Day 14 Thursday May 7th 2009 We visit the Amish Country

Day 14. Thursday May 7th 2009. We visit the Amish Country.
We bought our muesli, diced fruit and yogurt last night on the way back from Mamma Mia to eat on the train in order to sleep a bit longer. Our train left at 7:25am. Just as well we had our breakfast with us; there was no cafe car; unusual. The scenery at first was not good but gave way to tree hidden countryside. Eventually we arrived at area of beautifully green pastoral land. You could have thought we were back in NZ if it were not for the style of buildings and the speed of the train; we reached 125kmh along the straights. I have often marvelled at the great distance we have travelled without seeing countryside higher than about 400 metres; if my memory serves me correctly, not since we moved out the rocky mountains and into the prairies of Canada. We alighted from the train at Lancaster and boarded our tour bus. The driver was well versed on the Amish people and their beliefs. First up he recounted the day he drove a busload of them on a mission and when they alighted, how, he when cleaning the bus started picking up pins left behind by his passengers. He said cleaners were still picking up pins weeks later; apparently they do not use buttons on their clothes, just pins. The country side was flat to gentle rolling and lush. I observed a lot of alfalfa was grown along with grain crops and grass. The houses were well kept and nearly all had vegetable gardens. Many of the houses were built by their owners. The bus driver said they were very skilled and good business people. Very few houses had a telephone and when they did it was enclosed in a small outside building; just big enough for two standing people. They would only answer a ringing telephone if they was passing and heard it. They mainly used it for communicating to the outside world to order supplies and calling a doctor etc. It was clothes washing day; both ends of the clothes line was around a one foot diameter pulley wheel; one end mounted on a seven meter high pole. The people attached the clothes to the line and the pulled it to the high end to get maximum wind for quick drying. They had no electricity by choice. Electricity was only permitted for medical reasons. Their cooking was with gas and coal. They mainly dressed in black and travelled in cute horse drawn buggies. We stopped a bakery wayside shop where the sold local produce; bread, jams preserves and a variety of goods to tempt the many tourists. The young ladies that served us were simply dressed and wore bonnets; they looked fresh and beautiful in a simple sort of way. We bought beautiful ice creams. They had lots of small one room schools. The second shopping stop was at a beautiful village. Here you could take ride in the countryside in a horse draw open cart. We did not have enough time. Fay went off shopping and I found a nice cafe. As I sat outside eating my lunch I treated to nice music a couple of old-timers were playing on a banjo and guitar. When I approached them they tried to guess where I hailed from. I had to tell them I was from NZ; they smiled and said “Now is the Hour” and played it for me! It was a unique rendition and well played. Our next stop was at a railway museum at Strasburg. It was a large museum with many engines and carriages in various state of repair. Once again we did not have enough time. We did manage to take a short steam hauled train ride through the beautiful countryside. The carriages may have been in the style of an era long past, but they were immaculate and very comfortable, in fact more so than the Amtrak on which train we travelled from New York.