My great, great grandfather was a musician and buinessman who lived in the tiny village of Sumisvald, a few miles north of Berne.  He left for America in the early 1800's, most likely for religious reasons, and travelled first to Virginia and later to Iowa where he put down roots, raised a large  family, and introduced the concept of windmills to the farmers in the eastern part of the state.  When Miles, our tour guide,  told us we would be travelling to Berne, I was excited and anxious to see if the people there were anything like me.  Surprisingly, I felt right at home.  Not only did the people look like me, they thought like me.   It was amazing how many of them shared the values I was raised with - honesty, love of nature, hard work, practicality, soft spokeness  - and an insatiable appetite for cheese!  I felt at home in Berne.  I don't know if it was my imagination or not, but it seemed like many of the people could have been my relatives.