Day 6 Emmental Switzerland 47km

 Today was a day off working on the farm.  After feeding the lambs (who now run to me when I call out❤️) I cycled into the bigger town Langnau to visit a bike mechanic as my brakes were no longer working.  Found an excellent high quality shop and with no common language, he worked on my bike, pumped the tyres to the right pressure and I was ready to explore.  

I just decided to ride out of town and follow some of the cycling route signs.  Route 24 took me through many dairy farm villages.  I love that a lot of the huge barns are hundreds of years old.  Cheese factories all along the route too.  

I diverted to a small town as I could see the steeple of a church and tried a Swiss pastry filled with a nutty cinnamon filling.  

The road was constantly climbing through rich green fields, with a swiftly flowing river on one side and towering hills beside.

As I climbed further up the valley the hills beside me grew less tall. 3 beautiful lithe deer boinged across the road in front of me and straight into the forest

I proceeded to the start of the forest park and signs to ski lift area, but the road was closed.  It wasn't until I turned around that I realised that I had been cycling uphill for about 20kms.  A fabulous downhill ride was my reward.  I saw a guy on roller version of cross country skis!  

I love the pride home owners have with beautiful window boxes, flowers in their vege gardens and still lost of Swiss flag bunting hanging up.

I called in to a large Restaurant with beautiful paint work and window boxes.  I went inside and it was busy.. no staff spoke English.  I was guided to a table and handed my menu.  A lovely lady at the next table asked if I needed help and she came over.  I asked her for the most typically Swiss dish and she pointed to two.  My meal arrived, Swiss sausage cut up (like Devon meat), mixed with grated cheese and mayonnaise, served on a bed of lettuce, with fries, a slice of tomato and a wedge of watermelon 😊. When in Rome!

Back on the bike and into Langnau where I had seen a sign to a museum.  So glad I went to the regional museum.  The old farmhouse was built in the 1500's and has not one nail, but interlocked timber.  The museum is of high quality, and they provided a guide book in English.  There were nearly 30 rooms of exhibits (that's how big the place was!).  The lady was very excited to have a visitor from Australia and I was asked to sign the visitors book.

Known as a pottery region

Cheesemaking - this area produces 15% of Swiss cheeses

Shingle making is a big industry.  Wooden shingles last 50years

Back home again and just as I started riding up the last beast of a hill it started pouring with rain 😂. I'm gradually being able to ride further up it, but gee it's steep!

I made a huge pot of soup yesterday and so just made an apple crumble for desert.

There is a flurry to finish some sculptures for an exhibition so I expect they will work through till the wee hours.  

Relaxing day 😊