The highlight of the trip came after we struggled to read a direct ancestors last name. I couldn't read it (which doesn't say much). The three archivist in the library couldn't either. After chewing on it for a few days, we found the city building where it was suggested the original records might be found. It took us a while to get access because no one really knew where they were (not often asked for). Finally someone seemed to know and took us to the basement with the moving shelves. There we found treasures (that ancestor was another Blattner, but we couldn't tell that at all from the film, even when looking again.)
My one regret was that we didn't take pictures of every page while we were there. Reading the microfilmed records was so much harder... that and not wearing the gloves that I had in my purse.
This was a trip I will treasure my entire lifetime. I cannot believe how blessed I am to have family that is willing to share of their bounty that Dean and I could travel to Switzerland and spend a few weeks in the archives. Besides, how many people do you know that can say they have been to Switzerland twice and never seen the tourist sights minus a few hours and one day.?
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