June 3, 2025 Steckborn, Switzerland

Oh my what a day!! This morning we had a tour scheduled at the Bernina Sewing Machine Factory in Steckborn. As many of you know I have been a lover of Bernina machines for quite a while and have several of their machines. We got on the road fairly early for the 45 minute drive to Steckborn. The drive up was beautiful. The rolling hills were bright green and they looked liked perfectly manicured lawns. When we reached Steckborn we had a little extra time so we stopped for a coffee and pastry. Wow! It was delicious and probably the best pastry I have ever had. Then we headed over to Bernina. The facility is rather large and we were not sure where to enter. When we saw the door that said “Creative Center” we thought that was a good place to start and to ask for directions. As soon as we opened the door we knew we were in the right place, there was a large screen with my name on it. It was very impressive and I was left speechless. We were given a very nice tour and really enjoyed it ….. But wait…. There is more. If you have been following our blog on May 23, Nick and I met a charming man in Ferrara, Italy while having lunch. After a bit of conversation we found out that our new found friend had done an apprenticeship at Bernina around 60 years ago. He bought us dessert and said he was still in contact with folks at Bernina and would let them know to treat us special. Well my Bernina Buddy kept his word and they had a special gift for us, a metal Bernina calendar that was hand signed by the President of Bernina and a note from my Bernina Buddy.

After our exciting trip to Bernina we decided to wander back towards our hotel. We stopped in a cute little town, Winterthur. We walked up and down several of the streets and in and out of several of the little shops.