Today in Berne, Switzerland, not too far from the river in this photo, I went to a small laundromat. I got Swiss Francs on the way and bought a sandwich and coffee so I would have change and small bills. But as is often the case with laundromats, the money requirements are very specific.
Outside waiting for his laundry to dry was a guy named Thomas who helped me with the whole process--which coins I needed and where to get them. The washer needed five one-franc coins, the soap dispenser and dryers would take coins from 10 centimes up to five francs. Thomas took me over to the bar next door where they gave change for the laundry. Then he pulled his clothes from the dryer and went home. COVID is far enough from people's minds that we shook hands as he left.
Since I travel with just a backpack, I am in weekly need of a laundromat on a long trip. Last week I used a laundromat in Paris near the Pantheon, not my favorite one, it was closed for remodeling.
My favorite laundromat in the world is in Jerusalem where I met an Israeli tank commander who fell from a helicopter and lived to tell about it.
Last year, at a rural boat dock in Denmark, I used the laundromat and met a retired electronics technician who had traveled the world for Siemens Corporation. He nearly died during the civil war in Libya, but hates Las Vegas more than any place on earth. I also met three of four American sisters traveling together in Paris in the renewed travel in 2022.
Just as I was leaving the laundromat today, as guy with a cigarette scratchy voice asked me a question in what I thought was German. I said I only speak English. He said, much more clearly, "I am speaking English." I laughed and passed along the information from Thomas: 1 franc coins only for the washer, any coins for the soap and the dryer. He thanked me and began pulling off several layers of clothes and putting them in the washer.
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