Survivor Basel

Busy day

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 22:37:25 +0100

So I had a pretty good day. I got my hair cut by Wayne at Prestige Hair Design then had a little (emphasis on little) lunch at Margherita down the street. Then I went to Thalia and bought some Books. After that, I went to see the doctor. I have to continue the antibiotic for the full 10 days (of course) and continue the Peppermint Steam Inhalant until I no longer have problems breathing in the morning.

We had Chicken Ceasar Salad with flour tortilla for dinner (it was supposed to be a wrap, but I had too much filling) and left-over potatoes from last night. It was pretty good. I got the Caesar Dressing recipe from FoodTV, of course, and there are left-overs of it. Yay!

Ok... I'm going to clean up the kitchen and read for a bit.

Caio!

Jungfraujoch Top of Europe

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:41:28 +0100

So my blog has to have at least 10 posts before I can list it in the directory. This sounds like an excellent reason to tell you about some of the trips we have taken over the past few months.

One of the most spectacular was a day trip to Jungfraujoch Top of Europe. We left from the Basel SBB in the morning and made it to the top at about 1:30 pm. There are a few train changes, but nothing stressful... the trains do get smaller and a little more crowded as you go up though. The cog train makes 2 stops for viewing once it enters the mountain. They make the announcement that you have 5 minutes... TAKE IT! The trains don't make the viewing stops on the way down, and the views are amazing! If you click on the photo below, you will be directed to my online photo album for the trip. But the pictures don't do it justice.

The mountain trains depart from Interlaken. This is a great little place to use as a jumping-off point for several adventures in the area. The next time we go, we plan to stay at the Lindner Grand Hotel although reviews tend to be mixed. I can make a suggestion as to where not to stay, especially if you are traveling with a family or prefer not to sleep above a few strip clubs. Interlaken is also where you would change trains to go to Ballenberg Swiss Open-Air Museum which is definately a must see for anyone in Switzerland.

Anyway, back to Jungfraujoch. We went straight to the Crystal Restaurant once we got to the top as we were very hungry and a little dizzy from the altitude change. The views are amazing and most of the tables are right next to the windows. You will see pictures that my wonderful husband took of me and the view if you follow the picture link above. I ordered pork schnitzel and egg noddles and he ordered the Fondue, not knowing that it is largly wine and Kirsch. He doesn't drink alcohol or eat pork, so he ate my noodles. I tried the Fondue (my first Fondue also) and it was too strong for me as well.

There is a place to walk around inside of the ice (looked like a glacier to me) and a few places to walk around outside and take pictures. It was a very cloudy day in Switzerland, but we were way above the clouds (as you will see in the pictures) and people were sitting on the observatory deck in their ski coats and gloves sunning themselves in the warm rays.

We went back down the mountain as the sun was setting. The great thing about riding the trains is that you can take a nap on your way to your next adventure (which is exactly what my wonderful husband did). When we got to Interlaken, we went to Des Alpes Restaurant and Bar for dinner and dessert. They have good food, good service, interesting decor, and very good desserts.

Then we got on the train and were safe and sound in our apartment by 10:30. It was a great trip! No we didn't ski or sled, but there are many opportunities to do both if you're into that sort of thing. We might go back one weekend to go sledding. And you can take dog-sled rides in the Summer. This is definately a place you don't want to miss.

What is your favorite Swiss day trip?

Jonesin' for Bagels - part 2

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:32:03 +0100

I received a very nice email from Randy Adams at www.American-Bagel-Company.de based in Hamburg and he sent me links to a fine foods distributor and a BAGEL SHOP in Switzerland who order his products. So I contacted the distributor and asked if they resell to anyone in the Basel area. I will post any updates as a comment to this post.

The Bagel shop is located in Zurich and is called mybagel.ch. The photo below contains a link to their page. It looks like it is a carry-out place, but I would love confirmation. You can bet I'm headed here soon. Do they know about the Expat Expo? Do they have Hummus and Sundried Tomato Pesto? ...Does it matter... Its a bagel for god's sake! I think I need help.

A Day in the Black Forest

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:23:17 +0200

Warning: The text and graphic of this post have been formatted to fit my computer screen. If it looks funny and jumbled to you... go but a bigger monitor. Now back to your regularly scheduled confussion.

Today I went on a day trip to the Black Forest in Germany with a group of women from the Basel American Women's Club. All of the other ladies on the trip have lived in Basel for over 20 years and I have been here for only 6 weeks. They are full of stories, encouragement, and advise.
Glasbläserhof Todtnau im Schwarzwald
Our first stop was to a Glass-Blowing demonstration in Todtnau-Aftersteg. There is a traditional glass-blowing demonstration, a small shop, and a restaurant. This is all situated in an old Black Forest House which is more than 200 years old.

We watched the demonstrations, browsed the shop, then had lunch in the restaurant... the full experience really. If you are interested in Glass blowing in its traditional sense as well as the history, science, and modern industry I strongly encourage you to go to the Corning Museum of Glass.

Todtnau
After lunch, we drove to Todtnau to look at their lovely down-town. It is nestled in the hills of the Black Forest. This is where the Gummy Bears live :-) How cool is that?

View down a side street.
.

I think this is a church->

In the summer you can take the ski lift up the mountain and ride the roller-coaster down the hill. I want to came back with My Wonderful Husband and try it out. Looks a little hairy!

Food Issues

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:35:29 +0200

You could say I've had a few food related issues lately... Let me tell you a few quick stories before I loose the internet connection AGAIN and throw the computer out the window :0)

Cindy's Diner
Cindy's Diner is a 1950's American Style diner with your typical Burgers, Fries, Coke (Curry Chicken Sandwich). Anyway, I was being cranky, so My Wonderful Husband took me for some comfort food. You can see that I was so excited that I paused to take a photo of the food, but I was in for a suprise... Gomer Pyle style "Sur-prise, sur-prise, sur-prise!" Mind you, the food isn't bad, it's just different. The meat had been seasoned to taste like a very strong "wurst" and I was only able to get through about 3/4 of it. We gobbled up all of the fries and they didn't even charge us extra for the Ketchup!

Apple "Pie"

This might look like an Apple Pie, but trust me, thats about as far as it goes. The filling turned out like apple sauce. Apparently I need to work on the German word for "crisp" so that I can more accurately describe what I'm looking for at the market. There is also a difference between American style vanilla extract (as called for in the recipe) and European style vanilla-bourbon... and I stubbed my toe with the salt. I also need to skip refrigerated dough section at the grocery. Torte crust seems to be tougher than pie crust.

The next one will be MUCH better!

Schoggiweggli
My friends, this little delight makes all food issues a NON-issue. Mike and I saw a toddler walking down the street yesterday trying to cram the whole thing in her mouth at the same time... and it was a big as her face! Her eyes were sort of glazed over and she had no idea what was going on past the sweet roll. Of course she had a chocolate grin that stretched from ear-to-ear! This makes everything O.K.!!!!! If you want to know how to make them, follow this link.
http://rhid-baked.blogspot.com/2008/04/chocolate-studded-swiss-sweet-buns-from.html
The photo is from my favorite Schoggiweggli stop, Sutter Bakery http://www.sutterbegg.com/.