Sunday, February 1, 2015

It's Not Just the Jet that Causes the Lag: January Wraps Up & February Chills On

Damn, it's cold out tonight. I walked the mutt round about 5 PM after a wonderful lunch with Darby's work colleagues. Thinking it was going to be an enjoyable romp, I decided to call it after about 20 mins as my hat wasn't warming my ears enough to stay outside. Of course, it's not stick your tongue to the flagpole cold, but cold enough to bite.  Thankfully, it's warm inside. Our apartment has heated floors throughout, an interesting and very much welcomed invention, particularly given we are so used to the drafty floors in our old, SFO Victorian.

I wasn't too sure how often I was going to post to this blog, particularly given that you can follow temporally current posts on my Twitter and Facebook feeds. Looks like I have been remiss, but really, January has been super busy with the transition to living in Basel.  

What with getting the kids up to speed at ISB, learning how to shop in the various markets, getting the VAT Tax reimbursement at the border when you cross to shop at the Carrefour in Mulhouse (good for fresh fish, fyi), turns out, I've not had as much spare time.  Getting adjusted to the timezone was easy in comparison.  The jet isn't really the biggest factor in the lag.  It's the daily minutia, that requires a substantially longer adjustment period.

One person I met the other day said, "it takes about a year to get fully adjusted to life in Basel." Thank you very much, but we are technically only supposed to be doing this gig for one year. I'd like to think we haven't done too bad. Even so, I'm still feeling a bit green in the gills or the FNG, if you like, but we are working on it. January had it's highlights.  Here are a few.


It's a small world & Facebook is amazing.  Long while back, 1992, I met a young woman along a country lane to the youth hostel in Dingle.  It was a chance meeting. We hit it off, but went our separate ways.  This was a long time ago, with zero contact.  Lo and behold, she found me on Facebook and as it turns out, she and her husband were in Lorrach with the circus for a few weeks overlapping with our move.  A German, one ring circus to be exact.


We tried to go one day, via the 2 Tram line, which terminates just at the German border before Lorrach, but we found out that the circus was located way on the other side of the town and we had zero time to get there before the show was about over. Determined, we went another day on the following weekend, and John tucked us into the ring (good thing because we neglected to take out any Euros before crossing the border in our car, and  the circus only dealt in cash) free of charge.


We didn't know what to expect. What we found was fantastic entertainment in what used to be a main vehicle for family fun before the widespread abuse of television and now the internet.  The general word from John was that this kind of circus was dying out. We were lucky to catch it.  John, for the record, is a sea lion trainer. Has been for almost 30 years as he learned the trade from his father.  The kids loved the show, and the sea lions in particular.


The acrobatics were spot on.  After the show, we waited around while John had his picture taken with various kids and folks and the sea lions stole the show by planting a kiss on the head of some kid or another (some of which screamed with fear as the big animal approached).  We followed John and his Sea Lions out the back of the tent and into the trailer area where the rest of the circus folk were residing while they were in Lorrach.  The boys got to meet the sea lions (forget their names), and see the rig that he uses to transport them.  


In all, it was a great way to spend the afternoon, and one that is very different than even the usual Basel or German citizen would have taken in.  We will not soon forget it  - not just for the entertainment, but also for the wonderful friends we gained by meeting John, getting reacquainted with Isa, his wife, and meeting their young son.  One day, we hope to take them up on their offer to visit them just on the Baltic Sea coast near Hamburg.
Our first visitor was Katharine, test driving the sleeping arrangements over a weekend before Bev arrived this past Thursday.  Because Jeremy was away on the ISB ski trip, things worked out great as she just took his place at the dinner table.  On the weekend after Jeremy returned, we took an outing to Colmar France.   I snapped a bunch of pics with my mobile, but will save posting images of Colmar as we definitely plan to return and I will bring my SLR for better quality snaps.  And, it's only about a half hour drive from Basel.



Our next road trip was to Thun and Interlaken.  We were toying with staying overnight there, but it was only an hour and a half drive from Basel. Given that we still haven't figured out dog care arrangements, we brought the mutt with us.  Rather than find a hotel that loved dogs, we figured we would just make the drive and the most of  the day. 

Thun was spectacular. It's a smaller town than Interlaken, and easy to pass over on your way to "the adventure gateway to Switzerland."  We really liked Thun, and may even take Bev back there one day while she's here for the month of February.  Farmers market. Covered bridges. Cobblestone streets. Castles. Lake, stream and mountains. Check, check and check, check, check.  

Perhaps the most interesting find was tasty bagels with great coffee, to wash them down.  They don't offer up a typical NYC bagel, but when in Switzerland, I commend Thun to you. 


Interlake was alive and celebrating with a parade, kind of like a mini-Faschnaght.  There was an enormous ice skating rink.  Paragliders were raining from the sky like this was the one thing you should do if you come to Interlaken.  

We watched the parade a bit, then walked about the town.  It's another one of those places we will likely return to spend more time. But you never know.  Switzerland is littered with wonderful little towns that have one or more exceptional qualities about them.  Our list of places of visit has grown; perhaps beyond our capacity to get to them all.



Speaking of quirky, interesting celebrations.  Before heading to yet another orientation session hosted by Roche over the lunch time, I managed to find my way to the location of the beginnings of the annual Vogel Gryff.  I'm not clear as to why this celebration continues in this fashion other than that it was just great fun.  It's been going on for hundreds of year.  


One thing is clear, be sure to stay at least an arms length from the business end of the guy carrying the tree.  I learned this the hard way. As I was trying to angle in to get really close to the action, I got swapped in the face by the green end of the pine tree he was carrying. Didn't hurt. I'm not so sure about the kid who got hit by the root end of the tree (enlarge the picture for a better perspective).  
I'm sure the jesters were there to keep such things from happening along with collecting money to support this and other events.   The event starts about 9 AM every year, in the cold; as the drinking starts.  Mainly, this was an event for children during the day, and adults in the evening.  If you find yourself in Basel during any given January and the Vogel Gryff is on, don't just roll over and catch a few more hours of sleep. Pop out of bed and catch the event. Just be sure to dress warmly, and watch out for the business end of the tree.



Bev arrived this past Thursday, and seems to have acclimatized quite quickly. Just yesterday we took a day trip to Frieburg Germany. It's much bigger than Colmar France, and has a lot to offer.   We will most certainly be heading back there, but not sure in what order we will do things.  I'm very sure that we didn't hit all the sights there.  


Darby and Bev are already locked and loaded for a trek to Munich. The boys and I will be solo for the first time since we landed here, but we should be fine.  

Bev and I took in the Kunstmuseum just the other day.  I'm planning to get her over to Foundaton Beyeler, among many of the other wonderful museums that are with in the Basel Stadt confines.  


I'll leave you with two videos that I captured over the month.  My hope is to write more often than once a month because trying to record things closer to when they happen is easier, and I'm sure reading long posts such as this one can be time consuming.

The first video is of the professional alpenhorn players who were testing the acoustics while Bev and I were there on Friday, as they prepped for the closing of the museum. The Kunstmuseum is closing today for a full year so they can renovate the and connect the new building with the old. We were lucky in our timing to hear them twice, and fortunate to have seen the collection before they are disbursed to the four winds for display as loaners to other museums.






The last bit is to let you know that, indeed, Babs is adjusting quite nicely...never mind the ongoing conundrum of trying to find adequate coverage for the mutt while we galavant around Europe.



Yours from Basel,

The trailing spouse.