Talk small, walk tall
BERN, Switzerland. Kramgasse is a principal street in Altstad (Old Town) in Bern, which has kept the charm of its medieval provenance. In the old days, it was the town center. Today, it is a main shopping center, with its original identical frontage forming a colonnade of boutiques.
Our Claro M. Recto Ave. (nee Azcarraga) and Avenida Rizal have similar extensions on the buildings jutting out to cover the sidewalks. Regrettably, we replaced the practical architecture ideal for our tropical weather with a stateside version. As a consequence, nobody likes to walk on our open sidewalks where there is no shade from the sun or the rain.
First stop, Chaesbueb on Kramgasse 83 for fondue lunch of three kinds of Gruyere, one part Vacherin, and one part Appenzeller cheese, add kirschwasser, and stir well.
Further down the road is the shop run by Frau Irma Suter-Deringerer, the Bauhaus Shop, a treasure trove of knickknacks by artists and designers (Gropius, Meyer, van de Rohe...also Malevitch, Le Courbousier, etc). Kids and adults will discover math curiosities and objects d’art.
On the second floor of Nr. 49 Kramgasse is “Einstein haus” where Albert Einstein lived in 1903-05. Switzerland has a roster of famous sons and daughters. Friedrich Schiller created the folk hero William Tell. But there is also a real-life kissand-tell – the first James Bond Girl (Ursula Andress), who appeared in “Dr. No” in bikini, like Venus rising out of the sea. Le Courbouisier (real name Charles-Edouard JeanneretGris) was the compleat architect, designer, artist. Nicolas Hayek, as mentioned the other day, was the savior of the Swiss watch industry. Richard La Nicca was the savior of Biel farmlands. Then there was a successive generation of famous Piccards (father Auguste, son Jacques. and grandson Bertrand), all scientists, explorers, balloonists. And, of course, the world knows of Roger Federer at center court.
Google lists three pages of famous Swiss personalities – larger than life yet living day to day with mortals. It’s all in a day’s work for them… because none are “kulang sa pansin.”
We stopped by a reserve at the Baren Park across the river Aare to see Bern’s mascot bears – but were disappointed to find it empty. (Do Switzerland’s bears also take holidays like the locals? The keeper explained that the site is under renovation.)
The charge d’affaires of the Philippine Embassy in Bern is Theresa Lazaro,,,not the same and no relation to the Ma. Theresa Lazaro, our ambassador in Paris. (Tess Junior says that she is the slimmer Lazaro.) She may donate a beehive to improve the quality of life of the bears at the park.
Tess Junior also founded “Tambayan Pinoy-Swiss” (TPS) Channel, an Internet-based channel formed with a small group of Pinoy volunteers to serve the Filipino diaspora and to create a platform where Pinoys could interact and express their views and opinions about issues that affect them. It also serves to profile PH in Switzerland by featuring Filipino talents and the best of the Philippines. (This begat a “2GSP Info Center” by secondgeneration Swiss Pinoys.)
The other foreign service officer is Jarie Osias, who gave up La Dolce Vita when he was cross-posted from Philippine Embassy Rome to the high cost of living in the Philippine Embassy Bern.
VOCABULARY. “Merci viel mals” is Swiss “Taglish” (combination of French and German), meaning “Thank you very much.”
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS. Senator Ralph Recto (aka husband of Vilma Santos) and Congressman Roman Romulo (better known as husband of Shalani Soledad) can take credit for nipping in the bud the hare-brained scheme of ther Bureau of Customs to open the BBL (Balkbayan Boxes) of OFWs. One out of seven Pinoys depend on an OFW, or has an OFW relation, or knows an OFW.
CULTURE. Five outstanding individuals from four countries will receive on Monday, 31 August 2015, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines the Ramon Magsaysay Award – considered the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize. Ligaya Fernando Amilbangsa is the Philippine awardee. Overcoming discouragement and ridicule from kith and kin, she learned the “pangalay” dance, an art form performed by locals in Sulu antedating Christianity and Islam. She perfected it by simulation (practicing the dance by watching her shadow by candlelight), to save the “pangalay” from oblivion and bring it to international acclaim. FEEDBACK: joseabetozaide@ gmail.com