Basel Fasnacht (Carnival)

Basel is considered to have the best carnival celebration in Europe. The carnival atmosphere is everywhere in the city. The youth of the city sell Fasnacht pins (since 1911) to raise money for the event. Visit this web-site for an overview of the history and activities of this treasured event. The Basel Fasnacht (Carnival) is CRAZY! Confetti, drums, flutes, costumes, parades, floats and more… It’s a huge party for the city. You should visit us in February next year to participate. You can see our pictures here.

Lisbon - Day 3:

At 10am we started a walking tour of Alfama and learned about its rich history and the city’s 1755 earthquake. After 3 hours of walking we were ready for a break at an outdoor restaurant (it was 18 degrees C). Then, off to the castle overlooking the city – updated in the 20th century, but a fine example none the less. To finish our trip we took the famous tram 28 thru the city with narrow streets and fantastic views and even a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge sister. See our pictures of Lisbon here.

Lisbon - Day 2:

We took the metro to Parque das Nações and experienced the fantastic Calatrava subway station. We walk along the waterfront to admire the impressive modern architecture of the surroundings including the longest bridge in Europe, the Vasco da Gama Bridge. A huge rain storm allowed us to ride the overhead cars back to the beginning of the walk which provided a nice view of the area and the bridge. Later, we visited the Gulbenkian Museum and spent several hours admiring its Indian treasures, pleasant gardens, and ending at its Modern Art Center. The map indicated a huge park near by so we took that in before dark as well. See our pictures of Lisbon here.

Lisbon - Day 1

We started our day downtown and admired the amazing sidewalk designs (of limestone and basalt) that are all over the city. We walked down a pedestrian only street Rua Augusta to Comercio Square and then hopped on a tram to Belem. We went inside the cloisters of Jeronimos Monastery and then strolled thru the monastery's gardens and crossed the road to the Discoveries Monument. Afterwards we took a break at Antiga Confeitaria de Belem to have one of the city’s legendary custard tarts (YUMMY). A steep climb uphill took us past Belem Palace to Ajuda Palace and we took in the Botanical Gardens on the way up. Back downtown we saw the São Roque Church, Carmo Church and the Lisbon Elevator. We made reservations in advance to experience traditional Portuguese food and an evening of Fado music at "Senhor Vinho" Fado House in the Lapa quarter. See our pictures of Lisbon here.

Carnival in Germany

Germany is in the middle of their carnival, so we decided to visit some of the activities in Freiburg. After the usual picture taking near the cathedral and a wonderful lunch in a traditional German Restaurant (good German Beer included!), we made our way to the festivities. Although the final parade was scheduled for the next day, there were thousands of people in the streets “practicing” for the big day. The sound from the band and their supporting carnival costumes is really something to see and hear. Of course you can dance, eat, drink, or even sing along to help celebrate. The next time you’re in Germany at the beginning of February, you MUST participate in carnival. You can see our pictures here.

Hiking in Switzerland

On Saturday, we went for hiking in Switzerland. It was a nice day with warmer than usual temperatures allowing us to be outside without any problems. We ventured to the Berner Oberland area in central Switzerland to a town called Kandersteg. From there we parked the car and started our walk. There was a ski slope that paralleled the hiking trail, so we were able to see many skiers on their way down. The area has great views to snow capped mountains, streams, and a nice town with traditional Swiss buildings. You can see our pictures from the day here, or all of our hiking pictures here.

Ice Hockey - Skoda Cup

On Sunday, we went to an Ice Hockey match between Switzerland and Austria at the arena in Basel. The teams were playing for the Skoda Cup along with Germany and Slovakia. Skoda is a car company (owned by VW) in the Czech Republic that sponsored the three day event. Switzerland won the tournament in a final game when they defeated Austria 3-1. As expected, the fans are very active with face painting, flag waving, and cheering. Robert really enjoys going to the games. We will attend more games in Basel for sure. You can see pictures of Basel events here.

Ice Skating

We subscribe to a great magazine: Hello Basel - it is put together by a group called Network Relocation. They help people get familiar with the city, publish this magazine and connect Engish speaking people in the area. They orginized an evening of ice skating and fondue so we decided to see what it was all about. The ice scating rink was 7 tram stops away, but we had never seen it before - the rink was outside and Robert reports that it had 'great ice'. If you look at the web-site it indicates that it is actually a public pool in the summer and they tranform it into a rink in the winter! We had nice even weather so it was a good time. Afterwards, cheese fondue was served and we got some beverage lessons along the way. Several people at the table ordered beer and Coke, but when someone in-the-know sat down at the table, she told us the ideal beverage for fondue is either tea or white wine. Robert and I ordered wine. We got to know a table full of Brits and had a great time as they always have a great sense of humor. Near the end of the meal, someone ordered a Swiss beverage called RIVELLA. I have seen it in many places, but just assumed it was apple jucie as that is a very popular drink here. Nope, it's not jucie, it's not a soft drink, it's a milk by-product. Doesn't that sound YUMMY? Well, we'll try it with you when you come for a visit! See our pictures from Basel events here.

Jungfrau - A Day of Hiking in Switzerland

On Sunday, the weather was warm, and the sky was clear and blue. We decided to go for hiking in the middle of Switzerland or the Bernese Oberland area. A mountain called Jungfrau, and nick named "The Top of Europe" dominates this area. A train can get you to the top where you can enjoy the usual tourist activities like restaurants, gifts shops, or even a walk through a glacier. Yes, you can walk inside the glacier! Pretty cool! We parked the car in a town called Lauterbrunnen, and began the journey. We zig zagged our way up for about 2.5 hours before reaching a combination restaurant and ski lift area. We enjoyed a drink on the terrace with a spectacular view of the mountains and blue sky. Once refreshed, we started the journey back to the car. This is a beautiful area of Switzerland. And what a beautiful day we had. For the first week of February, we couldn't of had a better day. You can see lots of pictures of Jungfrau here.

Best Swiss Drives – Tour #7

We had some friends over for dinner last week and they were kind enough to bring us a terrific book – The AA Best Drives: Switzerland. Today we took Tour 7: Lakes, Peaks and Pastures. This drive took us to central Switzerland around Thun, Spiez, Lenk, and Gruyeres. We had a great day with lots of blue sky so the scenes were terrific. We stopped at Speiz Schloss which had some great views of Lake Thun and is a great example of a 12-century castle. Then it was off to Lenk which is a ski town with a terrific view of the mountains. Our last stop was Gruyeres, home of the famous cheese, and our favorite stop by far. It has everything – a terrific castle, a cheese factory, a chocolate factory, and a bizarre museum of HR Giger (the person who created the monsters in Alien – totally cool!) You can see our pictures from Switzerland by car here.

EARTHQUAKE!!

This morning at 5am we awoke to the room shaking. Just another earthquake - there’s 40 more minutes until the alarm goes off. Minor earthquakes have been pretty common around here lately. Switzerland is currently mining for heat in Basel since it’s conveniently located on a fault line. Currently, hydropower (60%) and nuclear energy (30%) get top billing, but like everyone else the Swiss are looking for alternatives and have been drilling for heat since the fall. In December we started experiencing a sequence of tremors and they discontinued the drilling to see what could be done, but the tremors have continued. In 1356 Basel had a devastating earthquake that had lots of damaging effects. Maybe this mining for heat isn't such a great idea...we wouldn't want to cause the next big one...