in Christ--are so much stronger than the language and cultural differences are. 

After church, Ben and Allison got up to thank everyone for what they'd done for the wedding, and of course Ben made me cry when he thanked those who traveled from the States. I would not have traded the experience for the world! It was worth every last penny and every lost hour of sleep, too! We all ate together for lunch (there was a LOT of food left over from the reception and dinner the night before). And then it was off to explore Basel! 

The other American young person there was Nick, who knows the Steinhauers very well, but had never been to visit Switzerland. We all (Nicole, Chris, Simona, Nick and I) went to the little downtown area and gawked at the old buildings, walked around a couple of cathedrals, crossed the Rhine River on a bridge that was built in 1226, crossed back across the Rhine on the famous Ferry that is only powered by the Rhine's current--you know, the usual. =) We showed Nick how you can really drink out of any of the fountains in Switzerland unless otherwise noted--he didn't believe it at first! Chris, ever a wealth of knowledge, explained a lot of the stuff along the way. I always learn something new, no matter how many times I walk around the sites in Basel. Afterward we ate ice cream at Moevenpick, which is a famous, fancy-dancy restaurant on the main plaza in Basel. We go there every time I go to Switzerland--it's just the best! After a while we went over to Simona's (Nicole had to leave to catch the train, since she takes the train an hour or so home). She made us Roesti, a traditional Swiss meal of hashbrowns and sausage--so good, but I feel like all I do in Switzerland is eat! Afterward, Simona and Nick made brownie-cookies for dessert, which was a pretty amazing thing! We played games and talked for the longest time until Chris's dad, Dan, came to meet us around 12:30 am. Nick, Chris and I walked over to Allison and Ben's apartment to help them unload wedding presents from Dan's car for them, then we all went home to the Steinhauers' and crashed into bed! We knew we were in for another eventful day starting in just a few hours!

A Swiss Wedding in a Castle--the Ultimate Fairytale!

I was privileged enough to be invited to my Swiss "brother's" wedding this past weekend, and I have to say that there is no place I would have rather been! I got there Friday morning and we didn't stop till I got on the plane home Tuesday!

For weeks--months, actually--the church in Switzerland has been planning Ben and Allison Steinhauer's wedding. And Allison was not allowed to know the plans! In Switzerland, people don't marry all that often, but when they do, it's usually just a civil ceremony with no fancy dresses or cakes. Just the equivalent of their Justice of the Peace and two witnesses to watch while the couple signs the papers. Allison and Ben "officially" signed their lives away to each other on February 9 this year, but of course that was not the "real" ceremony for this couple. You see, Allison is from Alabama. Her family wanted--needed--to send her off to Switzerland with a big Southern wedding on March 31!

But Ben and Allison's Swiss family didn't want to be left out of the wedding planning. They love the couple too much to let this opportunity pass them by. So a wedding was planned for April 21 in Switzerland. And the best part was the fact that all the details were kept from Allison! Ben and the church family in Basel planned and facilitated the entire event: No caterer, no wedding planner, no Deejay, no hired instrumentalists, just the church family giving all they have to make the day special for the newlyweds!

The day of the wedding, many many people from the church came to decorate the venue: "Schloss" Wildenstein, or the Wildenstein Castle! Flowers and ribbons were put in place, the rooms in the castle were decorated, an archway was decorated, chairs had to be set up, food prep was started, tables had to be set, etc., etc., etc. Everyone had their job to do, and it all had to be finished before 2:00 pm!

Just before the bride arrived, all the guests stood outside the castle gate to greet her. A couple of the boys from church played "Johnny Comes Marching Home" (extremely Southern American, of course!) on their trombones as she rode up to the castle--in a horse-drawn carriage! Yes indeed, it was a fairytale wedding in EVERY sense! She stepped out with the three flower girls, and the happy look of awe on her face said it all: she was definitely surprised!

Ben walked with her through the lines of people and up to the gate of the castle, and everyone followed her in to sit in the courtyard. There were about 100 people there to witness the grand event! The ceremony was, of course, in Swiss German, but since there were several English-speaking folks in the crowd, they had kindly translated the entire ceremony into English and gave us all copies! They really did think of everything. =)

The ceremony itself was much like an American ceremony, with some Swiss traditions scattered in as well. They said their vows in German--kudos to Allison!--and Dan, Ben's father, performed the ceremony. He explained the reason for their rings, which was very interesting (glad  I could read about it in English!). Ben designed Allison's ring himself, and it has three parts to it: 1) a gold band that's rough and unfinished, which symbolizes America (the CA gold rush) and the fact that marriage is not always smooth; 2) a band of diamonds, and each time Ben and Allison have a child, one of the diamonds will be replaced with a blue sapphire, which is Allison's favorite stone; 3) a silver (or maybe white gold, I don't remember) band that is curved and has uneven widths to symbolize the Swiss precision and the fact that, yet again, marriage is not always even. Her ring is truly BEAUTIFUL!

After the ceremony, the guests were ushered into the castle for hors d'oeuvres. In one room were Swiss traditional finger foods (chocolate, white asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, cheese, little sandwiches, etc. etc. etc.). Also set up were the stereotypical Swiss decorations, art, farming things, huge cow bells, and other things (see pictures!). And in the other room were American stereotypical foods and decorations! There were things like mini hamburgers, chips and dip, pinwheels, deviled eggs, and the like. Decorations included American flags, movie memorabilia, Elvis memorabilia, etc. Everything looked fantastic!

After Ben and Allison had taken pictures and visited a bit, we were all in for a real treat: country line-dancing! Margrit (Ben's mom) had asked some of her friends to learn some line dances and put them to music: Achy-breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus, I'm From the Country by Tracey Byrd, and a coupel of others. They wore jeans and cowboy boots, hats, and vests, and of course each lady held a handkercheif--with a traditional Swiss pattern on it. =) No detail seemed to be overlooked!

And next up, we all went to the highest room in the castle for dinner. "Dinner" seems a bit of an understatement, however; it was, in the words of Allison, a FEAST! All the Americans (bless our hearts!) were seated at one table--the table where Allison and Ben were sitting. Allison's parents, Chris (Ben's brother, who is also a fluent English speaker), Mr. and Mrs. Segers (who Ben lived with in America for a while) and Mr. and Mrs. Nichols and their son Nick (who are also friends of the Steinhauers' from America and who were filming the wedding) and I were seated at the table with the happy couple. Chris translated speeches and skits for us, for which we were quite grateful! Between each course, the guests were treated to lots of skits, activities, and even concerts! Again, people from the church did everything--served, performed, everything!

There was an Elvis impersonator; piano, trombone, and string performances by people from the church; and quite possibly the biggest treat was a private and intimate performance by Joja Wendt--the world famous Hamburg pianist! Ben and Allison had met him at one of his concerts a few months ago after they got engaged, and half in jest Ben asked if he ever played at weddings. And Joja got so excited about it! He said he loves when people get married because so few Europeans ever do anymore. He and Ben worked it out for him to come and perform at the wedding! He passed up two other engagements to come and play for us! He ended up sitting at the English-speaking table so Ben and Allison could visit with him, and he was absolutely the nicest celebrity I have ever met. He was so down-to-earth, and none of his jokes were ever crass or below the belt. I don't think he's a Christian, but he was so classy and funny--never inappropriate. He played Flight of the Bumblebee, Steinway Boogie (which was of course renamed "Steinhauer Boogie"!), and several other well-known and difficult tunes, including--get this--Chattnooga Choo-Choo! And since I'm from Tennessee, everyone who knew me pointed me out and he dedicated the song to me! haha!

After all the festivities and performances and surprises were finished, the couple was able to go on their way and be sent off by their loved ones, and cleanup commenced! We ended up leaving around 12:30 or so, and I went back to my friend Simona's, where I'd been staying.

More to come! But in the meantime, you can look at the pictures of the wedding and other Swiss adventures here: Switzerland April 2012