Time to leave Romania. ☹ I really did enjoy this country way more than I imagined I would, and wish I had more time to explore. 10 days really isn’t anywhere near enough, and I only covered a small portion of the middle of the country. Got an uber, and had a wonderful driver. We chatted about tourism in Romania, and he echoed the sentiment of Alex from last night- the government just doesn’t seem interested in promoting it. Such a shame. Or a blessing. I guess it depends on how you look at it.
Another day, another European budget airline. This time, Hungarian carrier Wizz Air. I had priority which allowed me a carry on and a personal item, so I wasn’t worried about baggage issues. About 2 hours to Basel in a middle seat, which kinda super sucks, but such is life. I’m not paying extra for a seat on such a short flight.
Got to Basel Airport (which is actually in France), and made kind of a boo-boo. At passport control, the officer asked me where I was coming from, and I hesitated, then asked myself out loud, “Where AM I coming from?”. Seriously, it’s all kind of blurring together. That started a mini-interrogation, well deserved because I admit that was dumb. Got my stamp and headed out. Then I saw the most FABULOUS sign I’ve ever seen in any airport!!
Ha!! The countries in Europe are so close together that your choice of exit determines your location! Oh, France, you know I love you, but I had to go right- into a brand new country. Switzerland.
Again, not interested in dealing with busses and baggage, so called an Uber. Here they use Swiss Franks (CHF), not Euro. I really, REALLY don’t want to have to get cash. Since I’ll be here for a little over 2 weeks though, it’s probably inevitable. But not yet. CHF is almost exactly the same rate as the dollar. The 15 minute trip cost me $25. I’m not in Romania anymore… Oh, and Switzerland has not one, not two, not three, but FOUR different official languages!! French, German, Italian, and Romansh. I had my fingers crossed for French. I was met with German. ☹
Checked into my airbnb. Now, this is not one that I booked way in advance like the rest. In fact, I only realized I hadn’t booked one a few days ago, and kinda had to scramble. Airbnb is EXPENSIVE here. No awesome $15 a night private apartments…more like $70 a night for just a room. So I did something I never do. I booked a room for $35 a night that didn’t have any reviews. It was a new property, and I thought they were probably doing what I do when I list a new property- super cheap rate to attract guests and get those much needed reviews, then you jack up the price to market rates. You would also expect the host to be going above and beyond to make sure those first reviews were stellar. Ok, look. The place was in a nice neighborhood (I’m not sure there’s any other kind in Switzerland). It was within walking distance to the old town, where the things I wanted to see were, AND to the train station I needed to leave from in a couple of day. And it was half the price of everything else in the area. But it wasn’t very clean. When you get a message that says, “If your sheets don’t seem fresh, there are fresh ones on the shelf.” That says to me, “We aren’t going to change your sheets. If they’re covered in bodily fluids, here are some spares.” I set my black backpack down on the floor. I had to flip it over to get my laptop out, and the side on the floor was covered in dust. The trash cans in my room, the bathroom, and the kitchen were full. And there was just a general “not filthy, but not clean” feel to everything. Sigh. I could live with it for 2 nights for the price. I’ve stayed in worse…
My phone was in desperate need of a charge, so I pulled out my adapter. It didn’t fit! They don’t use the European 2 prong here- they use the 3 prong. Grrrrrr! First item of business in a new place is usually groceries. Now, it was new adapter. I googled for electronic stores and found one about .8 miles away. Headed over, and found one for only $10 on sale, except it was a 2 prong to 3 prong adapter- meaning I had to plug it in to my existing adapter. #firehazard
Next stop, groceries. I googled for Carrefour, since we’re right next to France, but no luck. There was a Coop right next to the electronics store, so I headed in there. YEE-OUCH!!!!!!!! No wonder everyone is so skinny here- who can afford food?! I passed on the insect balls. I ended up with a part of a rotisserie chicken (leg/thigh/breast) and a pack of French bread from the bakery. $8!!!!!!!! And no Dr. Pepper. ☹ Holy crap, I miss Romania!!!!
Went back and only ate part of the part of chicken so I’d have some for tomorrow. Did some work and some blogging. It was so freaking hot in my room! I had the window wide open, but there was zero breeze. By the time I went to sleep, I had two choices, window open and lots of noise, or window closed and suffocate to death in the heat. I chose window open until it was after midnight and I still couldn’t sleep. Closed the window. Tossed and turned all night. Sigh.
Day 2: Today was adventure day!! Except I felt like I’d been hit by a truck since I’d basically had no sleep. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do today. I really had stopped my research after I finalized everything for Romania a few months back, and figured Switzerland would just kind of fall into place. I searched for free walking tours- only on Sundays. I searched for paid walking tours. There was one at 2:30 for $20, but it was in both English and German, and the reviews were a lot of English speakers complaining about having to wait around for the German explanations at each stop. So I just looked at the walking tour itineraries, looked at few blogs, and pieced together a few of what seemed like the “must see” places in Basel. Mapped them, ate a little bread, and headed out.
I wandered down narrow cobblestone streets with shops of all sorts on either side- clothes, watches, old historical prints, shoes- each with nice little window displays. It literally looked like Main Street if Switzerland was Disneyland! Honestly, it doesn’t feel old and historic like most of “Europe Proper” does. I swear, it almost felt manufactured to look like how you would expect a Swiss street to look! Almost TOO perfect and stereotypical! It was early, and there were no tourists out yet. Just locals who all seemed to be going somewhere with a purpose.
I made it to the first place, the Marketplatz- basically market square. The draw here is the Rathaus, or city hall. It’s over right at 500 years old. And I swear to you, it looks like Walt Disney told his architects to build it. It is SO whimsical and colorful! And it just doesn’t have that old look or feel to it. I have decided that Switzer means “Disney”… You walk inside, and the courtyard area is just as fun and colorful!!I was very close to the Rhine River, and saw a bridge on Google Maps, so decided to go check it out. Turns out, this is Mittlere Brücke, or Middle Bridge, and is the oldest crossings over the Rhine! The original was built in 1226! But I’m telling you, this city is just so Disney-esque, that it’s hard to believe anything was here before 1950!! I crossed the bridge and then crossed back again. On my way back, there were people floating down the Rhine on little fish shaped floaties. It was so freaking hot, that as much as I’m adverse to the idea of getting into water, had Brian been here I totally would have done it! Later, I passed a store that was actually selling the little floaties! I was seriously tempted to buy one, because #fish. But didn’t because #cheapass.
Across the water from me was a building. And the three words on it were in Frenc- Les Trois Rois. Hot damn, I knew exactly what that meant!! THE THREE KINGS!!!!!! EEEEEE!! I just so happen to love three kings!! Henry IV, Louis XIV, and Louis XVI!! Could it maybe have anything to do with French kings?? I had to take a detour and find out! As soon as I saw the figures above the door, I knew it was the 3 wise men of Frankincense, Gold, and Myrrh fame. Bummer. But I did do a little research, and during the French Revolution, when kings weren’t exactly on anyone’s Christmas list, it was renamed Hotel aux trois magots (Hotel at the three bundles). And then I turn around, and what does the universe greet me with in a 2nd story window?? Oy.
I walked up some narrow cobblestone, mostly deserted streets. The buildings here were really old. Not because they looked old (because NOTHING looks old- it’s “Swizter”land, afterall!!), but because there were dates from the 1400s and 1500s on some of them. And things are just so damn….WHIMSICAL! I really should look up another word for that in the thesaurus…. This was the part of town where I most wished I had a guide to give me some of the history.
I made my way to Munsterplatz, which wasn’t a cheese plaza, but a cathedral plaza (cheese/cathedral, same thing). Dominating the plaza is the Basler Münster, or Basel Minster- built between 1019 and 1500 (with an earthquake in between for good measure). It looks suspiciously like a Catholic cathedral you would see if you went outside of Disneyland Switzerland into France or Germany. And it used to be. But today, it’s Protestant. However, there are some signs of whimsy on the outside! For example, I’m not sure what that knight is doing to that puppy pigeon with a fish tail, but hey, it works! There was a crypt below, where there was a sarcophagus of someone named Bischof Ruodolf and the date 917!! Well, apparently survey says that there was a Hungarian invasion of Basel in 917, and the Bishop was killed. Obviously, that was about 100 years before this church even started being built, so not sure how he ended up here. Honestly, I had a hard time finding much information about the whole thing.
Those roof tiles look so much like the ones in Romania! I don’t ever remember seeing those kinds of tiles anywhere else in Western Europe…
I wandered through more Disney-esque streets with perfect little buildings all in a row. Heck, there is even an entire “monorail” system that runs all over! In fact, you see very, very few cars. It’s all these green trains and bikes. Because #switzerland
Last stop, Tinguely Brunnen (Tinguely Fountain). C’mon now, Basel?? Seriously?? You can not get any more whimsical (ok dammit, I’m stopping to look this up in the thesaurus- nope, not a better word to be had) than this fountain! It was built in 1977 right outside of the theater, and is just so much fun to watch! Because #disney Definitely watch the video to see it in action, because a picture can’t capture it!
Came home and was EXHAUSTED- both from not sleeping and from the heat. I thought maybe I’d feel better if I took a one hour nap. I woke up 3 hours later… Ate the rest of my chicken and bread and then just worked and relaxed the rest of the day.
Day 3: Woke up and got ready to head out- happy to be out of that airbnb. I swear, I have used every form of transport on this trip- planes, cars, ferries, trains…today is another train. From Basel to Lucerne, continuing to Root where my 2 week housesit would be. Walked the ½ mile to the station and was a sweaty mess by the time I reached it, even though it was only 8:30am. This European heat wave is just insanity. Easily found my platform and got on my train. I adult pretty good.
It was about a 2 hour ride, with a easy change in Lucerne, and on to the Gisikon-Root station. The scenery wasn’t spectacular along the route- nice, but not WOW!! Got off the train and the homeowner, Katja, was there to meet me! She drove me the very short distance to the apartment she shares with her boyfriend, Florian. Oh my god- you could not possibly meet two nicer people!! And their apartment- it’s FANTASTIC!! Large, open, a balcony, lots of plants, and a view of Mt. Pilatus to die for!! I didn’t get to meet Rio, the cat. He’s “free range” in the hills during the day, but they assured me if I…get this…rang a bell around 9pm, he’d come home. The cat is trained to come to a bell!!
Florian was still working before they left on their holiday to Italy, so Katja showed me around and even walked me around the neighborhood so I could get a lay of the land. Train station and grocery store, less than half a mile away! After showing me around, Katja and Florian were kind enough to take me out to lunch- their treat. So nice! I got a pizza ($25!! Ouch!!). After that, they handed me the keys and bid me farewell. I wouldn’t see them again, as in two weeks I was leaving in the afternoon and they wouldn’t be returning until the evening.
I had enough pizza leftover to make it through dinner, so I didn’t worry about groceries. What I needed was wifi!! It was time to play serious catch up with work. Until the wifi wasn’t cooperating. I couldn’t upload any files (um, my work IS uploading files!!). I so hated to bother them, so I decided to just chill for the rest of the afternoon and maybe it would be better tomorrow. At 9pm, I rang the bell out the window. And damn sure enough, in about 5 minutes, Rio was downstairs waiting for me!! CRAZY!! 🐺🛎 Fed him, brushed him, and headed to bed.
Day 4: Woke up to the most STUNNING view out of the living room window!! A full moon over Mt. Pilatus!! My camera has mega-zoom (I bought it so I can take a picture of an insect at the top of a 100 foot tree in the jungle 😀), so I decided to zoom in on the moon. DAMN!!
Got Rio his breakfast, and he was ready to go out immediately, so I took him downstairs (it’s 4 floors) and let him out into the wild. Then it was time for me to figure out breakfast for myself. That mean time to grocery shop! There was a Coop here (like in Basel), so I walked down and grabbed a few things….Pasta, sandwich meat, salami, a pack of frozen broccoli to ward off traveler’s scurvy, pretzels (because they were like $2 a bag and chips were $6!!), bread, soup mix for my tuna pasta casserole, tuna, peanut butter, bananas, and of course, chocolate!! Got to the check out, and of course here we go again- another place that requires you to weigh your bananas before you check out! Because everyone is super nice here, the lady got up, went and weighed my bananas, brought them back, and the people in line behind me did nothing but smile! Big difference from having a receipt thrown at me in disgust in Romania… Grand total- almost $37. OUCH.
Got back and the wifi was still being a pain. The homeowners had already taken time out of their holiday to write me a very detailed “guide to what to do and where to go” around Switzerland WHILE they were on holiday!! Seriously, can these people possibly get any nicer? So I really, REALLY didn’t want to bother them with the wifi issue, so I took it as a sign to just chill for the rest of the day. I knew I needed it, physically and mentally, so I didn’t feel bad.
That evening, the cat didn’t come home at 9. I rang again several minutes later and checked again. No cat downstairs. And again. So I did the back up plan- which is to walk over to the bottom of the hill and ring from there. Did that, and all of a sudden an orange BULLET was speeding down the hill at me!! He literally ran right by me and I said “Rio!!”. He skidding to a stop, turned around, and was like, “Oh, there you are!”. We walked back together, him right against my legs the whole time. Better than any dog on a leash…
Day 5: Still craptastic wifi. Ok, I can’t live like this. So I had to text the homeowners. They said they haven’t had any problems (of course), but would call the provider. Nothing changed all day. I’m getting further behind in work… Brian is doing his best to help me out, because for some reason I can upload if I use google drive, but not through my ftp (for work) or to facebook (blog). Super slow, super frustrating.
Day 6: Still bad wifi. Then bad wifi went to NO wifi. Zip, zilch, none. Had to bother the poor homeowner’s AGAIN. The technician was working on the wires in the building. When he was finished, I had GREAT wifi for about 3 hours, then back to crap. I finally just texted the homeowners and asked that if the provider spoke English, that if they gave me the information I’d deal with it on my end.
Yeah, super exciting start to my housesit, right?? It will get better in the next blog! I promise!!
Day 7: Still horrible wifi, but….today I have an adventure!! So who cares! 😀 Florian was kind enough to tell me that August 1 is National Day here in Switzerland, but there would be a celebration in Lucerne on July 31 at 4pm by the train station. Wonderful! The Lucerne Free Walking Tour didn’t fit into my schedule (too early), so I figured get into Lucerne around noon, give myself a walking tour based on the cool things Florian recommended and some things I found on my own, get to the festival at 4, hang out for an hour or so, and be back in plenty of time for cat o’clock (9pm when I ring the bell!). Warning: I’ve been cooped up and sitting on my ass for a few days straight, so this is a LONG post- I crammed in a ton of adventures!!
Took the train into Lucerne- it’s like $15 roundtrip, which for public transport to a place that is about 6 miles away is kinda pricey… And it doesn’t matter if you take the bus or the train- from everything I see on the sbb.ch website, it’s the same price! Stepped off the train into the city, and got a grand welcome! Turned left and walked along the Ruess River. You know how Disneyland separates its areas? Tomorrowland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, etc…? Well, I have already said that “Switzer” means “Disney”. I was in Basel-land for days 1 & 2. Now I am in Lucerne-land. I swear, everything here is just so well manicured and gorgeous and appealing and picturesque! I seriously expect Mickey Mouse to come popping out from behind a corner at any minute for a photo op! There was even what looked like the Cinderella’s Castle on a hill above the city (ok, it’s a hotel, but work with me). Even the water in the river is this weird blue/green hue- almost EXACTLY the color of the dyed water in the “rivers” and “lakes” at Disney!! Coincidence?? I think NOT! 😉
I had mapped out everything I wanted to see in Lucerne, so popped open Maps.me (I really need to do a blog post on how I create a google map with pinpoints, put it into Maps.me, and still use google maps to navigate (because Maps.me seriously sucks battery…). First up, the Jesuit Church. It was built in 1666-1677. I was on the same side of the street as it, so this pic is one I took later in the day from across the river. It was closed, so I couldn’t go in.
Next, I needed to get on the other side of the river. There were a few bridges, but I was going to take a very special bridge across- Spreuerbrücke. This is one of 2 covered wooden bridges. The first bridge at this crossing was built in 1408. It was destroyed in a flood in 1566 and rebuilt. Other than being a super cool, old, covered wooden bridge, there is something quite interesting in it’s rafters…a series of paintings called the “Dance of Death”. Originally, there were 67 paintings, 45 are left. And since they were painted in from 1616-1637, that’s quite a feat! The paintings depict death being present in many different situations, showing that it is constantly present, and no matter your status, death is there.
From this side of the river, I could head up to my next destination, Museggmauer & Türme (Town Walls and Towers). It was up, up, up hill!! Google maps tried to trick me, but I outsmarted it! (Follow the signs, not google) The fortifying wall and its towers were built in the 1300s (but still, they just look “Disneyesque” instead of “impressive historical monument”!). I walked to the end of the wall that was accessible, and went inside the first tower. Oh HELL NO!! These weren’t stairs, they were more like heavily tilted ladders! So steep- not my idea of fun…but I got here and had to do it. Fortunately, it wasn’t very crowded so I just waited for a few people to come down so I would have the stairs all to myself and could go just as slowly as I wanted and whimper as loudly as I wanted! Somehow I made it up about 4 flights of these to the top of the tower. Then, I had to go down, which is worse for my height-o-phobia than going up. I needed to go to the 2nd floor and then out on to the wall. Except I was so focused on looking at the step directly under my foot and nothing else, that I wound up back at the bottom and had to go back up another floor!! Got out on to the wall, and more traumatizing height obstacles. The wall had a rail on one side, which if you got too close and fell over, you would plummet to your death. Ok, not so easy to fall over the side (you’d have to physically try to fall over it!), but still. I hugged that wall like it was my long lost love….
Made it to Tower #2 and started climbing. The last section was the worst, because it went from wooden stairs to metal grid stairs that I could see through, with the open room and potential death on the other side of the handrail. I honestly had to talk myself into going up those. Glad I made it, because the view was awesome!
Back down, back along another section of wall, to tower #3. This is the clock tower, and whereas the other towers are basically empty rooms, this one had several clock mechanisms in it! It was all in German though, so I couldn’t understand what each one was. The top floor required a new type of death obstacle- rock stairs that were like a foot and a half high each! No way was I going to navigate that, and no amount of talking to myself could convince me otherwise. I turned around and went back down to the wall.
Standing behind the actual clock- you can see one of the hands (that black bar). This is the oldest clock in Lucerne!
Got to the final tower, and was pretty damn proud of myself for dealing with all of these insanely steep stairs!! Made it to the top, and inside of being in an enclosed room with windows, you were actually on the top of the tower! The views were IN-CRED-I-BLE!!!
I will say, it wasn’t terribly crowded, but I encountered several American families here. I haven’t heard ‘merican English for quite some time! It’s ever long enough…. The next destination was one I was really excited about, because it had direct ties to one of my French kings!! Unfortunately, though, it’s a rather sad connection… The kings of France routinely hired Swiss guards. Even Swiss soldiers to help out in wars. Versailles was guarded by the Swiss- in fact the direct guards for Marie Antoinette were Swiss. I always knew they had been killed with the palace was mobbed and broke into Marie Antoinette’s bedroom (she barely escaped with her life). Hundreds of Swiss soldiers also died during the subsequent attack on the Tuilleries Palace (where Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and their children were held under watchful eye during those early years of the revolution). This is the Löwendenkmal (Lion Monument), in honor of those Swiss soldiers who so bravely tried to protect monarchs that weren’t even their own. The dying lion is laying on a fleur de lis crest (symbol of the French monarchy), with the Swiss crest next to him. Super, super sad. 😢
I google mapped my next location, and I was right on top of it! Gletschergarten- a glacier museum!! I was really excited about this, because it would fit right in with the stuff I filmed in Iceland and Romania for my Earth Science class that starts this fall!! And for $15, I couldn’t beat the price!! And my, oh my, but it turned out to be so super cool that I would have paid twice that if I knew what all was in here! There were basically 3 different parts. The first part was the glacier garden. Only 20,000 years ago, Lucerne was covered in glaciers. As those glaciers moved and scraped their way across the landscape, they left this area which was discovered by a man excavating for a wine cellar in 1872. The huge boulders are actually several different types of rocks- dragged here by the glacier as it moved past different mountains. I found that to be so fascinating!! The really cool thing though are the glacier pots. I had never even heard of such a thing! Melt water from the glacier runs through crevasses, getting underneath the glacier. Under there, the pressure is ENORMOUS, and whirlpools of melt water can be created- swirling at about 125 miles per hour! The meltwater is filled with dirt and pebbles, which along with the swift water carve out the rock below into a “pot”. So cool!! From there, I walked the second area- the Glacier Museum. I wasn’t expecting much. Um, I was blown away! I wanted to bring my students here so bad!! It was a really well done museum, with great information (in English!!), awesome exhibits, and even a hands on area! I learned so much and did a ton of filming for class. Wanna see inside? Take the class. 😜
The museum kind of emptied out into a mansion kind of thing with a lot of different exhibits. Unfortunately, the vast majority of it was in German. There was an exhibit that showed you how Lucerne looked 20,000,000 years ago- a tropical beach!! I found a gorgeous mermaid chandelier. And then, even though I couldn’t read anything, I saw something from across the room and immediately recognized it- VERSAILLES!!! I practically ran over to it, and it was in German- but I could read Louis XIV and Versailles. 😊
I don’t even know how to describe this next part!! It didn’t fit in with the theme of glaciers or history at all, but it was SO. MUCH. FUN!! It was a mirror maze. It was built for a national exhibition in Geneva in 1896, and moved here in 1899. Go. Just freaking GO!! Because you HAVE to see this! You walk in, and are surrounded by mirrors and designs, and you have to find your way through it all (hopefully without knocking yourself out by walking into one of the mirrors!). It really distorts your perceptions to the point where you second guess yourself a lot! It’s just gorgeous inside, and sometimes there are things you can see from a distance (like the peacocks), but it takes a while to actually reach them because you’re just seeing their image reflecting down tons of corridors! It feels like some Middle Eastern palace inside…I freaking LOVED this!!!!!!
Me taking a picture of me taking a picture of the peacocks!
Outside, the grounds are lovely. And there’s even a gnome trying to lure you into some cave. #becauseDISNEY
Next stop, Old Town. Which should be called “Old Town Land”, because again, this place is straight outta Disney!! You’d never imagine these buildings are from 1300s-1600s. They’re all painted with these fairy-tale like designs and script. It’s just…I don’t know. I keep saying this, but it’s just so whimsical and doesn’t even look old. It looks like someone built it new to make it look old!
Time to head back across the river to the other side, where the National Day festival was. I had mapped all this out…I crossed back over on the 2nd of the 2 covered wooden bridges- this time the Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge). This one was built in 1333- Almost 80 years OLDER than the other bridge!! It also has paintings in the rafters, but these depict various scenes from Swiss history and saints instead of death. Those saints didn’t stop the bridge from being severely damaged by a fire in 1993. Ugh. I seriously cannot imagine seeing something that old and beautiful on fire!!! Beside the bridge is a tower from the 1200s.
My timing was spot on perfect! I got to the festival area at like 5 minutes after 4. There were little picnic tables set up and a stage, where there was some live music playing. This is a hard situation for me, one where I feel very socially awkward being alone. But by god I was determined to sit down, have an early dinner, and listen to some traditional music, dammit! Early dinner…eeks. The hardest of social situations to overcome. There were some food vendors on the side of the venue, so I walked by them every so slowly, trying to see if there was any English (no), and then trying to determine what other people were getting so I had some kind of clue what was being served. Ooooo!! Bratwurst looking sausage! Score! I went up and spoke English to the lady. She didn’t speak it, but another guy in the booth did. They had a few types, and I chose beef. A nice sized brat and a piece of bread- only $7!! Which considering this is Disney Switzerland AND a special event is a freaking steal! I was quite pleased. Except the lady told me $9. I really didn’t feel like arguing it, so I handed her a 10. She gave me 2 back and a green plastic chip. The English speaking guy explained that when I was finished, to bring my paper plate and napkins back, give them the green chip, and I’d get my extra $2 back. He said, “To keep the city clean.” HOW FREAKING AWESOME IS THAT????
I went and sat at one of the long picnic tables with some other people and ate. OMG, it was soooooooo good!!! The band on stage ended, and some guys started playing traditional alphorns!! Not only that, but guys in front of them were twirling flags!! (I was a total band geek and in the flag core during marching season. And people wonder why I’m socially awkward…). Then, a woman YODELED!! Oh my god, the whole thing was just so much fun!! (🎥Watch the videos below!!) It was just so stereotypically Swiss, that I was eating it up! Speaking of eating, after I ate I actually had enough confidence to go find desert, and lord oh lord did I find it. A piece of the most delicious, delicate, moist chocolate cake, with some kind of melted chocolate on top that was still soft, but not runny, sprinkled with coconut. $2.50. I seriously cannot tell you how good that cake was…Holy crap, I could eat here every freaking day and not complain about the prices!! The first band came back on stage and played a set.
Brian, you get to play, “Which would Mary rather??”. Take a guess…. 😉 #engagednotdead
I had been there a little over an hour total, so when they were finished I decided to head back. Hopped the train, quick 15 minute ride, walked home full, happy, and thrilled with my day!
Days 8-10 consisted of me staying in the apartment trying to work while fighting the internet. I even had a replacement modem sent that I installed. It helped, but didn’t fix the problem. Work that should take 2 hours to do was taking almost or more than twice that. Extremely frustrating, especially when I had deadlines to meet…
I was very close to the Rhine River, and saw a bridge on Google Maps, so decided to go check it out. Turns out, this is Mittlere Brücke, or Middle Bridge, and is the oldest crossings over the Rhine! The original was built in 1226! But I’m telling you, this city is just so Disney-esque, that it’s hard to believe anything was here before 1950!! I crossed the bridge and then crossed back again. On my way back, there were people floating down the Rhine on little fish shaped floaties. It was so freaking hot, that as much as I’m adverse to the idea of getting into water, had Brian been here I totally would have done it! Later, I passed a store that was actually selling the little floaties! I was seriously tempted to buy one, because #fish. But didn’t because #cheapass.
Last stop, Tinguely Brunnen (Tinguely Fountain). C’mon now, Basel?? Seriously?? You can not get any more whimsical (ok dammit, I’m stopping to look this up in the thesaurus- nope, not a better word to be had) than this fountain! It was built in 1977 right outside of the theater, and is just so much fun to watch! Because #disney Definitely watch the video to see it in action, because a picture can’t capture it!
Got out on to the wall, and more traumatizing height obstacles. The wall had a rail on one side, which if you got too close and fell over, you would plummet to your death. Ok, not so easy to fall over the side (you’d have to physically try to fall over it!), but still. I hugged that wall like it was my long lost love….
I google mapped my next location, and I was right on top of it! Gletschergarten- a glacier museum!! I was really excited about this, because it would fit right in with the stuff I filmed in Iceland and Romania for my Earth Science class that starts this fall!! And for $15, I couldn’t beat the price!! And my, oh my, but it turned out to be so super cool that I would have paid twice that if I knew what all was in here! There were basically 3 different parts. The first part was the glacier garden. Only 20,000 years ago, Lucerne was covered in glaciers. As those glaciers moved and scraped their way across the landscape, they left this area which was discovered by a man excavating for a wine cellar in 1872. The huge boulders are actually several different types of rocks- dragged here by the glacier as it moved past different mountains. I found that to be so fascinating!! The really cool thing though are the glacier pots. I had never even heard of such a thing! Melt water from the glacier runs through crevasses, getting underneath the glacier. Under there, the pressure is ENORMOUS, and whirlpools of melt water can be created- swirling at about 125 miles per hour! The meltwater is filled with dirt and pebbles, which along with the swift water carve out the rock below into a “pot”. So cool!!
From there, I walked the second area- the Glacier Museum. I wasn’t expecting much. Um, I was blown away! I wanted to bring my students here so bad!! It was a really well done museum, with great information (in English!!), awesome exhibits, and even a hands on area! I learned so much and did a ton of filming for class. Wanna see inside? Take the class. 😜
The museum kind of emptied out into a mansion kind of thing with a lot of different exhibits. Unfortunately, the vast majority of it was in German. There was an exhibit that showed you how Lucerne looked 20,000,000 years ago- a tropical beach!! I found a gorgeous mermaid chandelier. And then, even though I couldn’t read anything, I saw something from across the room and immediately recognized it- VERSAILLES!!! I practically ran over to it, and it was in German- but I could read Louis XIV and Versailles. 😊
