Wettstein Basel

so... es nochet... no die letschte Sache schnäll erledige.. ond scho gli stoht d'Sabine do zom öis abhole! - be dene doch öppe 7 Grad ond dem Räge verosse eschs om so schöner chöne mer ed wärmi! Es sett aso am Mettwoch doch 37 grad warm wärde en darwin.... :O)

so... i ben no a de letschte Vorbereitige ond denn esch es bald sowiet ond mer chöne go. Es esch chum z'glaube aber de Roger esch ab 7ni uf ond no es Gschäft go die letschte Sache erledige... - hoffe er chonnt bald weder hei ond helft mer nochli.... <br>Bes Bald!

There is yet another fair in Basel right now, the Herbstmesse (Autumn Fair). It is huge! Carnival rides, food stalls, and booths selling trinkets are spread throughout the city. We went out at night to the Münsterplatz to see the action. Beforehand we visited Petersplatz to get raclette over potatoes and steaming Gluwein. Delicious! We also stopped in at the Barf ...

... and are less adventurous. So as we were standing by the exit waiting for them to drive past, I heard my mom shout "Laura!". I turned around and there they were, going deeper into the parking garage instead of towards the exit. We all laughed and I joked about how it's already begun.<br><br>Finally they drove past us out the exit and we waved goodbye. I felt a bit sad the rest of the day. It was such a great visit with my parents and a wonderful road trip through Austria!

Today is Swiss National Day but in Basel the party starts the day before. Yesterday evening at 6pm the trams stop running across Mittlerebrücke and the streets in the area on either side of the river are closed to traffic. Food stalls line the streets packed with people and music blasts from tents and booths where beer and cocktails are being served. The atmosphere was amazing. The bridge itself was suffocated by the massive crowd on it. Many people were already standing along its railings ...

... of fumbling to open the shutter of the camera every time a Scallier drove passed soon faded away as the Wolfie trundled on down the A26 quite happily. <br>We pulled into a Service station and spotted "Carface" team. "Ha ha we thought as we sneakily filled Wolfie up two pumps down......."We'll hide and pounce out to capture that vital snap which would give us two in a row and 10 points"!! The plan was great, so we moved out of the Service ...

This was what I really came to Europe for. Freiburg was just the beginning of an awesome adventure for me. The mountains and the forest and the cake. We caught a cable car up to the top of the mountain and wandered in the snow. Got some great photos. We made Freiburg our base and toured a fair bit around the region. Spent a night here and there and came back to Freiburg for the festival. Took about two hundred photos in two hours one day; they had a ...

... probably stopped at one. Or two. For dinner, on the request of local friend Sarah - we visited a restaurant popular with the Swiss and had the house specialty - Rösti. Rösti is yet another food you love upon consumption but end up regretting later.: a sort of hash browns - shaved and fried potatoes with a choice topping - Tamara chose the fried egg and I chose cheese. After such a long day of heavy foods it was off to bed for a short morning trip to Zurich, our destination for Christmas.

... of forest platations with tall and sick looking trees. Despite the nice weather it still hard to get excited. Interesting 40 hours ride in soviet times, I guess that's something with trains is that very often the equipment, people who work and live of them seem stuck 30 years in the past. Take the local train in France and you will probably think we still live in a grey socialist country (which we are still for that matter...).

... as Rotcäphen or Little Red Riding Hood and he went as an 80's rockstar. A week later we hadn't had enough of carnival out of our system so we went to the carnival in Bern. A week later, I was still up for more celebrating so I went with a friend to the biggest celebration in Basel. It was so packed we almost missed our train home trying to squeeze our way through the crowds! I uploaded videos as well, but there are usually technical issues and they probably won't play. Bye-bye for now!