[Idyllchat] Meiringen - Jaun Apartment

[Ronnie B. Peters]

Ruthie and Harold, we appreciated your sharing the info about the Juan family, even though the news was sad.  The passing of Kristina's mother was not so much of a surprise, but the fact that Kristina has also died is indeed a bit of a shock.  

We also stayed at the Jaun apartment on two separate occasions and were treated very well, in spite of Kristina's somewhat limited English.  She brought me homemade soup once when I was ill for a day, and even laboriously darned a small hole in an old T-shirt of my husband's which she discovered while doing some laundry.  (We had intended to throw it away).  Her father was alive on our first stay with them, but had died before our second trip.  Her mother was ailing by then, but managed to occasionally appear on the small balcony above us, wave and smile. 

Her mother gave my husband and me 'bed socks' which she had knitted, and Kristina gave me two pairs of the most wonderful hand-knitted, fingerless wrist gloves which tuck up under my heavy coat and extend down to just above my knuckles.  When I first received them, I 'oohed and aahed' over them, but was actually puzzled as to exactly what they were--they were also trimmed with a bit of fur-like yarn.  She seemed to sense my uncertainty so gestured as to the way they were to be worn. However, it was not until later that winter when I decided to try wearing them, that I realized how wonderful they really are, as I have arthritis in both my hands and am bothered by extreme cold even with regular gloves.  Now I will cherish them even more, as I will obviously never get another pair.

Every year at Christmas, except for 2006, Kristina sent a card and note--which she said a friend helped her translate into English--plus a small gift.  I will miss her.  We have stayed in a few other places in Meiringen, but would probably have tried renting the Juan apt. again on a future trip to the Heartland.  I believe she told me Hal had become quite well acquainted with her parents during the early years of Untours and in fact their apt. may have been one of the first ones he discovered and used himself in Meiringen.

And, yes--all who have rented the Juan apt. know about the tiny bathtub and the low ceiling over the head of the bed, which one must take care not to bump into each time you hop out.  Even with these small inconveniences, we still returned a second time.

Margaret and Ron Peters
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.dca.net/pipermail/idyllchat/attachments/20070916/f48d135c/attachment-0001.htm