Spalenbrunnen Basel

... gave us a lot of information not on the signs and plaques next to the paintings. It took us about two hours to go through the collection with the guide as a companion. It was a really great exhibit; very informative and interesting. We learned a lot about Van Gogh during our time there and it was so cool to see how is talent progressed over time, along with his mental instability.

After the exhibit and mom ...

... que frontalier, les bâlois rechgignent clairement à parler Français, me prenant pour une Suisse qui ne fait pas d'effort. Ce n'est qu'en parlant de Sud de la France que j'arrive à faire admettre mes lacunes en allemand et à discuter avec la dame du Musée Juif, seul Musée de Bâle ouvert le lundi. Et bien sur. faire avant de repartir sur ...

... 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 ...

... would pray before a battle, and I suppose give thanks after if they were in the condition to. That was pretty cool. It was at the bottom of a slope in the middle of a privately owned field covered in cow patties. It was like a mirage; crumbling stone pillars and massive bricks rising above the steamy grass in a meadow that seemed never ending.

After that we really could not handle any more heat so we headed back to the blissfully cold car and made our way home.

Today is the opening day of the Basel Tattoo. The event kicks off with a parade through the city centre in the late morning. We got to a good viewing point quite late as we were trying to get around the crowds and ended up catching the tail end of bagpipers and marching bands winding past the rathaus. It didn't help that it was so incredibly crowded that short people like myself could not see over the rows and rows of heads in front of me.

Being at the end ...

... with passes around their necks and instruments. so we probably fitted in quite well.

As we entered the bar we saw many Scalliers already half cut, there was a calm but nice atmos around the bar. Neil and Sue were perched with their laptop looking at team snaps of Scally cars. It turned out we only got 35 points in that task. A couple of lads filled up stools and joined us........Bob and Kevito were their names, with a team name of ...

Day after tomorrow we'll start our 4 month trip. Our flight is scheduled for Monday evening from Basel to London to Bangkok to Sydney to Brisbane. Now as to Bangkok, we do not know yet, whether Qantas will actually take us there. They consider to take the flight via Singapore instead, seeing that even today both Bangkok airports are squatted by ...

... Roesti, basically hash browns with ham and a fried egg on top. I also tried a little of the Beef Tartar that Linda ordered which I found surprisingly good, with a funky texture. Delish! Switzerland is also known for the Alps, and although I have never been skiing, I decided to take advantage of the scenery as a tourist. I took a train southeast to the Jungfraujoch region. The Jungfraujoch Mountain is 11,333 ft and the train ...

... of the Black Forest, to the village of Hägelberg. Our hosts were one of dad's good friends from his teens and his wife; we had a lovely meal, chatted lots, and had an interesting time throwing around Swiss-German and English, translating the tricky bits that not even hand gestures and facial expressions could communicate. We did have to be up at a half-decent hour the following morning though, so we said our goodbyes around midnight and headed off back to Switzerland.