Castle Garden Basel

... the gift shop, we went to the pedestrian area and I searched for gnocchi. I did not find gnocchi on any menus but I did find an Alsatian restaurant, so we all had flammkuechen and a refreshing Swiss wheat beer (mom opted for the Swiss wine).

We didn't stay out too late because tomorrow my vacation starts and we are getting up somewhat early to begin our road trip across Austria, which I am really looking forward to!

... un petit stock de chocolat.

La ville est vraiment à voir, ne serait ce que pour la cathédrale, au cloitre plein d'anciennes pierres tombales plutôt curieuses en tuf et pour sa crypte peinte de fresques du XIV° siècle. Un autre truc sympa: le jardin botanique et les serres exotiques, près du Spalentor.. et en plus, c'est gratuit :)

... mais c'est déjà dépaysant. après le musée des Beaux Arts le Dimanche Matin, on profite d'un temps digne de celui que j'ai laissé sur Avignon pour aller prendre l'air et la verdure au parc Botanique et zoologique de Mulhouse qui vaut vraiment un détour.

This weekend from the 28th to 30th, Basel is celebrating Klosterbergfest. We decided to check it out last night after work with all our Brazilian friends. These Brazilians are always on the ball with Brazilian-type events and seem to know whenever a new Brazilian is in town, which is why I am continually meeting Brazilians.

Anyway, back to the festival. It was only 2 blocks from my ...

... was on at 7:05pm. Yeah. Then everyone ran to the train. I luckily got a seat, but it was packed.
Train Number 4 split in 2 with one set of carriages goign to Geneva and the other going to St Gervais. Luckily a French guy who'd been watching me play Solitaire and Freecell (with a real deck of cards, theres a first for everything) told me that we had to change cariages, which i count as train Number 5.
Train Number 6 went to ...

... car to leave, skipping the museum. Once we were back in air conditioned comfort we reflected on the day and thought maybe we should try the amphitheatre as well. We tried to drive there but either it is inaccessible by car or we were very lost. I think in fact the case is both.

We went back to the theatre and parked there then walked the kilometre to the amphitheatre. This is about the time that we would have all been willing to consider kill one another ...

Hahar, said with a hearty piratey tone, as we set sail aboard EasyJet's finest vessel from London Gatwick to Basel bright and early in the morning. Arriving in Basel to a long awaited reunion with Swiss Bear aka Rick we all head to Barron Towers before we make our way to Karrer Sportshop in Laufen ...

Nachdem das Zügelunternehmen zwei Tage lang all unser Hab und Gut verpackt und in den Container runtergeschleppt hat (Vielen Dank an Tobi & Daniela für die tatkräftige Unterstützung), haben wir am 20.08.2008 erfolgreich unsere supertolle Wohnung an der Neuhausstrasse 37 in Basel abgegeben. Nur Sean's ...

... in the local restaurants. I did however get a large amount of confetti thrown on me - most of it ending up in my jacket hood and pockets, and a small amount ending up down my top. Wonderful. The culprit was a child with what looks like a sieve on a very long stick; once you've been harassed, you know their trick - but if you're foreign to these antics, the last place you're going to look for confetti is ...

... internet access. As appears to be some Basel standard the hotel provided us with transport passes valid for our entire stay, granting us access to the entire public transport network. When we awoke we decided to have breakfast in the hotel, as our reading of the hotel guide implied that this would be free. It was the usual simple affair of cereal, pastries, bread and cold meats. Firstly we headed back to the station to visit the Frey cake shop and browse their delights. Very ...