Thursday, June
17, 1982
Ausflug Day! Once
a year, the CP Station staff gets to go on an outing. The weather had been rainy,
and it poured last night. However, this morning the sun was shining!
We met in a parking lot behind the Biel old town and I found a 4-leaf clover on the way. There were the two Ergotherapeutinen/occupational therapists, Rita and Vré who rode with Sylvia from Kindergarten, Liliane with Ruth and Elisabeth in another car, and Bernadette with Sylviane and Sybille. I rode with Jan & Kirby. One of the girls had directions to the secret destination and we followed her along the Bielersee/Lake Biel and the BTI route. You could hear the Swiss Air Force jets, but not see them.
At Ins, we stopped until everyone had caught up, then turned towards Murten. On the other side of town we parked in a lot at a beach and Sylviane handed over 180 CHF/$90 to the cashier at the beach entrance. Wow, a lot of money! We entered an area with restrooms, changing areas, and swimming pools, and were told to change into bathing suits and that we were not yet at our destination. I had my bathing suit under my clothes, but we were told not to wear pants, so everyone was self-conscious about bare legs.
We were led to the docks where rowboats were tied up. Aha, we had to row to our destination! Kirby, Jan, Rita and Vré were the first to set off, followed by Silvia, Sybille, Bernadette, and Liliane. Finally our boat with the leader Sylviane, Ruth, Elisabeth, and myself.
We were supposed to look for a beach that would take 45 minutes to
reach. Soon our boat was in the lead and after we passed a little peninsula, we
stopped to check a couple beaches. This allowed the others to catch up. Kirby’s
boat tied up to a buoy and they began eating their lunch! Meanwhile, Sylviane
and Elisabeth were checking out the private beaches of shuttered villas that
were unoccupied at this time of year, while Ruth and I rowed the boat through
reeds to keep up with them. Sylviane picked a beach, but Elisabeth found a
nicer one. Sylvia’s boat joined us as we settled on the beach and built a fire
from dried grass, reeds, and driftwood. Kirby’s boat left their buoy to join
us. It had taken us 1-1/2 hours to get here, arriving at noon.
We met in a parking lot behind the Biel old town and I found a 4-leaf clover on the way. There were the two Ergotherapeutinen/occupational therapists, Rita and Vré who rode with Sylvia from Kindergarten, Liliane with Ruth and Elisabeth in another car, and Bernadette with Sylviane and Sybille. I rode with Jan & Kirby. One of the girls had directions to the secret destination and we followed her along the Bielersee/Lake Biel and the BTI route. You could hear the Swiss Air Force jets, but not see them.
At Ins, we stopped until everyone had caught up, then turned towards Murten. On the other side of town we parked in a lot at a beach and Sylviane handed over 180 CHF/$90 to the cashier at the beach entrance. Wow, a lot of money! We entered an area with restrooms, changing areas, and swimming pools, and were told to change into bathing suits and that we were not yet at our destination. I had my bathing suit under my clothes, but we were told not to wear pants, so everyone was self-conscious about bare legs.
We were led to the docks where rowboats were tied up. Aha, we had to row to our destination! Kirby, Jan, Rita and Vré were the first to set off, followed by Silvia, Sybille, Bernadette, and Liliane. Finally our boat with the leader Sylviane, Ruth, Elisabeth, and myself.
 |
| Sybille, Bernadette, Liliane and Vre, Kirby, Rita |
 |
| Jan, Vre, Kirby, and Rita |
We broke off
branches from bushes to roast cervelas/Cervelat/sausages, considered the
national sausage of Switzerland. We waded in the water that had freezing and
warm spots, and was shallow for quite a distance. Sylviane and Sylvia, then
Liliane and I played badminton.
At 15:30 we left to row back. Our boat pulled ahead, but waited at the peninsula for the others to catch up. There were some water fights with Sylvia’s boat. We pulled ahead again and decided to look for the beach we were supposed to have used! We got out of the boat to explore and found the water was shallower and the beach was dirtier. We were glad we had found our private beach to use! Saw a fisherman catch a 6” fish.
We then caught up with the others at the Murten beach and we all arrived about 17:00. We went to change clothes, have drinks, then window shop in Murten. We bought a Nidelkuchen/a cream cake, a specialty of Murten, for Fr. Dr. B, as we were going to her home for dinner. We left at 17:45 to head to Bern. We lost one car immediately, and we turned off too soon, but got back on track, meeting two of the cars at Fr. Dr. B’s modern apartment complex.
A woman and a girl came out to ask if we were looking for Fr. Dr. B and led us to her gorgeous apartment (they were her sister-in-law and daughter, Andrea), passing her son, Peter, at play. Sat on the balcony for drinks and Fr. Dr. B arrived home when we started a treasure hunt. We had to find 3 clocks, 4 animals, 6 plants, and 2 herbs. I thought we just had to know where they were, but we had to name them, and I couldn’t name the herbs. Kirby won the prize of a potted zinnia, presented by the kids.
At 15:30 we left to row back. Our boat pulled ahead, but waited at the peninsula for the others to catch up. There were some water fights with Sylvia’s boat. We pulled ahead again and decided to look for the beach we were supposed to have used! We got out of the boat to explore and found the water was shallower and the beach was dirtier. We were glad we had found our private beach to use! Saw a fisherman catch a 6” fish.
We then caught up with the others at the Murten beach and we all arrived about 17:00. We went to change clothes, have drinks, then window shop in Murten. We bought a Nidelkuchen/a cream cake, a specialty of Murten, for Fr. Dr. B, as we were going to her home for dinner. We left at 17:45 to head to Bern. We lost one car immediately, and we turned off too soon, but got back on track, meeting two of the cars at Fr. Dr. B’s modern apartment complex.
A woman and a girl came out to ask if we were looking for Fr. Dr. B and led us to her gorgeous apartment (they were her sister-in-law and daughter, Andrea), passing her son, Peter, at play. Sat on the balcony for drinks and Fr. Dr. B arrived home when we started a treasure hunt. We had to find 3 clocks, 4 animals, 6 plants, and 2 herbs. I thought we just had to know where they were, but we had to name them, and I couldn’t name the herbs. Kirby won the prize of a potted zinnia, presented by the kids.
Dinner was roast
beef with a variety of salads (potato, tomato, carrot, green bean, and lettuce)
and bread fashioned to look like a cluster of grapes (each person took a
“grape”). Dessert was currants and ice cream, followed by coffee and cookies.
We left at 22:30.
Despite blisters
and a sunburn, I had a great time. And we were very lucky with the weather,
because it rained again the next day!
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