I've been witnessing a potentially ominous development in Basel lately: accordion players. If you've ever ridden public transportation in most major European cities, then you know that at some point an accordion player (or two) will board and start playing "O Sole Mio" or perhaps a peppy little Britney Spears number. For this "entertainment", you are then expected to pony up some spare change. In Paris, this almost--almost--charming (then again, in Paris almost everything is charming). We reached a new low with accordions in Brussels, where at two different restaurants we were seated outside and we had accordion players who would not stop playing. Because they played so long, they were extra persistent about chipping in.

Until now, this has been a decidedly non-Swiss phenomenon. We recently boarded a tram, however, and were shocked to find an accordion player. And now the past couple of days there has been an accordion player in front of the train station. What is happening? The music on the radio is bad enough here--do we now have to hear accordions as well? STOP THE INSANITY I BEG YOU!

(((OK, I feel better now...)))