Just to clarify...

It occurred to me that the concept of a "baby shower" may be uniquely American. It has nothing to do with washing an infant--it's a party where expecting parents are given lots of gifts. It's also common to have wedding showers in which a couple is given gifts prior to their marriage. Now that I think about it, there's something a bit strange about giving gifts before, rather than at or after, the big event, but I guess we're always looking for an excuse to have a party.

The other thing is that we didn't surprise our friends at the shower itself--the party is for them and we didn't want our surprise to make it about us instead. So we got the surprise out of the way early--which also gave us time to spend with them without 50 other people--and now we can be relaxed about it at the shower tonight...

Surprise!

Our good friends Chris and Sonali are having a baby shower this weekend in DC. After my trip to DC in August, Gretchen was really feeling sad about missing our friends, so when she heard about the shower she made a spur-of-the-moment decision to book a ticket to DC and surprise them. Since I was in Toronto last week, it was also easy for me to fly down. So we arranged to fly in yesterday and stay with our friend Dave (who we swore to secrecy), then stopped by and surprised friends last night. What fun it was to see everyone! So now we have a fun weekend in DC to look forward to and we don't have to keep it a secret any longer...

Föhn?

The last few days in Basel have been absolutely beautiful-- sunny and 70! It feels more like early September than late October. Kirk says it has something to do with the Föhn. HUH? He learned about the Föhn from his Swiss and German colleagues. Something about warm air (and winds) coming down from the mountains. He said it's similar to the Santa Anas, but considering I never lived in California I don't know anything about that either. Sounds a little suspect to me, but whatever it is, Föhn or no Föhn, I love it!

Where is the love

One thing I really enjoy each day in Basel is reading the two free local daily papers, 20 Minuten and Baslerstab. I struggle to read through some of the stories, and although my German teacher may not think these papers use proper German, I still think it's kind of like doing homework. Unfortunately, many times the newspaper boxes are empty by the time I get downtown (all the earlybirds who actually work for a living beat me to it) so I often have to go without.

This morning, I picked up a copy of Baslerstab after my German lesson, but couldn't find a 20 Minuten. Until I got on the tram to ride home. Lo and behold, there was a slightly tattered paper sitting on a seat. I grabbed it and started reading as I rode home. As I opened it up and started reading page 2, I was shocked to see that the previous reader had scribbled all sorts of nasty things in bright blue marker next to an article about a recent stabbing in Basel. He (the reader) made it quite clear (through his comments) that he wants to rid Switzerland of all Turks. Apparently, the alleged stabber was a Turk. I quickly turned the page because I didn't want other tram riders to think I had written these things.

(Side note: An interesting observation about newspapers in Switzerland. We've noticed that papers here are much more likely to identify the nationality of a person involved in a crime than they would be in the US. In fact, I seem to remember learning at one point that nationality can't be listed in stories in American newspapers-- because it's generally irrelevant. Here, you often find something written like this: "There was a fight outside a bar in Basel and 2 people were stabbed. One man was arrested. He is from Albania.")

I guess this guy (the previous paper reader) does not discriminate is his hatred of Auslanders because he also made notes next to articles containing information about English and American culture, as well as African asylum seekers. I actually felt sort of dirty after reading the paper, and was totally disgusted to think about who read it before me. I suppose he was hoping that whoever would pick up the paper after him might perhaps be influenced by this thoughts. Little did he know that it would be me-- an actual American Auslander.

Observations from a day of travel

--As we were taxiing to take off from Frankfurt, a slightly demented (literally) passenger who only spoke Russian started acting up, so we had to pull off the runway and wait until they could take him and his luggage off the plane. A hassle, to be sure, but everyone seemed to take it with good humor and the crew was very apologetic so it really wasn't that bad. I'm just trying to imagine how people would have reacted if it were a New York-to-Washington flight; it probably would have been open warfare between the passengers and flight crew.

--At one point the woman sitting next to me woke up, grabbed my glass of water and drank the rest of it. I was so stunned I didn't even say anything. I thought about saying something like "don't worry, my cold sores aren't contagious" but thought better of it.

--One of the flight attendants had the last name Kalbfleisch, which literally means "calf meat" (i.e., veal). Maybe that's not funny if you're not exposed to German on a regular basis, but since we see it on every menu here it made me chuckle, and my German colleagues agreed that it was a funny name.

--I HATE HATE HATE when they show bad movies on the westbound flight. I always try to stay awake for as much of the westbound flight as possible, and good movies are a key element of that (the eastbound flight is a red-eye, so I actually hope they don't have good movies because I want to try to sleep). I watched one pretty interesting movie, "Crash", about racial conflict in L.A. It was a bit overwrought at times, but had a top-notch cast, tried to play with stereotypes, and was beautifully filmed, so I give it a thumbs-up. But the only other options after that? "Bewitched" and "Herbie: Fully Loaded". Ugh.

Reason #317 why I'm an idiot

Before leaving for Toronto I check the weather and see that highs will be in the single digits (centigrade, that is) and lows around zero, with rain. Knowing this, do I pack a scarf? A hat? Gloves? No, no and no. So upon arrival when I felt that blast of cold, damp air I rushed out to spend my hard-earned loonies (that's really what they call their dollars here) on a new scarf and hat. Glad I can help the economy of our neighbors to the north...

Old Fashioneds and Wisconsin

"Supper clubs with relish trays. Cheeses from rural factories. Sliced summer sausage. Friday fish fries. Grilled wursts. All shape Wisconsin's identity."

I got a kick out of learning that a new restaurant is opening in my hometown of Madison called The Old Fashioned. It sounds like a definite winner and I look forward to going someday. The owners are hoping to put a gourmet spin on all traditional foods that make Wisconsin taste good. They will have a bunch of different varieties of the classic Wisconsin cocktail after which it's named. My Dad was famous for his Old Fashioneds. Any of our friends who came to the party at my parents' house the night before our wedding remember the pitchers he made (or maybe they don't remember considering how many Old Fashioneds everyone drank that night). They'll also offer the tradional weekend specials in Wisconsin: Friday night fish fry, Saturday night prime rib, and broasted chicken on Sundays. You may laugh, but I bet it'll be good (and very popular)!

No longer stir crazy

Thankfully this afternoon turned out to be a beautiful, sunny, fall day and thankfully I had plans to go walking with some friends. Prior to this, I was definitely stir crazy and dangerously close to becoming delerious. Since last Wednesday, I've been fighting some strange flu bug that started with a throat of fire, moved onto aches and chills, and has been lingering as a bad cough and general overall blah-ness. Until going out walking this afternoon, I had hardly left the house for the past 4 days (other Grady walks, of course, which take no breaks for illness). This is unusual for me. I go crazy if I stay home for too long. While hanging around the house I did lots of hausfrau work (especially now that I'm sans cleaning lady), including last Thursday where I did laundry for 14 continuous hours. I also did lots of reading (including Tim Russert's memoir called Big Russ and Me), watched lots of DVDs, and even took naps. Naps are almost unheard of for me, unless I'm sick.

This afternoon we took the train over the border to the little German town of Efringen Kirchen and walked for 2+ hours through the hilly area called Isteiner Klotz. We were surrounded by vineyards (yes, in Germany) and hardly saw another person. I'm feeling rejuvenated (although exhausted considering my lingering flu) and no longer stir crazy. Phew.

Whirlwind

The past month or so has been nice in the sense that I haven't had any work travel. Now the craziness begins, however. I just sorted out that I have 38 work days between now and when I start my Christmas holiday, and of those 38 days, I'll be gone for 18 of them (which doesn't sound so bad when I put it that way, but when I look at my calendar...yikes).

Tomorrow I'm off to Toronto for a few days, where it will be between 0 and 8 degrees with rain (although I'll be inside the whole time so I'm not sure it really matters). Then in a couple of weeks I head to Dakar, Senegal for a few days (where I don't think freezing temperatures will be a problem). Then it's off to Amsterdam, and finally to Sydney (for work) and Bangkok (for play). It's all good, though--that's why God created sleeping pills...

Bad idea

Note to self: Next time you're getting ready to take a transatlantic flight, don't watch the premiere of "Lost"--which revolves around a plane crash--right beforehand...

Why we love the French

We're getting ready to go over to one of Kirk's colleague's house for dinner. We've never been to his place before, and I've never heard him talk about cooking before, so I asked Kirk what I thought was a fairly obvious question. In response, Kirk gave me a fairly obvious answer.

Me: "So he (the colleague) can cook?"
Kirk: "Well, he's French."

I guess that means he knows how to cook.

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore

The latest thing that just wouldn't fly in mainstream newspapers back home appeared in one of our local papers a few weeks ago: an advertisement for a local store featuring Hasenliebe (rabbit love) for sale to raise money for an AIDS organisation...

Friday cow blogging

Gretchen believes that all cows--including bulls--are dairy cows. It helps the steak go down easier that way. Anyway, one of the striking things about the countryside in Burgundy was how many huge white Charolais cows there were (all dairy, of course...their udders just happened to be "innies"). It was such a change from our doe-eyed, bell-wearing, brown Swiss cows. I still prefer our Swiss cows, of course, but the variety was a nice touch. (Someday when I return to the States and people ask about living in Europe, I'll be able to say I became something of a cow connoisseur.) Anyway, I'm not sure how this will come out on the blog but Gretchen was out for a walk and got a picture of a little baby (dairy) cow in the early-morning mist near the chateau:



And in a non-cow-related item, the chateau had a basset hound named Nefertiti, and a basset hound is always good for a smile:

Did I just say that?

So I was talking with a friend from the States this afternoon, and as we were saying goodbye I actually closed by saying "later, dude." I really have no idea where that came from, since I don't think I talked like that before leaving the States (or maybe I did and wasn't self-aware). I guess you can take the boy out of California, but you can't take California out of the boy.

"Later, dude"?

It's a fine line

I really shouldn't complain because I have a decent-sized office of my own with lots of windows at work. This is a complete novelty coming from the States. (I don't know if this is true, but someone was telling me that there is a law in the European Union that in the workplace, everyone's desk must have access to natural light...if that were the case back home, almost everyone on my floor would have been working illegally.) Anyway, I'm supposedly able to control the temperature in my office. The problem is, there doesn't seem to be any kind of middle ground. Yesterday I came in and it was freezing, so I moved the temperature dial 0.0000001 millimeters in the warmer direction. Within the hour, I was ready to start building sauna benches along the walls. So I turned it back down again ever so slightly, then the same thing happened again today: the ambience has gone directly from wine-cellar-chilly to August-in-Washington-stifling and back again...

How you found us

One of the most interesting things about using Site Meter to keep track of how many people read our blog is being able to find out exactly how people find our blog. Sometimes people link to it through other blogs, and sometimes people find it by searching in general for blogs in Switzerland, but other times people stumble upon it unknowingly by doing a search on Google for something totally unrelated to Switzerland or a blog. Most of the time, of course, we have no idea how people find us. I've seen other bloggers (Dictator Princess, specifically) post about some of the funny things people have searched for and decided it was time I got into the fun. Here are some examples of recent searches that have brought people to our blog.

first cleaning service basel: I have no idea what this is, but I'm probably not a good person to turn to for advice on hiring a cleaning lady!

"roger reinhard": Who?? After a bit of searching, I discovered that his name was included in an article Kirk posted over a year ago about therapy dogs in Basel.

"shoe thief": Remember the shoe thief that stole my tennis shoes from the gym locker room?

landjaeger: Yes, it is a declicious snack. Someone must be really desperate for information about it because there were 4 recent searches on it.

gretchen named characters: That would be me.

bratsworth: One of the best scenes ever from my beloved-yet-rumored-to-be-split-Newlyweds Jessica and Nick.

ex wife joke: Don't recall ever telling one. Frankly, I don't even know one.

Thanks, DP, for letting me steal your idea for a post! I finally got around to it...

Ivy

One thing I don't think I ever noticed until this year is how colorful ivy can get in the fall. Certainly the ivy we have growing in our backyard in DC never changes color in the fall--the best you can say is that at least in the winter it stops trying to take over our lawn. So I was surprised on a recent trip to the Alsace to see that the ivy spread across one house had turned bright red:



And then we saw an even more striking house in the charming little town of Chateauneuf-en-Auxois in Burgundy this weekend:

There's always a first time for everything

Today was a day of firsts for me. I've never had to fire anyone before. Until this morning, that is. For the last two weeks I've known that this morning I would be telling Henriette, our cleaning lady, that she would no longer be working for us. As if that wasn't stressful enough, I had to do it in French. I don't speak French (except for what I remember from high school French class) and she doesn't speak any German or English. Fortunately, I have lots of French-speaking friends here in Basel who helped me come up with an easy way to explain that, from now on, I would like to do the cleaning myself. She understood, didn't seem to be too upset, gave me the housekey, and ironed a few shirts before leaving. Phew, am I glad that's over.

I know, there are so many people who would give anything to have a cleaning lady. You may think I'm crazy for deciding to fire ours. But it's gotten to the point that her visits actually cause me stress and leave me annoyed rather than appreciative. Discovering 2 weeks ago that she has been feeding Grady was the straw that broke the camel's break (he threw up 3 times that day). I watched an episode of Sex and the City last night (from Season 3) about how annoyed Miranda got with her new cleaning lady who brought her a rolling pin and moved her coffee mugs into a different cupboard and insisted she drink tea instead of coffee. That's sort of what I was dealing with. It's hard to explain, but I guess that one thing I've learned through this whole process is that I am quite particular about how I want our house to look, and therefore, I should probably just clean it myself.

After officially becoming the sole cleaning lady for our household this morning, I went to my first tennis lesson! I have never played tennis before. I didn't even know how to hold a racket. Our sports club (which we belong to through Kirk's work) has a bunch of tennis courts (which are enclosed during the winter months) and I finally decided I needed to take advantage of this great opportunity to take lessons while living here. I'm in a small group lesson of beginners (only 2 other women) and we'll be playing every Tuesday morning for the next 9 weeks. I have to say it was really fun. Of course it was only my first lesson, and I'm sure I'll have plenty of frustrating moments as I learn, but I think I'm really going to enjoy it.

A tale of two weekends

So this weekend was our trip to Burgundy to celebrate our anniversary (yeah us!). We had an interesting discussion when planning the trip. I suggested that we stay in a chateau in the country (something we had never done before), but Gretchen thought that, for a variety of reasons, we should stay at a hotel in town somewhere. In the end, we chose a chateau:



It was quite nice, but it was in the middle of NOWHERE. At one point we opened our window and literally the only thing we could hear were sheep eating grass (that's not an exaggeration--you'd be surprised how loud they can chew). I guess being in the middle of nowhere is part of the charm, but it threw us off. Then, Saturday morning we drove a half-hour to the charming town of Beaune, where I was promptly seized with a bout of stomach distress that was anxiety-inducing (for me) and frustrating (for Gretchen) that resulted in us having to drive back to the chateau and my spending most of Saturday in bed. What a fun anniversary weekend! Later that day when I was feeling better we decided we needed a change of plans so on Sunday morning we ditched the chateau and spent our last night at a hotel in Beaune instead. It was like our weekend started anew.

We drove through the vineyards of Burgundy, where the leaves had turned a vivid gold (the region is known as the Côte d'Or, and evidently the name comes from the turning of the leaves in fall).



As we drove through the town of Nuits-St-Georges, we noticed that almost everyone was carrying at least one baguette. You would almost think it was a parody, it was so stereotypically French-looking. So naturally we had to explore, and sure enough we came across a boulangerie with a line out the door (on a Sunday, no less--even in the touristy parts of the Alsace, shops are seldom open on Sundays). So we got in line, bought a fresh baguette, and wolfed it down by the time we got back to the car.



And most of all, we really enjoyed Beaune itself. We tasted and bought some good wine, ate some good food, and were fascinated by the history and ornate glazed-tile rooftops of the Hôtel-Dieu (Hospices of Beaune).



So the beginning of the weekend--not so good (although we would actually recommend the chateau for anyone who was looking for a real getaway). But the latter part of the weekend--excellent. Overall, I give a big thumbs-up to Bourgogne.

World Bread Day

I saw an intriguing poster hanging on the door of our neighborhood bakery yesterday. Apparently this Sunday (October 16) is World Bread Day (Welttag des Brotes in German). Who knew? I'm really not sure what the point is, especially since it falls on a Sunday when you can't even buy bread in Switzerland. I guess it's just good to celebrate and promote bread. According to the English translation of the "Preface to the World Day of Bread" by the President of the International Union of Bakers, "Bread is probably the most spread food product all over the world". Don't you just love direct translation? It never really says what you what you want it to say, does it?

Big news in Switzerland

It's true... Switzerland is finally starting to jump on the anti-smoking bandwagon! I thought I had seen it this morning in one of the free, local newspapers, but considering it was written in German I can never be too sure. But now I'm reading it in English. The local government in Ticino, the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland, last night voted to approve a smoking ban! Wow. If only that trend would move north to Basel. Then I wouldn't have to deal with second-hand smoke when I get my haircut anymore. I suppose I should be encouraged by this fun fact. The article on SwissInfo also says that smoking will soon be prohibited on Swiss trains! That's definitely something to celebrate.

Australia

May I just brag for a moment about how wonderful my husband is? Generous and thoughtful too. He has meetings in Sydney the first week in December. I would be insanely jealous if he were to go to Australia without me. I LOVE Australia! We were there for almost 3 weeks in December 2003 (just before moving to Basel) and enjoyed a whole 24 hours in Sydney last year while flying home from Vanuatu. So here's how nice he is. He has cashed in many, many of his Lufthansa miles to buy me a ticket to Australia! Business class, I might add, because I've become way too much of a travel snob to fly all that way in economy. Best of all, I'll be there long enough to visit both of my friends who live there (Jen in Sydney and Kristen in Melbourne). As an extra special treat, Kirk and I will be spending 3 days in Bangkok on the way back to Switzerland. I can't even imagine what an amazing experience that will be. I love Thai food but, of course, have never really had the real thing. I've been thanking Kirk continuously for the past couple days, but now I'm doing so publicly. Thank you, my sweet husband!

Organ donation

There was a great article in the Washington Post a few days ago about the connection between two families-- one who is grieving the loss of their son, and the other family living with new hope because of a liver transplant. I'm always inspired by stories like this. My Dad received a kidney transplant in 2002 and I will forever be a huge proponent of organ donation. Unfortunately, too many people, like my Dad, have to wait for years for a matching organ to become available. Sometimes it comes too late, as may have been the case for my Dad. He had been on a waiting list for 2 years and had been on at-home dialysis for a year and a half before he received his kidney. I think his body was just too sick and tired by the time he got it. He was one of a very small percentage of kidney transplant recipients that never fully recover. He died just 4 months later from a bad infection. Nonetheless, I'm thankful for the hope it gave him and the rest of our family.

Apples and pears, again

I'm such a sucker. I know I've written many times about how I love the people who come to our door to sell fresh produce. The apple and pear guy came by a few days ago. I have a feeling all the farmers get together and talk about me-- that silly American who's such a sucker and always buys everything we offer. I'm now the proud owner of 30 pounds (!) of a variety of apples and pears from the St. Gallen region of Switzerland. What am I supposed to do with all of them? Does this sound familiar to anyone? If so, it's because I made a similar purchase back in March. Perhaps I should take Ms. Mac's recipe and make an Apfelwähe!

A rave? At a castle?

This past Sunday was a beautiful and sunny fall day. We decided to take Zoe's suggestion of going on a picnic. I packed up all sorts of good picnic food and we drove up to the castle ruins above Arlesheim. This was the same castle that I hiked up to last week. Nothing better than enjoying nature and a good view with yummy food and good company at a peaceful setting on a Sunday afternoon, right? As soon as we found a good spot to picnic and set up our blanket we realized that we could hear very loud, continuous techno/dance music. In some instances, I love techno/dance music. When I'm at the gym, for example. The only way I can get myself to stay on the elliptical is with loud music blasting through my iPod. But at a castle?

After a bit of exploring, we discovered that a group of teenagers were holding what appeared to be a very lame rave at the top of the castle. They had a generator hooked up with a big stereo system, neon-colored strings strung up, and many empty beer bottles. Perhaps it had gone all night. I don't know. But at this point, at about 1:00 in the afternoon, there were only about 15 teenagers in a music (and perhaps drug) induced trance flailing about to the beat of the music. It had to be one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen. Lots of families were passing through the area (Sunday is a big family hiking day in Switzerland) and all of them looked quite puzzled by this strange setting for a rave. Do you suppose they had to apply for a permit with the Gemeinde to hold a party like that at castle ruins?

Analyze This

Interesting article in today's Washington Post about the therapeutic value of blogging. While we don't generally use our blog for therapy, I can definitely see the value in that regard. But I can also see some of the potential pitfalls cited in the article, especially the potential that it could be used against you someday. Since we've chosen not to be especially anonymous, we have to be very careful about what we post (e.g. regarding work) so that hopefully nothing ever comes back and bite us on the ass. It also notes that you never know who will read your blog, and that's definitely true. When we set it up we figured the only people who would read it would be friends and family back home, whereas now there are probably more expats who read it. That's been cool but came as a big surprise. So I guess the lesson is that if you're going to spill your guts you'd better be careful to guard your identity, and if you're going to be more open about your identity you'd best be careful to mind your words...

Nothin' but blue skies...

Without a doubt the best part of having Pete, Zoe, and Baby Abby (who are now on a plane back to the US) visit us was just being able to hang out with good friends. We've said it before but we'll say it again... we miss our friends from home! I can't even begin to express how fun it was to have them here. We laughed. A lot. I love laughing. I especially love the gut-wrenching, eyes-watering, almost-peeing-in-your-pants kind of laughing. We did a lot of that.

It was also great to get to know baby Abby. She is just precious. Anybody who uses kids/babies as an excuse not to travel should take a few tips from Pete and Zoe and Abby. Maybe she's just an amazing baby, or maybe they're just great parents. But whatever the reason, we all concluded that 4 months old is the best age to go along on a trip to Europe. I'm looking forward to visiting DC sometime soon so I can also get to know 2-year old Toby who stayed home with grandparents. I have a feeling traveling to Switzerland would be a bit more challenging with a toddler.



Somehow we were blessed with beautiful fall weather throughout their visit. All sun all the time. It was sunny on Friday when we went to Pilatus.



It was sunny on Saturday when we went to Freiburg and drove through the vineyards of the Alsace.



It was sunny on Sunday when we explored the outskirts of Basel.



And it was sunny on Monday when we went to Engelberg and Titlis.



Four straight days of sunshine on vacation? How often does that happen?

A fun afternoon

While Gretchen was entertaining this afternoon (I'm sure she'll have stories), I got to experience the less glamorous side of international travel. Most of my travel is within the developed world, so health (other than jet lag and maladies from stale air on planes) isn't a big issue. But in a few weeks I have a conference in Dakar, Senegal, which today merited a trip to the Tropeninstitut for shots galore. The conference organisers said I would need yellow fever, meningitis and cholera vaccines. The doctor told me I wouldn't need cholera ("if you eat raw fish in a slum, then you will get cholera"--I assured him that wasn't in my plans), but he threw in polio instead. Plus, I had to get a hepatitis A booster, so that was four shots in total. (Luckily I'm much better with needles than Gretchen, as long as I don't look at them.) Plus I get to take a couple of weeks of anti-malaria medication, although he assured me the kind I'll be taking shouldn't make me (too) psychotic. At least I now have my very own snazzy new yellow international vaccine card...

Ass sausage

OK, get your mind out of the gutter...the title is not what you think. Yesterday we took Pete & Zoe to Eguisheim on a beautiful, sunny day (a first for us, I think...for some reason we always choose cold, rainy days to go to the Alsace). As we were walking around, we came across a tiny storefront where an old woman was selling a bunch of different sausages (you name it...wild boar, duck, venison, baby seal, etc). We saw one that said Ane in French and Esel in German and said to ourselves "is that ass? Donkey?" The woman heard us and, with a glint in her eye, said "oui, donkey!" and immediately started cutting a bunch of pieces for us to try. We really had no choice. And I have to say, it wasn't bad. Having said that, we bought the noisette (hazelnut) sausage instead. As Pete had walked ahead with baby Abby, I don't think he knew what to make of us when we hollered at him "hey Pete, want to try some ass sausage?"

This is not ass sausage, but rather us having a bratwurst at the excellent Saturday morning market in Freiburg, Germany:



Here's Gretchen looking ever-more-Euro with her scarf and arms full of lavender, fruits and vegetables at the market:



And finally, here's baby Abby, who is almost as cute as nephew Lemuel:

DC comes to Basel

They're here! Pete and Zoe and baby Abby landed in Zurich right on time at 8:30 this morning. We had a nice afternoon walking around Basel and enjoyed a good Swiss dinner of Raclette tonight (the first of the season-- yum!). Here they are in front of the Tinguely fountain.

Not so amazing

We had a hard lesson on our recent vacation: we wouldn't last very long on The Amazing Race. I mean, we've had nagging suspicions that we might have trouble, but now it's confirmed.

I should preface this by saying that it took us many weeks to figure out how we were going to get around Norway (if we didn't say this already, let me do it now: Norway is BIG. And the fjords and mountains that make it so scenic also make it really slow to get anywhere.) Anyway, we finally decided on the following plan: Fly from Oslo to Sogndal, rent a car, drive an hour or so to our hotel, use the car to explore for a few days, drive back to Sogndal to return the car, then take the ferry from Sogndal to Bergen. No problem!

But then we got to the Oslo Airport and everything fell to pieces when our flight from Oslo to Sogndal was cancelled. (Actually, the scene really merited a blog post of its own. We were waiting in a tiny little gate area for the tiny little plane to fly us to tiny little Sogndal. The gate attendant--who couldn't have been much older than 25--told us he would help us in a minute, then called everyone over and very calmly explained...something in Norwegian. A few people politely asked questions, which he patiently answered until everyone was satisfied. Only when he was finished did he tell us that the flight was cancelled because of bad weather. Having experienced the mayhem of cancelled flights in the States, we were genuinely stunned at how downright civil everyone was about it. People actually RAISED THEIR HANDS to ask questions of the gate attendant.)

So this is where The Amazing Race part comes in. Just like the competitors on the show, we had to make a quick decision--do we wait four hours for the next flight and risk continued bad weather? Do we stay another night in Oslo and take the train instead the next day? Do we fly to another city entirely with no car, no clue how to get to our destination, and no access to the ferry even if we found a car? It was a situation that called for decisive action...and we did anything but. It probably took us 20 minutes just to gnash our teeth and whine and process the information. We called the airline. We called the car rental company. We called the hotel. We talked to the gate attendant. We talked to some nice people who spoke English and who happened to be going to the same hotel. We talked with each other. We gnashed our teeth some more.

After much angst, we finally decided to fly to the town of Førde and share a two-hour taxi ride with the nice English-speaking couple. Well, it was supposed to be a two-hour ride. Because the other couple was supposed to be speaking at a conference at the hotel, the driver got us there in just over an hour (we must have averaged at least 50mph/80kph, all on narrow, windy roads in a torrential downpour...I don't usually get motion sickness, but I would have killed for a Dramamine at that point.)

In the end, despite the indecisiveness that would have had us in last place on The Amazing Race, it worked out for the best--especially when we found out that the airport where we would have had to return the car in Sogndal was about 20 miles from the ferry terminal, and we would have had to be on the ferry by 7:00am...

Kürbis mania

I think I've reached my Kürbis limit. Ever since going to the Kürbis Fest last weekend I've been eating Kürbis. First, I made my very first batch of Kürbissuppe. One small pumpkin made a lot of soup! Then I made a loaf of pumpkin bread to take to Ms. Mac and the gang last Friday. I liked the recipe so much, that I used it again over the weekend to make pumpkin muffins. Now it's Wednesday night, and I just finished making another batch of muffins, and I already made a loaf of bread earlier today! Of course I'm not planning to eat all of it myself. I'll give the muffins to some friends who just had a baby, and I'm hoping that our visitors (Pete and Zoe!) who arrive tomorrow from DC will enjoy the bread with me.

By the way, Kirk just came home and said "You're the pumpkin queen" after seeing all the Kürbis goodies in the kitchen.

Walking

One of my favorite things to do in Basel is to go walking. The Swiss take their walking very seriously. I guess what they call walking we Americans would probably call hiking. Everywhere you go in Switzerland there are yellow Wanderweg signs that will tell you how far you have to walk (sometimes in kilometers and sometimes in minutes or hours) to nearby landmarks and towns. Fortunately I have found some friends in Basel who like to walk as much as I do. Exploring with a friend is always more fun. Today my friend Marlis and I took the tram to Arlesheim, and then started walking up the hills, knowing that there were some castle ruins up there somewhere. We found what we were looking for (thanks to the Wanderweg signs) and also walked past the Schlosshof Dornach restaurant that I've been to a couple times. It wasn't a very pleasant day, mind you, but considering the rain and cold we've had for about a week now I won't complain. At least it didn't rain on us. Anyway, castle ruins are right up there with walking on my list of favorite things in Switzerland. They're everywhere and they're so cool. I liked the castle ruins we explored today even better than Landskron or what we saw near Muttenz last week.





There was just a hint of changing fall colors in the leaves as we walked up through the hills.

I'm a cheesehead

I saw a guy at the gym yesterday that I hadn't seen in a couple months (his wife just had a baby) and it reminded me of a funny story from this summer. I used to see this guy quite often. At the gym in the mornings, at the pool in the afternoons, etc. He's also a "trailing spouse" like me, meaning they moved here from overseas and his wife works but he doesn't. We got into a conversation one time at the pool about how we spend our freetime and how life has changed since moving to Basel (he moved here from Canada). He was telling me how he is much more fit now that they were living in Basel because his schedule allows him to get much more exercise. I commented that while I have much more free time than before, and while I'm quite active (perhaps moreso than I was in Washington), that I still don't feel any more fit. I mean, it's not like I've gained the Basel 15, but I certainly haven't lost any weight since living here. So I told him about how I found it hard to lose weight here because of the food. I love it all, and lots of it tends to be heavy, not healthy. This was his response: "Ohhhhh..... You like the cheese!"

It's true. I like the cheese.

Fun with iTunes

Despite having iPods, we haven't actually purchased much music online. That's partly a function of the iTunes Music Store not being available in Switzerland until recently, and then once it was available it seemed like they never had the songs we wanted.

But this weekend we were watching an episode of The Sopranos that featured the old song "World Destruction" by Time Zone & Afrika Bambaataa--you know the one: "This is a world destruction, you're life ain't nothing, the human race is becoming a disgrace..." But with a good beat! Anyway, it brought me back to my college days and, much to my surprise, did the same for Gretchen (usually my college memories are high school for her). As soon as the episode ended I was on iTunes and there it was! Next thing I knew I was wracking my brain for obscure (or not-so-obscure) songs that I needed to hear NOW. Most of what I was looking for they didn't have, but I had some success in a few broad categories: Upbeat '80s New Wave ("Private Idaho" and "Strobe Light" by the B-52s), Angry ("Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine and, from cult classic movie Repo Man, "Institutionalized" by Suicidal Tendencies), Upbeat/Angry (the aforementioned "World Destruction"), and Thoroughly Wussy but Good Anyway ("No One Is To Blame" by Howard Jones and "Superman's Song" by the Crash Test Dummies). Maybe it's good that their selection isn't that great because I could see spending WAY too much time and money looking for hidden gems...

She's so busted

I very rarely get angry. In fact, Kirk commented a few days ago (while listening to some of his "angry" music-- that's what I call it), that I'm probably about the least angry person he knows. But right now I'm about as close to angry as I get. Grady just threw up. I'm not angry about that, only mildly irritated. He can't help it, he's a dog. But I became angry while cleaning up the dog vomit because I discovered that apparently our cleaning lady (who was here this morning) is feeding Grady something other than his regular food. She's not supposed to be feeding him anything, and some foreign substance (weird looking dog food) is definitely a no-no from my perspective. She's never asked me if it's OK to give him treats (which it's not, by the way), and the amount he threw up appeared to be the equivalent of a whole meal! Not only am I angry because I have no idea what it is she's giving him, but also because by spoiling Grady she's totally going against our recent efforts to limit his food intake. His vet has said he needs to lose weight, not because he's fat, but because any extra weight is bad for his bad elbow and other joints. Believe me, helping a lab to lose weight is NOT easy. And I certainly don't need our French cleaning lady, with whom I can't communicate because I don't speak French, working to beef up our dog! Oh boy am I getting angry...

Sleeping in a castle

Our next travel plans our set! The weekend of October 15 we'll be staying in a castle in the Burgundy region of France to celebrate our 7th anniversary. Kirk is usually the boss when it comes to making our travel plans (choosing the hotel, etc), but he put me in charge of this one so I sure hope he likes the castle! I don't know how we could go wrong...a fall weekend in a wine region of France with good food and good wine (and a good wife)!

No joke

When Gretchen said that summer was over, she wasn't kidding...I came home tonight and found she had turned on our radiators. (In another sign of the end of summer, this morning for the first time in months I had to wear a bathrobe because it was so chilly...and someone at work tonight said that the Engadin region of the Alps is supposedly getting a lot of snow, but I haven't been able to confirm that.)

All about cranberries

How much do you know about cranberries? I think I can proudly say that I know more than the average American about cranberries. First of all, it's important to know that Wisconsin is the #1 cranberry producer in the US (followed closely by Massachusetts). For a few summers during my college years I worked at a place in northern Wisconsin that makes wine from cranberries. I'm serious. I know it sounds crazy, but their specialty is cranberry wine. Part of the tour we gave of the winery included a short video of the harvest during which we had to wow the crowds of visitors with lots of fun facts of the cranberries that were growing in the area. It's harvest time in northern Wisconsin and this picture was in the local paper last week. Aren't they gorgeous?

Sommer ist vorbei

Summer is definitely over. It's cold and gray and rainy today. This morning it was so chilly that I wore gloves when I walked to my German class. I've finally given in and admitted that Sommer ist vorbei. I'm on a big cleaning and organizing kick this afternoon and I just unpacked my pool bag. All summer long I kept a tote bag packed with my bathing suit and goggles and sunscreen and all the other pool necessities. I think I can now say with some certainty that I will not be going to the pool again this year. Next I'll be moving my sandals into the basement and pulling out the boots. Bah humbug.

I'm illegal

I've always known that Gretchen is an old German name. When I moved here I expected that, in a German speaking country like Switzerland, Gretchen would be familiar. Instead, I usually get laughs after I tell a native German speaker that my name is Gretchen (pronounced "Graytcheeyen" so they understand). Then I'm told that it's a very old name and no one names their children that anymore. Now I know more about my name and it's place in this country. I was told this weekend by a Swiss couple that we had dinner with Saturday night that parents are actually not allowed to name their children Gretchen. You see, Gretchen is actually a diminutive form or Margaret (which I knew), and apparently the Swiss are not allowed to name their children any name considered to be diminutive. So I suppose my name is illegal, although I suppose I get special consideration considering I'm not Swiss and I wasn't born here. We've heard stories about Swiss name regulations from American friends who've had babies while living in Basel, but this was a new one to me. I'm trying to imagine how these name rules would go over someplace like the US where you can name your baby anything you want.

On this date in history

It's October 3, which means another year has passed since I said goodbye to my Dad three years ago. Sometimes I still can't believe I'm only 35 years old and both my parents have died. I will say it does get easier over time, as people had told me it would. But it also gets that much harder to hold on to the memories as they become further and further in the past. Here's to you, Dad...

Vin

Yesterday we were trying to figure out what to do on a rainy, crappy afternoon. We were also lucky enough to be invited to dinner both Saturday and Sunday nights, and we didn't know what to bring. So we put two and two together and decided to drive up to our favorite family-run winery in one of our favorite charming little towns in the Alsace, Eguisheim, and stock up on wine. (Truth be told, we're not really wine connoisseurs so there may be better wineries, but Mme Meyer speaks English when doing tastings so it has become quite popular with lots of expats I work with.) After picking up a couple of cases of pinot blanc and Tokay pinot gris, we drove back along part of the Route des Vins. The vines were filled with grapes ready for the harvest, and as we approached the town of Gueberschwihr the sun all of a sudden broke through the clouds and illuminated the town and the vineyards, so Gretchen jumped out of the car and braved the mud to snap a couple of quick photos: