Fritzerland

I met Fritz about a week after I arrived on the Africa Mercy. Fritz is a gentleman with pepper gray hair and mustache, spectacles and a quiet unassuming demeanor. He also has a wicked sense of humor, a thirst for knowledge and is the most in love sixty nine year old I know. With three grown children, two grandkids, and a wife of thirty eight years, Fritz is the sort of man who people look at and say, 'I wish my dad was like that.' Fritz served as a dining room steward on the ship, collecting dirty plates, wiping down tables and floors and washing dishes. Prior to his 9 week tenure on the ship, he served as the director of a school for mentally handicapped children as well as a judge for his county. All this to say, I am so lucky to meet this interesting and lovely person and even luckier that him and his wife would host Chris and I for two days while in Thurgau county, West Switzerland.

This is the view from the loft space in Fritz's house.





You can imagine why the family Von Trapp decided to take a hike to freedom through these beautiful Alps. (Oh, that and them pesky Nazi's).

Fritz's wife, Dorette, made us wonderful meals. First night, we ate lasagna (not Swiss), second night, Raclette (Swiss-French), and Roesti (Swiss).

Raclette cheese is the cheese used in Raclette the dish. Slices are put in small trays that sit underneath a grill surface. When the cheese has been melted, one pours it over meat, potatoes, pears, pickled onions, to name a few foods, and then seasons it with Raclette seasoning (paprika, salt, pepper).



Dorette added bits of gorgonzola to the Raclette, giving it a fuller body. Pour the melted cheeses over the food on your plate and before you can learn to pronounce Raclette, you're in cheese heaven. The first three words I said after Raclette were Ich liebe Kaese .

Roesti can be likened to a huge has brown sliced like a pie and served with all sorts of wonderful. Dorette made it with a simple but scrumptious champagne sauce chicken served with some stewed veggies. Salad greens were from their own garden. The first three words I said after Roesti were Ich liebe der Schweiz .



Chris and I couldn't believe our blessings. We were counting them but we just could not count that high! It had been a long time since either of us had had such amazing home cooking. There is nothing like going to bed after great conversation, hospitality and full stomaches and a clear mind. And this was just Fritzerland. The next morning, we'd see some beautiful parts of Switzerland.

Next: A huge toilet bowl, cows, yodelling and the beauty of humble TLC.