Strange currencies

Since I finally realised I'm not going to get back to the States anytime soon, I decided to bite the bullet and do some shopping here. Specifically, I've just about worn through the soles of several pairs of work shoes, so I couldn't wait any longer unless I wanted to start wearing tennis shoes with my suits. (It's not just a matter of cost--after all, the cost of the flight home tends to override any price differential--but rather a matter of ease. What is my shoe size here? How do I ask for help if I don't speak German? Do I need to ask permission before I try this on? Things like that are always easier back home where you know the drill.) Anyway, I found some shoes to tide me over last week at a shop in downtown Basel, but I realised I still needed a pair of comfy generic black shoes that I can travel with and wear with both a suit and jeans. I had found one store that seemed to have a really good selection, but since I was out of time and patience I figured I'd go back this week...until, that is, I saw in today's paper that the store burned to the ground on Saturday. That must have been quite a scene, since it (was) right in the heart of the downtown pedestrian shopping district. I guess the moral of the story is: you snooze, you lose.

In other Basel chaos-related news, on Saturday evening FC Basel was playing their archrivals from Zurich in the last match of the season with the championship on the line. All they had to do was finish in a tie and Basel would be champions, but Zurich scored as time was expiring, giving them the championship in dramatic fashion. Evidently the local fans were not so pleased with this result and evidently decided to do their best imitation of English football fans and had a full-on riot. You'd really be hard-pressed to find a more mild-mannered and law-abiding people anywhere than the Swiss (they're right up there with Singapore, but without the caning), so this is quite shocking, really. Perhaps all the rain just finally got to them?