Basel Tattoo

No... Neither of us got a Basel tattoo - we attended The Basel Tattoo. Dictionary.com defines a tattoo as follows: a signal sounded on a drum or bugle to summon soldiers or sailors to their quarters at night. The performance was held in an area called the barracks and contained at least 8 different groups: drum and fife bands, military marching bands, marching bands with a rifle corps (PERFECT formations - they were really polished), traditional Irish dancers, an alphorn group (with a little yodeling), a troup of Russian dancers, two bands featuring my favorite - bagpipes. Let's not forget The Lone Piper and total blowout of all the bands together with a singer from the UK belting out a Highlands song - whew - what an evening! The highlight was the Top Secret Drum Corps that held mock sword fights with their drumsticks and brought the crowd to their feet they were so good. You can see pictures of Basel events here.

Swimming in the Rhine

Yesterday, Robert had a surprise in store for us after dinner - we were going to swim in the Rhine! It is very common to see people in the water during summer - there are public areas right next to the water some have stone beaches and there is even a nude beach not far away. People of every age and walk of life congregate to enjoy the cool water on a hot day. It's a 15 minute walk to the river from our apartment - so off we went to see what it was all about. Here's what you do: put your towel and your clothes in a waterproof bag, you wade into the water with your bag and your shoes because there are hazardous rocks below (but the river gets very deep quickly), a fast moving current sweeps you up and you can float on your bag or swim with the current, when you're ready to get out - navigate over to the river's edge and use stone stairs to exit the river. Then you just take out your towel, dry off and put your clothes back on. We did it twice and will definely do it again. There are three main bridges downtown and we passed under two of them - some people even jump off the middle bridge into the water! We weren't able to get photos of our swim, but here is a site that has a great picture (middle bridge pictured). You can see our other pictures of Basel events here.

Southern France – Lyon (5)

Lyon was our last stop. Situated between two rivers the city is quite large and has a renaissance area that is listed on UNESCO’s world heritage site for its traboules. We took the funicular (a tram that goes to the top of a hill) to see their famous church and a terrific view of the city. A walk in the park, a leisurely lunch and the best part – Nancy found a watch (I've only been looking for 18 years)! Pictures of Lyon.

Southern France - Provence (4)

When we were buying a pass to the major sites in Nimes they asked if we would also like to visit a nearby castle – the Chateau Des Baux. Why not? We ventured out into Provence past the corn, wheat and sunflower farms to experience a medieval town leading up to the ruins of a once great castle that overlooks many of the farms. Van Gogh lived in a nearby town (Arles) and used the beautiful countryside as subjects for some of his most famous paintings. See the pictures.

Southern France – Bridges (3)

Nancy actually arranged this entire trip to see three different bridges: the Pont du Gard built in 19 BC by the Romans, the Garabit Viaduct built by Gustave Eiffel of tower fame, and the most recent French bridge achievement the Millau Viaduct by architect Norman Foster. Three different types of bridges from very different eras – I still can’t choose one as a favorite. See the Pont du Gard pictures here. See other bridges in France here.

Southern France - Tour de France (2)

Lance or no Lance we decided to take a few hours to experience the actual Tour de France. We saw the end of Stage 13, but weren’t sure how to read the schedule so we arrived a little bit early. There is an hour long caravan of sponsors that drives the route prior to the riders arriving. The spectators scramble (almost to blows) to get the wares that are thrown into the crowd along the route (lots of hats, snacks, key rings, etc.). There were five riders that were pretty close together, but the rest of the pack was almost 30 minutes behind (see results) and it was over in a matter of seconds. Take a look at the history of The Tour and check out our pictures here.

Southern France – Nimes (1)

An absolute treasure, the city of Nimes had just enough to keep us occupied and enchanted us with its beauty. Nimes is a Roman city that has 4 major attractions: the Masion Carree which now shows a 3D movie about the history of Nimes, the amphitheatre which had a fantastic audio guide describing the different gladiator fights, costumes, weapons, and history, the beautiful Jardins de la Fontaine with wonderful water features, plenty of shade, and a winding path that led to the Tour Magne a tower built in 19BC. We briefly visited Avignon as well and it reminded us of Lucca, Italy as it’s a city completely surrounded by a wall. See the pictures here.

A day of hiking

Nothing better than a good long walk, especially when it's up and down hill in the beautiful mountains in Switzerland! We have a book that documents many different trails in all parts of the country. Of course they include pictures which makes deciding on a trail difficult because they're all so beautiful. After picking one, we drove to a place about 25 miles south of Interlaken in the central part of the country. We parked the car and began our journey. There were plenty of clearly marked trails that took us through a variety of terrain including meadows, paved roads, stone and dirt trails, steps, and others. We had a small picnic from our back pack, and later stopped for a beer at a restaurant located at the top of a mountain. It was located near a ski lift, and certainly it's packed during ski season. Eight miles, and seven hours later, we made it back to the car. We had enough for one day, but we'll go back for more. The mountains are beautiful and we can't wait to see more of them. See for yourself by clicking here. See pictures of our hiking trip here. Or you can see all of our hiking pictures here.