Basel

I originally decided to hold off on getting a bike since winter was quickly approaching and I hate biking in the cold, but it’s been about as mild a winter here as anywhere else. Even the last few weeks, with a cold wave blowing across the US, it’s been a moderate 40-50F here, with maybe a few flurries mixed in. Now I realize I should have bought one, even though it would have cost me about US$150-200. There are no walmart style discount shops here, but $200 over 4 months isn’t bad at all. I could easily have gotten $50 of use a month out of it and probably much more than that. Especially on a day like today, when I’m working from home and don’t want to walk 20 minutes into town to get some real food. Not to mention saving money on my commute to the office. ...

OBVIOUSLY I had to try them. Take a moment to think about how roasted chicken flavor chips might taste…. In fact, they’re pretty gross. But they do grow on you..

So says my landlady, at least. I returned from work today to find a brand new welcome mat just inside my door and a welcome packet (could have used this 2 months ago!) on my desk. The welcome mat is well timed though. Today saw Basel’s first snow fall. It’s been snowing all day but so far only a couple of inches accumulation. Mostly just light flurries since noon or so, but still damn cold. For a country with insane hygiene laws I find it really odd that there are no snow plows or salt trucks and no laws requiring the removal of snow from sidewalks. Even in public areas like the central tram station, they just don’t bother. Makes me wonder what their personal injury laws are like… ...

Basel’s mass transit system is made up of a fantastic tram and bus network. You can get just about anywhere in probably 20 minutes or so. They run like clockwork on a set schedule and there’s even an electronic board at the larger stops telling you how many minutes away each tram or bus is. It’s all pretty cool.

Not because of the 3.1 magnitude earthquake this morning, though I’ll never get used to the god damned ground moving under me. Apparently earthquakes less than 3 are minor enough that you generally won’t notice them but even one as small as 3.1 will cause the walls to shake and quite a bit of noise, but no damage. No, it wasn’t the earthquake. I’ve been sick all week and it culminated in a bit of a fever last night. The worst part about being sick is definitely the loss of appetite. I like to eat. Eating and not enjoying it, heck, not even being able to taste your food, sucks. And even worse, I’ve been feeling a little bit nauseous after each meal so I’ve been eating as little as possible. ...

Him: Is it real? Me: Excuse me? Is what real? My hat? Yes, it’s real. Him: No, you’re beard. Is it real? Me: Uhm… my beard? Of course it’s real, man! Does it look fake? Bizarre “conversation” I had the other night. Apparently the lines were “too good” so it “must be fake.” Go figure.

This BBC story about Swiss hygiene inspections explains why I had to pay a CHF80 (about US$65) cleaning fee up front when I moved in to my apartment. Totally bizarre, if you ask me. No one wants to move into a filthy house but this sounds downright insane!

Back in Basel, that is. I cut my trip a little bit short for a bunch of reasons, but most importantly because I was exhausted and I’d already done in 7 days all I wanted to do, and then some. I visited Rome, Naples, and Florence and the thought of pushing forward to Milan and Venice just wasn’t very appealing so I decided to call it a day (or a week) and head home. I had a great time and I’ll be writing all about it as soon as I get all my pictures online. I took a ton of pictures, almost a thousand, and they really do say it all, from start to finish. ...

I’m going to Rome tomorrow for Christmas break. Why Rome? Winter is underway and it’s pretty cold here now, averaging in the low 30s most days. Europe has fairly cold winters and traveling can be less than pleasant so heading south is the best option. From what I ready, my best choices were either Spain or Italy so I opted for Italy. As much as I’d like to put what’s left of my Spanish to a test, it’ll have to wait for another day. ...

So I’ve been here in Basel for a little over a month now. Five weeks and a day to be exact. Pretty crazy, actually. This project has been in the works for something like a year and a half and now here I am sitting in my apartment in Switzerland! Wild.