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...

Zurich Switzerland

It's been cold and snowy here for the last week, so we decided to take a day trip to Zurich to enjoy some indoor activities. Only 50 miles from our house, it's a quick and easy drive. We took advantage of a deal offered at the tourist office. The Zurich Card offers free admission to museums, unlimited free rides on public transportation, and discounts at restaurants. Our first stop was the art museum, better known as The Kunsthaus Zurich. This is a great museum filled with works by some of our favorites like Giacometti, van Gogh, the Swiss artist, Koller and others. After lunch we visited the House Constructive Museum. Well, there were "interesting" works there from Gunter Umberg and Verena Loewensberg. After a quick walk down the shopping street we decided to head back to Basel. When the weather is better, we'll go back to see more and maybe go on the walking tour or even a boat tour around Lake Zurich. There's a lot to see in Zurich. You can see our pictures here.

The Blind Cow

We happened upon an article in the Swiss Airline magazine about an interesting restaurant here in Basel - The Blind Cow. You eat totally and completely in absolute darkness...doesn't that sound like FUN!?!? A co-worker of Nancy's was coming in from San Francisco with his girlfriend so we floated the idea to them and VOILA, we made it a foursome. A few pre-dinner drinks at the house to get everyone acquainted and then we were off. The menu is projected onto the wall in a very industrial looking space with lockers to secure your coats and belongings. There are 3 appetizers, main dishes, desserts and 2 'surprise menus' (1 meat, 1 vegetarian) to choose from. Once you have your order memorized, a waiter comes to get you and gives you a list of instructions before you go in: what will happen, what if you need to leave, how the table is setup, etc. We were instructed to hold grab hold of the shoulder in front of us to 'snake' our way to the table. Once seated, we felt around at our place setting and were successful pouring the wine into our glasses. It was soooo dark - HOW DARK WAS IT?) - it was sooo dark that it looked just like the time you were in the bowels of mammoth cave and they turned off the lights - it was unbelievably dark. We all had a great meal and a great time with delightful dinner companions- you'll have to come and 'see' it for yourself =)

A New, Clean Start

Ever since we moved into our apartment we have NEVER liked our shower. It has plenty of water pressure, it's warm enough, it's a large enough space (once we got the shower curtain issues sorted out), but the shower head produces scores of needle-like lancets that produce a less than satisfying experience which we articulate each morning using very colorful language. This weekend we broke down an bought a brand new shower head with THREE (3) settings that has made us the happiest people alive from 7:30am-7:40am (if Robert is taking his patented 'fastest shower ever' that will be from 7:30am-7:55am). Thank you (good) shower head companies for making our world a better place to live, one shower at a time.

Basel Museum Night 2007

Each year several Swiss cities sponsor a museum night where you can visit all the museums in the area for one price (20CHF) from 6pm-2am. There is a huge variety of museums to choose from in Basel (architecture, art, history, design, toys, etc.), but this year we decided to visit a few that we had never been to before. First up - the Music Museum. This museam features the history of many different instruments and is housed in the old city prison. You can see the evolution of many instruments over time including the recorder, flute, clarinet, saxaphone, pianos, organs, orchestral string instruments and traditional drums. Then it was off to the Cartoon and Caricature Muesum. Here they were featuring one artist in particular, Tomi Ungerer - sometimes a bit lude for my taste, but he certainly had panels that were fun to look at =) Just down the street was the Basel Contemporary Art Museum designed by the local, Prizker Prize winner architecure firm of Herzog & de Meuron. The high-light of the exhibit was the Sol LeWitt wall drawing (pictured above) - FYI: we also have a Sol LeWitt at the IMA in Indianapolis. Lastly we ventured off to the Paper Museum that operates using a paddle wheel from way-back-when. It's a delightful museum that allows you to participate in the paper making process, details the history of paper making, and features a fantastic gift shop packed full with a huge assortment of hand-made paper and paper products. We had a terrific time and hope to be able to participate next year too. Otherwise, we will use our new-found knowledge to direct our 2007 visitors to the best Basel has to offer. Check out the photos from Robert's new camera here.

More hiking in Switzerland!!

A perfect day for hiking in Switzerland! The weather has been unusually warm for January. Today it was in the 50’s so we decided to take advantage with a trip to the mountains. We ended up near Interlaken in the Bernese Oberland region of central Switzerland. This area also over looks the Thunersee which is a large lake in Interlaken. Thanks to clear blue skies, we were able to walk along and view the gorgeous snow capped mountains that seem to go on forever. Robert really enjoys the mountains and the views, so it was a particularly good day for him. It also gave him the chance to experiment with a new camera that Santa gave him for Christmas. You can see pictures from the day here, or all of our hiking pictures here.

Konstanz Germany

The second part of our day trip took us to Konstanz Germany. Konstanz is a town located on Lake Konstanz which is just across the Switzerland border in the Northeast part of the country. Because we visited on Three Kings Day (or Epiphany), a public holiday in Germany and Switzerland, most of the stores and shops were closed. However, we were able to wander around the town and see many of the sites including the Cathedral, and from across the lake, the Austrian Alps. After dinner, we were able to see a small part of the Three Kings Day parade located in the center of town. Complete with costumes, music, a public reading, and singing, it was a nice experience for us. You can see our pictures of Konstanz here.

Rhine Falls

We decided to start the new year with a day trip to Northeast Switzerland to see the Rhine Falls. It’s a natural waterfall located on the Rhine River in Neuhausen Switzerland. Schaffhausen and the German border are also nearby. The name says it all, the Rhine Fall is the largest waterfall in Europe in terms of volume of water passed. At only 23 meters, it wasn’t tall, but with the full weight of the Rhine running over it, it looked spectacular. Like Niagara Falls, a whole town (Neuhausen am Rheinfall) is built around it. Unlike much of the Rhine in Germany that is wide and rock free, this part of the river is narrow and full of large boulders. Barges can’t travel through this part of the river. The Schloss Laufen is perched on the high cliffs directly above the falls. The Schloss may have once been a true palace, but now it serves as the Rhine Falls' primary tourist haven. The Schloss hosts a restaurant, a massive souvenir stand, a garden, and a gateway to several observation decks that wind their way down to the falls. You can see our pictures of the falls here.

Christmas Vacation

We were lucky enough to be able to spend over 20 days in Indianapolis over the holidays. We met our new nephew (9 months old, now), got caught up with our families and did a LOT of shopping (Switzerland and Europe in general is VERY expensive). Robert got a new camera and took lots of photos. Thanks to everyone for taking time out of your busy holiday schedules to get together with us. YOU are what we miss the most from home (not Dairy Queen, unlimited soft drink/coffee refills, our 24-hr gym, Jayne's chocolate triffle, shopping after 6:30 pm, or the ability to do laundry in less than 3 hrs). Wishing you and your families a happy and healthy 2007…Nancy & Robert

2006 Anecdotes

During our first trip to the grocery store in Germany, Robert decided that he needed to use the facilities. Off he goes and thirty seconds later, Nancy hears the fire alarm. Robert returns to the aisle almost immediately and yells over the alarm that the door he thought led to the bathroom…didn’t.

Trevi Fountain – there is a legend that says that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome (est. @ ~3,000 euro per day). During the filming of a documentary, a man was interviewed who, early each morning, collected these coins from the fountain. It turns out that he was unemployed and had been collecting the coins for years. They calculated that he had made about a million dollars doing this for many years (GENIUS!). The city now collects the coins for the needy.

Signature shot: Robert LOVES his camera and is constantly taking pictures of anything and everything of interest (5,000+ photos in 2006). During each day of photo taking there is a ‘signature shot’ as he likes to call it…a partial, upward view of a building, mountain, etc. that reveals a blue sky in the background. Sometimes the weather doesn’t cooperate, but that never hinders his efforts – look for them in up-coming blogs!

Aruba – the Dutch-colony tour guide spoke perfect English during our submarine tour of the Caribbean and was thanking us for our participation. She wanted to let us know that there was a traditional saying in Aruba that was part Dutch and part English. Danke (donk-a…the same as “thank you” in German) and the traditional American good bye. Oddly it came out as a very enthusiastic: Donkey, Bye, Bye! Something we now say to each other every day.