Here is a link where imported irons may be purchased:

http://www.shopswiss.com/bratzeli.html

For a real treat, buy one of these:

http://www.shopswiss.com/raclette.html

I only ate bratzelis once on my whole mission, and I spent plenty of time looking for them. It seems to be a Swiss tradition that is dying out. In antique shops I used to see old irons that were heated by coals. I didn't see any new irons, and the only Swiss company (Jura) that used to make the irons no longer makes them. Mom and dad have a Jura iron.

Raclette (second link) is a truly wonderful thing. Though none of you will likely run out and buy an iron, it would be a fun thing to try. Raclette is both the name of a cheese, and the name of a dish. When prepared on the streets, a wheel of raclette is sliced in half. The cut side of the wheel is melted next to a red-hot iron until the exposed surface begins to crisp and the layer below is melted. The street merchant selling the raclette will then scrape the melted layer of cheese on a plate of boiled red potatoes, ham, carrots, and other meats and vegetables. The plate is not complete until paprika is sprinkled atop the cheese, and two sweet pickles added to the side. With the home version, raclette is melted in little dishes, and the meat is grilled on top of the iron. If you want to try raclette in Switzerland, make sure to visit in the fall. The leaves begin blowing through cobblestone alleys, carrying the scent of roasted chestnuts and the coming winter. The Swiss call it the Foehn, and some of the older ones with glassy eyes will tell you how strange things happen when the Foehn begins to blow. There is nothing like this in the new world. Even at twenty-one, I knew this as I dreamt beneath a 730 year old roof.

S