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LAST WEEK I TOOK A TRIP TO AMISH country.





I am so very sorry to confuse you, dear reader---you must know by now that I live right in the middle of Amish country.

Ah, but you see, there are other large Amish settlements and the man I live with is very interested in all things Amish. Well, perhaps just Amish horse-drawn things. Hmm, maybe only Amish horse-drawn farming things.

Now that I think of it, the interest may be mainly the horse-drawn farming aspect of it, Amish or otherwise. But you see, whatever the case, I ended up in some interesting little towns in Ohio-- with not only the man himself, but two good friends traveling along.























We were entertained by lots of charmingly old-fashioned scenes,




















and interesting Amish stores stocked with Amish necessities.










Sorry, no photos of the Amishman who showed us all around his horse-equipment manufacturing shop. In fact, too bad, no photos of the shop either. Employees had gone home for the day and the building was clean enough to sit on the floor and eat. (Well, it looked that clean. We didn't try it out.)



We checked out cheese shops, locally-made cheese being a big item in that area. And we looked at Amish-built furniture.

We improvised at least one great little dinner with the cheese and wine that we collected.














One town, set among the "mini-alps," featured all things Swiss, including some handsome and sturdy little
donkeys and goats with their tinkling cowbells. (Hmm...I do hope I'm not offending them, it's just that I've never heard anyone make reference to a goatbell or a donkeybell.)




Interestingly enough, we got more chances to buy cheese when, en route home, we spent our final afternoon in Pittsburgh's Italian market.


But before perusing the market,
one member of our group was on a mission. That church up the block--was it Greek Orthodox?




He knocked on a door,
worked his charm on a
very trusting keeper
of the key. It was the
key to getting us in.
And so we took a tour.
The church was not Greek Orthodox.
And it certainly was not Amish
(You're right. I knew you'd know that).
















It was very old and very Catholic. Thus we began our trip with a study in simplicity. And ended with a study in ornateness.

And all of it was fascinating.





























(And fun)
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