A Trip to Zurich

Claire's friend, Barbara, moved to Zurich 3 months ago and we finally got round to taking the train over there. Unlike the Sundays before Christmas the shops were back to their normal closed selves when we visited. Zurich is situated by a lovely lake and with mountains in the background it's a beautiful city.

A real White Christmas (well Boxing Day)

We saw our first snow in Kaiseraugst today - even if it was a day late for Christmas and it wasn't that much - around half an inch. Not to worry it was real snow and it was during the Christmas holidays so that counts for us! There wasn't quite as much in the centre of Basel but the photo shows the dusting we got yesterday.

A Photo from the Christmas Day Walk

Just wanted to show the main Schloss on Christmas Day...

A White (ish) Christmas

Of course, in Switzerland, we thought our chances of a white Christmas were higher but, unfortunately, there was no snow. However, the frost was so thick (especially up on the nearby hills) that we got the effect of one. We walked (using the fully functional public transport trains & trams to help) from Pratteln to Muttenz via the Wartenberg Schloss - 3 renovated (sort of) castles overlooking the town. We also came across a well preserved WWII pillbox facing across the Rhine at Germany - though never used...

Christmas Eve in Basel

Just wanted to share this picture of Marktplatz on Christmas Eve. Here it's very quiet on the 24th Decemeber as

families all stay at home and enjoy the evening with each other. Meanwhile Claire and I join other expats and have a good old English Christmas Eve drinking and partying (but without the usual brawling excess!)

German Test

I'm in the last week of the 8 week German class and today we took our end of term test. This comprised of a series of tests involving Grammar, Reading, Writing and Speaking German. Thankfully some of the past 7 weeks had embedded itself and I did okay. I will probably take a pause from lessons before starting again in the New Year sometime.

A Manic and Tiring Weekend Back Home

One of the most difficult things about living abroad is the little tiem you have when you come home for a short visit. Even living in Europe (only a short 1+ hours away) entails short 2-3 day trips maybe only once a twice a year (trips to the Emirates excepted, of course). Claire and I went back last weekend for 3 days and stayed in three different beds, visited 6 different groups of friends and family. By the time we were back home at 11pm on Tuesday night we were shattered. In fact, it was Claire's first visit back since July and made us realise how quick time flies by. So thanks to Wendy/Alistair & The Hoppings for excellent B&Bs - we're back in February for Gillian's 50th!

Ich bin Krank

I rather like the German word for ill - seeing as it resembles the English word Kranky....

So long as I get no comments related to "The Krankies" then I'm fine with it. Have, therefore, missed the last two days at German School due to being laid up in bed but have, at least, caught up on many of the BBC Prime reruns of Black Adder and Red Dwarf. They have been (nightly at 10.00pm) showing all of the series night by night of these two series. Thanks to the Bluewin TV record facility I've managed to get all of them and (even though you've seen them 100s of times) enjoyed them immensely.

Hurrah! - We're official residents now...

Having broken all Roche records for the time taken - we finally have our official Ausweis permits. These documents are our legal residency permits and have only taken 10 months to be processed - normal time is apparently 2-3 weeks! Oh, and they spelt Claire's surname wrong on hers so she has to get a replacement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mulled Wine & Mince Pies in Switzerland

Claire and I hosted a very English Christmas today with a traditional serving of Mulled Wine & Mince Pies - all home made of course. Not that Mulled Wine is unheard of here - numerous Gluewein huts can be found in the Weihnactsmarkt in Basel. It's just the Swiss version is a lot sweeter than the Mulled Wine we usually make. Another interesting fact is that Christmas trees don't normally get put up until December 23rd and we, as Kaiseraugst residents, are entitled to a very cheap tree from the local woods. Although we bought one for our party today (can't have a mulled wine party without a bedecked tree) I do want to watch the locals scrum for the trees on the 21st December.

A new podcast - Radio 4 Comedy

Just a quickie but I listened to the Radio 4 News Quiz via podcast today and it was hilarious. Unfortunately, it was the last of the series so unless I'm able to find back copies I shall have to wait for further enjoyment...

First skiing of the season

I've mentioned the snow so it was great this weekend to spend a couple of days in the mountains of Switzerland skiing. Not only did we get to ski but we also met up with friends from University that we hadn't seen for 7-8 years. Darrall and Sonia hadn't changed that much aside from the rather important addition of little Natasha! We met up in Andermatt, a small but very picteresque resort that was even smaller due to lack of snow on one side of the valley and a few lifts not working. However, it was great just to be out in the snow again and we also experienced the wonderful Matterhorn Gotthard Railway. With more snow expecte this week - a good base layer of snow for the season could be possible.

Weihnachtsmarkts

One of the common sights across much of Northern Continental Europe at this time of year are Weihnanchtsmarkts or Christmas Markets. In the UK people seem to jump onto coaches, trains and planes to come over for markets in France, Germany, Austria & Switzerland. Now we don't need to bother as Basel has a renowned market along with the German town of Freiburg, which is only 45 minutes away by ICE! We went to the German market with Monica & Peter today and spent some time at the Gluewein bar as well as wandering around the pretty old town. The it was back on the train and back to Basel for more Gluewein!

The wonderful world of podcasts - 1

I really don't know how I would survive without the downloading of podcasts. How did we ever manage to survive without these wonderful snippets of UK radio. Whether listening on the Train to Basel, whilst cycling in the gym, whilst cooking in the kitchen or just at my PC, they have become a perfect accompaniment to an Englishman in Switzerland. The reason they are so good is I've never time to listen to the radio when the actual progammes are on (the same reason the recording feature on Bluewin TV is used so much) so you just set up iTunes (no iPod required thank god) and subscribe to the podcasts of choice. It started with the obvious football ones like 606, 5live daily, Guardian Football Weekly, Arsecast and the truly wonderful Fighting Talk. Now it includes comedy shows from Radio 4, the return of Danny Baker & Danny Kelly along with cricket, Jonathan Ross and any other that I see recommended!

A Swiss Xmas meal

Tonight we visited a really "tacky" but truly fun restaurant in Basel. Each year (at Christmas) this restaurant closes for 2 days to get itslef ready for the holiday period. Inside the guests find cycling Santa Claus', Flying angels and evry 90 minutes or so - a cabaret show of xmas songs performed by miming puppets of singers such as Freddie Mercury, Tina Turner and ending with Bocelli (see picture). Each accompanied by sax playing reindeer, dancing christamas trees and a spoon wielding ratatouille rat! If you're ever here make sure you visit the Statdtkeller in Marktgasse.

England Lose - Basel wins in more ways than one?

So it was very hard not to laugh at Scott Carson's complete disaster yesterday evening but the resulting abject performance was met with sadness here in Switzerland. The free newspapers such as 20 Minuten and .ch both said the tournament will miss the team and the fan invasion (gone are the days when countries actually fear the "hooligan" element) though it will make policing the city much easier. A big cheer went up in the pub (MacGuinesses') when the 3rd Croatian goal went in but NOT because the Swiss were pleased for Croatia (or Russia even) but for the scorer Petric (an ex-FC Basel PLAYER). I just hope the lack of England won't affect my Euro 2008 volunteering prospects.

A winter walk and a b#####ed camera!

The snow that arrived this week in Switzerland persuaded us to try and find a little close to home for a fresh winter walk. We took the train to Sissach, whereupon I took my camera out for a quick picture only to find it knackered - just showing a black image where a view should be. After a grumpy 15 minutes I was relieved to see that our trip had been worthwhile as we started climbing into the hills South of Sissach. The snow would be best described as a light dusting but we were only 600m up. No need to say that I've got no picturesque wintery scenes to show!

Mulled wine and Ikea

We're looking after a flat for some friends (whilst they have a trip back home to the USA) and as part of our deal we've borrowed their car for a couple of hours and headed off to get wine for a mulled wine party in December plus a quick trip into Ikea. Of course, any trip to Ikea always seems to result in about 30 items that you had no intention of buying before you went there. At least, I got teh wine rack for all the recent wine delivered.

Es gibt keine schnee (noch nicht)

The weather has got decidely chilly and the forecast across the country is for snow, though it seems that most is arriving to the East and South of us here in Basel. We did see some sleet today but since Davos has had 72 hrs of snow (1m) we're still lagging behind here.

Our Wine Arrives

Remember the Weinmesse of a couple of weeks ago - well the wine arrived today so we can start planning that "weinkeller" now.

One to One Lessons and a quick hop across the Border

My German class comprises just the three students (including myself) so with one on holiday and one looking after their ill son it was a solo lesson today. This was good practice and also meant we finished a lot earlier as it was that more intensive. This gave me the time to hop on a tram (the Nr 10 tram is apparently the longest tram route in Europe)to the French border and a quick trip to Geant for bits & bobs you can't get here (like Paté and Bran Flakes :-) ) as well as some cheaper fish and meat. Never quite sure what language to speak half the time though as my small brain juggles French and German words around!

Winter approaches and that means....

the ski season is not that far away. So today I collected our skis from their service in readiness for the winter ahead. The shops, of course, are all set up for ski services and ours only cost 44CHF (around £20). It even looks like some snow may hit Basel this weekend!

Another quick dash home..

..this weekend and it was with BA this time. I know they get stick from many sides (partly due to their status as "national airline" and partly due to their own cock-ups) but I always find them a standard up from the Easyjets of this world. Nothing wrong with easyjet at all but I feel more like a customer with BA. If only the taxiing around at Heathrow wasn't nearly as long as the flight! Good result as we came back twice to maintain our unbeaten record and stay top of the league. The old Arsenal shirt induced many conversations with Heathrow staff on the way home on Saturday night.

Sehr erfreut! Ich heisse Mark Bennett und....

Ich wohne in Kaiseraugst. Ich arbeite noch nicht.

These and many other phrases were heard today in my first German lesson with interlingua. Only three of us in the class so its very interactive so far with the tutors speaking German virtually all the time. The other two learners are from Hungary & Portugal so we speak english to each other :-)

A few bottles of wine before a game of footy...

It's 9.00am and the extra hour in bed was needed as I'm just ready to go and play football this morning (a chilly but still one) after spending yesterday afternoon at the Basel Weinmesse where many a glass was drunk and even more bottles were ordered. I think I'll leave out looking at the credit card bill for a while!

No language lessons yet!

Unfortunately, my 8 weeks of German lessons have been postponed by one week and I'll have to kick my hills around the flat for another week before going back to school next Monday!

The Arrival of Winter?

It's only October but today has seen a marked change in the temperature here in Basel as we've gone from 20 degs C on Mon/Tues to under 10 degrees today. There are unsubstantiated rumours of snow for the weekend on high ground and all this before we even see the clocks go backwards!

Finally BBC is loud & clear

.....and with no pauses, crackles, or complete loss of picture. Thankfully the Swisscom electrician cam eround this morning to try and resolve the continuing problems with Bluewin TV (see here) and despite speaking no English we managed to maintain communication as he explained the klein problem. It transpired that the connection between the entrance point for the apartment block and our apartment had an extra wire which was "shorting" and acting as an extra "antenna". So far (touch wood) the electrician's work has had the desired effect.

A longer trip back to UK

Claire was due to return to the Uk with me for a short trip this last weekend but, unfortunately, her course in Runnymede was postponed and I had to go back alone. It's funny how you get to see so many people in a short space of time when you have limited opportunities yet never manage it when you had plenty of time beforehand. Maybe everyone should leave their home country for a short period of time so that they enjoy both the country and their friends when they make return trips! The chance to see friends is even more enjoyable than the odd 5-0 thrashing seen at the Emirates on Saturday.

Thanks to everyone who provided excellent B&B (Ian, Stephanie, Wendy, Alistair, Elizabeth & Neil) and we hope we can return the favour when you get out here.

Sprechen sie Deutsch???

At last I've enrolled in a German language course and I made the decision to go for it in one simple intensive manner. The course starts in a month and lasts for 8 weeks, 5 days a week, 3 hours a day plus homework. I'm not sure how many people will be on the course though it will be between 4 and 10. The company, Inlingua, run courses across the whole of Switzerland and this one is centrally located in Basel.

UEFA2008 - Volunteering

Next year Switzerland is one of two co-hosts to Euro2008, together with Austria. Basel is the main Swiss city and will be home to all of Switzerland's games and UEFA are looking for 1000 volunteers in Basel alone. Today I attende an interview for the volunteer roles and as I said I would be willing to be avialable for the whole period they seemed impressed and asked if i would like to be a Volunteer Manager - though I won't know until March 2008. Part of the process also included a fitting session for the Adidas supplied uniforms - trousers, polo shirt, coat & trainers! Above is the lovely logo !!!

Alsace Bike Trip part III - Ottrott to Ingwiller

The third day provided the stiffest challenge as we spent the first part of the day climbing to the highest point of the week. The "Col des Pandours" reached 662m (it was actually a 3eme category climb in the 2006 Tour de France) and proved a tough hour long drag through a fairly chilly dense forest. Ingwiller was fairly small and certainly lacked some of the Alsatian charm of previous stops but the sun came out in the evening for a couple of quiet beers in the charming beer garden by the main road!

Alsace Trip by Bike Part II to Ottrott

At last we reach mile after mile (or should that be kilometre..) of vineyard in the heart of the Alsace on the wonderful "route des vins". If you've ever visited this area of France you will know that it's a constant stream of pretty village, vineyard, pretty village, vineyard and is gently undulating (my definition - Claire may have another word! - especially after the steep hill out of Barr). We visited Riquewihr, had lunch in Ribeauvillé and finally arrived at Ottrott. We found a wonderful alsatian wine that I had never experienced before, Rouge d'Ottrott, which like all Alsatian reds is served "frais". Claire took a liking to the Cremant D'Alsace and we had a wonderful dinner in the Au Rouge D'ottrott - a typical French restaurat packed with locals.

Alsace Trip by Bike Part I - to Colmar(well nearly)

Somehow I managed to persuade Claire that we should take a trip through the vineyards of the Alsace. We started this morning by catching the train to Basel before taking the gentle (i.e. FLAT) trip of 43 miles over 3hrs to Vogelgrun (just East of Colmar) along canals and through the (soon to be) typical Alsatian villages. Vogelgrun may not be high on a list of places to visit but it sits on the Ile du Rhin, allowing us to walk across the river to Germany for a beer in the town of Breisach Am Rhein.

Bloody Bluewin TV !!!! (2)

Very helpful teh people at Bluewin TV but still no solution - though apparently we have a really good ADSL line - think the problem is within the apartment somewhere..

Bloody Bluewin TV !!!! (1)

As the ADSL line loses signal every so often so I lose the TV picture - it's becoming annoying and so far no solution has been found...

Back for the Weekend to the Emirates

I always thought that I could manage around one visit to Arsenal a month and if this trip is anything to go by then it should be relatively painless. The flight was early, I caught a fast train from Luton to St Pancras and was in London by 11.30! A few beers and a scrappy 1-0 win over Man City was followed by an overnight stay and back to Stansted for a Sunday afternoon flight - back in Basel by 5pm on Sunday - it won't be as easy as this, of course, for the rest I'm sure.

English TV at last...

Today the man from Bluewin TV finally arrived to install our new TV via phone line system. The installation went relatively smoothly and we now have BBC 1,2,3,4 & ITV 1,2,3,4 plus some other bits & pieces. There is the option of signing up to German TV for sports coverage, including the Premier League, but I may just see how I get on with watching MOTD & MOTD2 plus the odd live game down the pub.

First weekend of the football season - in 2 ways!

being away for the first home game of the season was always going to be the point when I realised that I was definitely living a new life. So this Sunday I was more than pleased to merge the new PL season (on pub TV) with the chance to play football with a number of ex-pats on a Sunday morning. The group consisted of many nationalities and ages, with the game itself being friendly and informal - I hope to play on a regular basis now. With the morning ko of 10am I was finished in time to get back to Basel centre for the Arsenal - Fulham game (ko at the strange time of 12pm BST / 1PN CET). 2 late goals from us gave us a just about deserved game, though we were rather lucky. Certainly not the same as being there but enjoyable nethertheless.

Cycling to Work & German Supermarket

Claire finally decided to cycle to work today and got lucky with a tailwind both to work and back home in the evening! I cycled in with Claire so that I could pop into a German supermarket on the way back and buy meat / fish which is either too expensive/impossible to find in Switzerland!

Europa Park - Silver Star & a few thousand kids

Today we went with our friends Clement & Petra and the real reasons for the trip, their niece & nephew from the USA, to Europa Park. This is Europe's main theme park and is now in its 32nd year, the largest and newest ride being the Silver Star, sponsored by Mercedes Benz. This was handy as during the queue (surprisingly short - we got lucky) we got see the F1 qualifing for the Hungarian Grand Prix, though missing the Alonso/Hamilton incident. Claire is not a big fan of roller coasters but she managed all except the Silver Star. Of course, it's holiday season across Europe so the park was busy but we managed (by getting up at 7.00) to be there as the doors opened and that enabled us to get in a lot of rides before 11.00. My personal scariest ride was the Russian (the park is plit into "country" zones) with a wild descent completed facing backwards!

Swiss National Day (Aug 1st) - Fireworks and Friends

Hurrah we've just experienced our first Swiss National Day as residents of the country (despite still not having our permits - only about 2 months late!). As it fell on a Wednesday the main celebrations in Basel with over 100,000 people took place on the evening of the 31st with music, food stalls and fireworks. However, the crush on Mittelbrucke was too much for us so we only saw the early fireworks. We spent the 1st August at friends in Kaiseraugst. They held an open garden party that lasted from 10.30am to late in the evening with beer, food, Rhine Swimming and grappa!

A Trip to the Cinema

We visited the cinema for the first time today to see "The Simpsons - the MOVIE" and thnakfully I got the right cinema as the film is being shown in its original format and a Deutsch version. If you ever go to a cinema here look for the "E/d/f" sign - meaning English with german and french subtitles.

Trip to the French Market

Finaly we got to go to the market in St Louis this morning. It's a typical French saturday market with all of the normal fruit, meat and other food stalls plus a few arts and crafts. We could have bought a vine but we've really not got the space for it. However, we did manage to stock up on some meat (at about a third of the price of Basel), veg and a little cheese of course. But my favourite stall was the bloke selling a huge variety of wild mushrooms - all very fresh and a wonderful assortment of aromas. Back home tonight to cook the steak & mushrooms. With Switzerland not being in the EU there are limitations on what you can bring back - 20kg of veg is probably sufficient but the 500g pp of fresh meat (doesn't inc sausage, paté etc) is a bind. Mind you if you're not driving you're rarely stopped.

A Good week of cycling

This week the weather cheered up and I managed to get back on a variety of bikes to wander around the countryside and climb some of the smaller (though steep!!) hills nearby. Today I yet again managed to see Germany, France and Switzerland all in one day with a trip to Lorrach, Huningue and St Louis.

Le Barrage de Kemps !

The Power of the river Rhine, as seen at the Barrage de Kemps

Drieland cycling!

Yep it's easy to do over here - cycling for just a few km/miles (well about 20km is the minimum from Kaiseraugst) and you can visit France, Germany and Switzerland. So took my passport today, visited rheinfelden (Swiss side first for Claire's noisy birthday present) then back to Basel and off to the Huningue Canal for a bit of French cycling. Back home for the end of stage 6 of the tour de france - great day but overdid the cycling after a long lay off since long day rides, now knackered.

40 deg C! You must be joking!

Apparently it can get very warm in Switzerland with temperatures in the mid to high 30s. However, this summer seems to be trying to defer any signs of global warming by continually raining and today the temperature hit a high (!!) of just 15 degs. The wet weather back in the UK seems very similar to the conditions out here in Basel. It's becoming boring and not at all conducive to cycling the country.

An Iskatel Rider On Constitution Hill

Le Tour de Londres

What a wonderful day in London on Saturday! It truly was an unmissable experience as "Le Tour" made its long awaited debut in London. Claire and I had volunteered a long time ago (actually during the Tour of Britain the previous year) to be part of the marshalling team for the prologue stage in the centre of London. It meant, of course, an early start from Windsor (our residence for the weekend - thanks Liz, Neil, Bryn & Eve) and arrival in London at 8.00am. London, like many cities, is a wonderful site in the early morning sunshine with the added advantage that the whole of the centre was traffic free in anticipation of the day's event. The day itself was great with an amazing atmosphere created from a mixture of keen cyclists, tourists and locals admiring the spectacle. The riders probably couldn't believe that their names were shouted so loudly in a supposed "anti-cycling" country like England. The cheers greeting the quick times of Karpetz & Kloden were eclipsed by the roars for Millar, Wiggins, Cavendish, Thomas & Wegelius with the loudest applause for the simply devestating time of Fabian Cancellara - our Swiss hero! (and what a week for the Swiss!). Will it change the outlook of cycling in the UK? - Maybe. Will Le Tour return? - almost certainly!

Chainsaw Required!

Today I met up with Dave the Dish (nope - he's not some male model) the local Basel Satellite installation expert. I had prepared myself for the bad news and DTD confirmed it by informing me that I could not receive the Sky Astra Satellite signal due to a rather large tree at the back of our apartment. I have been provided with various subtle methods of removing said tree but don't think I will be going down that route. It will probably have to be an alternative solution to get a bit more UK Tv than BBC Prime & BBC World - which will, of course, cost rather more!

Off to the Mountains

Today we went to one of our closest mountains, Mt Rigi, near Lake Lucerne. Using the Roche GA (Generale Abonnement - a Season Ticket for the whole of Switzerland, available for 25CHF on a Sunday - and it was First Class!) card we travelled on the train to Luzern and then took the boat across the lake to Weggis. From here there is great cable car journey up to 1450m (Rigi Kaltbad) - the walk to the top then takes a further hour. There are also cog railway lines up each side of the mountain (see photo) but we left them alone and took a long two and a half hour walk back down to the lake. On the way we listened to the sounds of clanging cow bells! Once at the lake (this time at Vitznau) we caught the boat back to Luzern, on the way catching a huge thunderstorm!

The Definitive (sort of) Guide to getting to Basel from the UK

I say definitive, but I 've really only researched the options from the SE and so there could be a few more options from regional airports as more and more airlines try and make some money from the strangest (& cheapest) of airfields (I'll resist the use of the word airport). Anyway you don't have to fly!

• Train - The simplest route is (from London): Eurostar to Paris Gare du Nord (2hrs 15 from Nov), walk 5 mins to Paris Gare de L'est and catch TGV to Bale (3hrs 20).
• Car - obviously a long old trip but if you fancy an adventure! Cheapest ferry I found was Norfolkline and the Eurotunnel may have special deals. Journey time from Calais/Dunkerque is roughly 8 hours (depending on stops of if you have someone called Clive driving).
• Flying - there are a lot of options with two main options; A direct flight to Basel or Flying to a close (ish) airport and getting a train to Basel (this opens up a lot more options but is, of course, more complicated). Here are the routes I've discovered:

1. Basel Direct - Easyjet fly from Luton (2 x daily), Stansted (1 x daily) & Liverpool (1 x daily). BA fly from Heathrow (3 x daily). Swiss fly from London City (2 x daily) & Manchester (1 x daily).
2. Use any of the above airlines (or others) to fly to Zurich (Train journey to Basel - 1hr) or Geneva (Train - 2hrs 30)
3. Go to remoter outposts in Germany with Ryanair - who fly to Karlsuhe (DE - 1hr 20 to Basel) or Friedrichshafen (2 hrs to Basel by train).
4. Or finally the closest French airport is Strasbourg (train to Basel - 1Hr) and Air France fly from Gatwick (2 x daily).

Hope this all helps!

IT Support !!!!

Finally sorted out my wireless router today despite all the so-called "help" from both the ISP and manufacturer's support team. The latter group actually surmised that it was "broken" and had a "hardware failure" - which was, of course, out of warranty - blah, blah, blah..

Well blow me sideways but a "factory reset" and the original settings seemed to get it going again with a few tweaks. The question is do you actually have to have a knowledge of IT to work in it?

Typical Swiss Weekend - Sunday

So you've shopped on Saturday what does the average Swiss family do on a Sunday. Well it seems that it will involve a) all the family, b) some exercise and c) some partying to varying degrees. Claire and I got on our bikes, took the train to Stein and, from here, we set off on a cycling Sunday. We also managed the odd beer in Germany, a sausage for lunch and still found time to take in a Medieval celebration of Laufenberg (800 year celebrations) as well as the Bruckenfest in Rheinfelden. I don't think it is actually possible for there NOT to be some event or other in a local village or town. You are never short of something to do at a weekend.

Typical Swiss Weekend - a Saturday

The very sensible swiss do not open their shops, DIY stores or "malls" on Sundays - they let the swiss enjoy one day a week. So this means that Saturday is often "shopping" day, certainly Basel is always busier than during the week. What they shop for I'm not entirely sure but there is plenty of variety and not to contribute too far to a sexual stereotype; our weekend shopping consisted of me buying a 42" TV (see here)whilst Claire bought plants!

Telephone connections

If you ever do come to live in this country be aware of the wonderful business that electricians make by connecting your phone. Yep, Swisscom (the equivalent of the UK's BT) only connect to your building and as many people live in apartments (not sure if it's the same in houses) someone has to connect from the Swisscom entry point to your home. Different and confusing but at least we now have a phone line - I'm now wondering how long before the ADSL line takes!

Storms & Hailstones!

This evening we got another thunderstorm (seem to be quite prevalent at this time of year) and they're proper storms that lash down with rain and the sky is full of lightning! However, the one we endured this evening also produced hailstones the size of golf balls. Here's the lawn from our top floor flat.

Flat Packs & Swisscom!

The apartment is much bigger (in overall terms) than home in the Uk so we've been able to visit the local Ikea and purchase a few (!!!) items to fill the place out. The local bus line to the store makes it a 10 minute journey but, of course, limits the size of the goodies one can buy. So the offer of a pick up from our neighbour, Jim, and his Volvo 4x4 meant that all the big stuff could be purchased in one fell swoop. Now, it's all been built we have a flat full of cardboard packaging and a relatively low number of "excess" screws, dowl plugs and plastic bits!

Connecting a phone line seemed an easy thing but having ordered one, getting it activated okay and then it working doesn't seem quite so straight forward. I can ring our number and get a ringing tone but not in our flat - it seems an electrician is needed to "connect" at our end. Oh well sometime later perhaps....

Basel even easier to get to (in a green fashion)

Today saw the arrival of the first TGV service from Paris to Basel, knocking 2 hours off the journey time as the fast link between Paris & Strasbourg comes into operation. Surprisingly there was one man and a dog to see it arrive, though the swiss cameras were at Zurich, here's the youtube version. With the Eurostar going fully TGV from November the train journey from centre of London to centre of Basel will be around 6 hours (as the Gare du Nord and Gare de L'est are right next to each other, so no cross Paris rush). Give it a try - far more relaxing than the easyjet scramble.

The Chicken Has Landed !

Nope it doesn't make any sense at all to describe our arrival by means of a chicken but it's as good as any. As I sit in the delightful surroundings of the Unternehmen Mitte , where there's great coffee from Bar Fumare, Non Fumare and free WiFi access, I thought I would share the delights of the move and a picture of Claire's chicken (which has no name so please let me know of any suggestions). As you can see our new apartment is beginning to take shape and because of the luxury of a week overlap between our current Roche apartment and the new one (upstairs) we can spend some time sorting it out. The kitchen is tiny compared to home so very crowded but every other room is much bigger. The mezzanine floor is currently being converted to the "cinema" with speakers, wires and DVD players etc...

En route to Basel PERMANENTLY

I’m actually writing this entry on the train from Paris Gare de L’est, en route to Basel. I can’t upload as the SNCF corail service doesn’t seem to have any wireless capability but maybe this will change when the new TGVest service commences in 8 days time. Anyway, forget all the facts & figures regarding cost & time, this really is a most relaxing way to travel. So far today I’ve got rid of all my English money (with a little help from an Aussie traveller on the Eurostar as I needed an extra 10p!) and enjoyed the last (for a while) of the English sunshine and green scenery as we whistled through Kent.

I watched the world go by at the Gare de L’est – including being filmed whilst eating my sandwich under the constant threat of 100s of sparrows! Have just left Troyes and, as is the norm on this service, witnessed the spectacle of the smokers getting their fix during the 2 minute stop at each station.

Le Grand Départ !!

So finally the end has arrived. The house is clear and cleaned. The electrician has checked the wiring (& promised to fix the faults). The keys are with the letting agents (and the tenants arrive on 22nd June). It was incredibly hard to actually leave the house - I finished doing stuff at around 1pm but didn't leave till 2.30. There was no real reason other than the inner desire to "not leave" - it's always a strange feeling (moving) and with the move being to another country this has been acentuated I suppose. So from a WiFi zone in the Sun Hotel in Hitchin I write the last UK entry of the blog and Switzerland awaits!

Planes, Trains & Automobiles – (4) The Green Approach

Apparently, according to research carried out by First Group, the carbon foot print per passenger kilometre (ppkm) for each mode of travel increases in the following order; train (49kg ppkm), car (109kg ppkm), aeroplane (180kg ppkm). So is very clear which is the right option – though I don’t know whether this changes if you have, for example, 4 people travelling by car (does the increased weight offset the reduced emissions per person?).

Well done the packers

Sitting in the kitchen surrounded by boxes as the relocation team pack everything in the house into boxes and onto a lorry. It is definitely happening now - no going back. The team of three are from Germany (2) and Poland - the Polish chap doesn't speak too much english and the german guys are learning new words - today it was kettle. Their work rate is impressive and it seems that (despite the flat tyre yesterday) they will be finished today.

The Packers are coming

Tomorrow the relocation team arrive to start the process of shifting all our worldly goods out to Switzerland. So today, having arrived back from the reunion, has been the last minute packing of HiFi bits and a lot more. The place is a mess!

Planes, Trains & Automobiles - (3) Quality of Journey

This is the parameter that, for me, is most important - providing the cost/time differences aren't too excessive. I always find travelling by plane tiring, no matter how long the trip and Luton - Basel is only 1hr 20mins flight time. The issue is the waiting around, the delays, the baggage carosel etc and I don't enjoy it - not forgetting the cramped leg room. Car travel allows a certain amount of freedom, the opportunity to visit different places en route - especially when travelling across 4 countries. However, it's tiring and you have to travel along the motorways to make the journey possible in a day so you don't get to see much of the beauty of any of the countries you pass through. So we come to the train option and, in my humble opinion, it is the most pleasant form of travel. Firstly you arrive a mere 30 minutes before Eurostar departure and the security etc is much less aggravating than at an airport. The trains to Paris are (normally) on time and you can walk at your own leisure on a train. You then can spend a little time getting lunch in Paris before walking a whole 5 minutes to the Gare de L'est for the Corail service to Basel. 5 hours on a train is probably the limit but it is not unpleasant and you get to see the vast array of the French countryside through Alsace. With the new TGV service starting soon, this will become a wonderful way to travel to Switzerland.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles (2) - Cost

I gave you the rundown on the relative speed of each mode of transport so here is the difference in terms of cost. Again the flight option can be very good - if you get an early deal with Easyjet and you fly out midweek. You can do it for around £30-40 return but, on average, it's probably around £50-60. Driving is expensive but the costs come down per person if you manage it with a full carload. Take the ferry instead of the tunnel to save cost and drive through Belgium & Luxembourg to cut toll costs. The trip I took was probably around £175 return. Finally the train, with advance booking the Eurostar to Paris is around £60 rtn and similarly for the trip from Paris to Basel. This will be a bit more expensive once the TGV route kicks in.

Wonderful Wanderwegs

The sun is out, it's a Sunday and we get to explore the wonderful network of "wanderwegs" near our apartment in Kaiseraugst. They are a combination of footpath/bridleways that we know in the UK and so they while primarily for walkers they also other many opportunities for cycling. Today we walked South up into the hilly woods near us before descending steeply and taking a leisurely stroll along the river back to Kaiseraugst. A quick look at the local map and terrain shows that I doubt we will get anywhere near completing all of the potential walks here let alone across the whole of Switzerland.

Crap Day Crap Place

I didn't think it would all be easy over here but the temporary apartment has lost its glitter and on a grey day in Kaiseraugst I suddenly have no idea why I'm here. There are far too many things that need to be completed in the UK before we finally move over at the end of the month and it's proving virtually impossible to get some of the simple things done over here. If I wasn't feeling tired, lonely and bored all of this would prove surmountable but I feel crap and everything is a pain today.....

Planes, Trains OR Automobiles - (1) Speed

I completed the set of travel options from Letchworth to Basel today with a train journey via Paris. Unsurprisingly the quickest route is still the direct flight option (especially when leaving via Luton, a mere 20 minutes from home in the UK), taking around five and a half hours door to door. Of course, where there is Easyjet (or any airline really) there are potentially delays but these seem to affect Stansted flights more. Driving took a whopping 14 hours with minimal stops and using the ferry to Dunkerque rather than the expoensive Eurotunnel to Calais. Finally the train journey entered in at just under 10 hours travel time but this will be down to nearer 8 hours when the new TGV EST line is opened from Paris to Strasbourg in June 2007. So no surprises in the quickest route but there are other factors to take into account.......

It's getting busy...

So today was a busy one - topics included:

• Tax rebate form filling and pension forecasts (for NI contributions)
• Arranging letting agency viewing
• Cancelling TV Licence
• Cancelling UK Mobile phone contract (30 day period)
• Arranging boiler service & Landlord Safety certificate (for letting)
• Cancelled Gym membership (end of month)

Bathroom is finished..

Today the redecoration of the bathroom was completed. It's funny how you live in a place for several years and, at various times, you think it would be a good idea to decorate a certain room BUT never get round to it. Then, when you have a deadline (i.e. letting the house) you finish it in a couple of weeks. Th emain problem was a broken hinge on the double glazing and together with our neighbour, Dean, that was done relatively easily, thanks to Handlestore! (for hinge & window handles)! See photo for "just prior to finishing" look.

Just over 4 weeks to go!!!

Today the relocation man visited here in Letchworth to assess the move out to Basel. Apart from the actual discussion with him it was this moment that mad me realise that we're really moving to Switzerland. It was only 30 minutes but it seemed an age as you have to decide what's goin , what's not and what is going to be thrown out!

A second team?

So you're a season ticket holder in England and you move to another country what are you going to do? I think I'll manage to get to around 10 games next season but I'm going to need a weekly fixof footie where possible. As Basel is home to one of Switzerland's better teams it was an easy choice to pop along and see whether the Swiss footie experience would be a reasonable alternative. Today FC Basel played their main rivals for the Swiss title, FC Zurich. Apparently there had been a lot of trouble at the same game last season and so (very unswiss like) the stadium was surrounded by riot police! The atmosphere was surprisingly good with a European ultra style display by the home fans and with the ubiquitous male cheer leader conducitng the chanting. As for the football let's just say the quality wasn't quite the same as at Ashburton Grove but I didn't expect much. Basel won 4-2 and maybe, just maybe, they'll get to play Arsenal in a Champions League qualifier. One downside - the team is managed by ex-Spuds boss Christian Gross....

Watching The Footie in Basel

There seems to be three Irish/English pubs to watch football in Basel. I've only frequented one of them because a) it was friendly, b) it was open when others weren't and c) it seemed right. The pub in question is Mr Pickwicks which has proved a good place to watch the Cricket WC with the Aussies, Kiwis and South Africans. It also was perfect for the game against Spurs today. Lunchtime KOs are never great but at least they are 1.45 over here and though we didn't win the performance was superb and the little spuds could celebrate yet another year not beating us.

Driving to Switzerland and Back

Not necessarily the easiest way to get to Basel but driving isn't that difficult - it's a mere 600 (ish) miles from Letchworth and with a few breaks was managed in a day. Last Wednesday I set off at 6.00am - more to miss the M25 rush hour than any real need to get to Dover early - and arrived at the port 2 hrs later. The crossing to Dunkerque was calm and foggy and arriving in France around lunchtime I began the last 450 miles of the journey. It's an easy route via Belgium, Luxembourg and France again - mainly autoroutes and no problems. Driving on your own the SatNav (free from Magellan) helped enormously and managed to get me round the roadworks in Basel! I came back a similar way (avoiding Basel by going via Germany) and can safely say that you feel bored after 6 hours of autoroutes - and even more so when arriving at the sparse facilities at Dunkerque port.

The Best Recyclers in the world?

ABFHALL - or garbage/rubbish - is an obsessive business here in Switzerland. One of the issues across the world is getting rid of our waste and with a small land area and large population the Swiss are more aware than most. So you want to get rid of a lot of rubbish - you pay for it - basically a 35L bag will cost you 2.60CHF and you MUST attach your paid for ticket to the bag or it will be identified and you get fined. At supermarkets you meet all the locals with their bags of cans/bottles/plastic/batteries/water softener refills/aluminum etc - most people recycle daily/weekly in small amounts rather than one monthly effort. There are doorstep collections for paper/cardboard but people are more conscientious than in the UK so there is no need for the council to do the work for them. So far in the one month out in Basel we've filled one bag (35L) of actual rubbish - everything else has been recycled though the compostables may start to smell in the summer!

Cycling in Switzerland (1)

I'm sure I'll be mentioning the cycling out here. As soon as you arrive in Basel you realise how much more cycle friendly this country is compared to the car-loving UK. There are bike parks everywhere, people of all ages and sizes cycle around the city, trains have space in most carriages for bikes and also special hooks to keep them upright. But if there is one simple thing the UK could follow it would be the adoption of "velo vignettes" - the little sticker to the left. These basically provide third part insurance and road tax for all bikes and only cost 6 CHF (just under £3) for the year. Maybe that would put a stop to the "bloody cyclists don't pay any tax" bollocks we hear from many a white van driver.

Skiing in Engelberg

I think it is safe to say that the skiing offered by Switzerland will be well utilised by us during our time out here. For our first trip (and my annual birthday ski) we took the train over to Engelberg which is a relatively small resort but a high one. It's claim to fame is the rotair cable car which actually rotates as it climbs - so you get a 360 view of the glacier and beyond. We had beautiful sunny weather over the weekend and on Monday we awoke to a picture postcard scene after 6" of snow fell overnight.

Roman Ruins & A Wedding Anniversary

March 6th was a busy day - it was our 3rd Wedding Anniversary and it was a lovely morning so after visiting the local supermarkets (Migros and COOP) I went on a little walk around the various Roman Ruins (here's the ampitheatre) which makes this a quite remarkable archealogical area, not just in Switzerland but across the whole of Europe.

I travelled into Basel to pick up my monthly ticket and meet Claire for dinner. We had a wonderful evening at a "swiss" restaurant, the Brauerei, which happens to be very close to Claire's workplace. Before that though we went to Bar Rouge - a bar at the top of the highest building in Basel - where you get a great view across the city.

First Day in Basel (2)

During the day I did manage to sort out a dial-up internet connection and arranged to view various apartments the following week. However, one minor blemish as I seemed to select the wrong "travelcard" at Kaiseaugst station and, of course, this was the day that the railway police decided to check my ticket. Thankfully, they were very decent about the whole affair (especially as I mentioned that a local had told me to get the particular ticket) and I didn't get the standard 80CHF fine but be WARNED. It hastened my decision to buy a monthly ticket the next day - this was cheaper even tough I'm actually only in Basel during March for 7 or 8 days! Anyway here's our local station...

First Day in Basel

Whilst Claire went to work I met our local contact, Brigitte, whose job it is to help us settle in and try and point us in the right direction for most things. Unfortunately due to the festival last week (Fasnacht) the paperwork for our resident's permits has been a little slow and so we couldn't get it finished this week. That's what getting up at 4am and starting drinking will do for you.

Here's a picture of our lounge - pretty modern styling and loads of light which makes it feel very comfortable.

My First Trip!

Having seen Arsenal on the Saturday I had to get up at some ungodly hour on Sunday morning to catch the early Easyjet flight to Basel. The hour was bad enough but this first trip meant taking two pairs of skis, more clothes for Claireand a small rucksack for me. The flight was perfect with good flying conditions and I arrived on a sunny morning in Switzerland. Claire greeted me at the airport before setting off on the bus to Basel. Public transport in Basel (and probably across all of Switzerland) is excellent, easy to use and cheap and enables travel around the area comfortable. On arrival at the apartment (see picture) it certainly seemed an pleasant place to stay.

Claire Departs :-(

Today Claire left our shores to prepare for her new job next week and settle in to a new apartment at the weekend. There will be many people who think that I should be going at the same time BUT there is an Arsenal game at the weekend you know. Claire arrived okay and has been pleasantly surprised by the location and size of our apartment - with a babbling brook, balcony and sunshine.

We're off to Engelberg to ski

Having completed a little surfing around I have found an ideal w/e ski resort for my birthday. We're off for 2/3 days skiing in Engelberg , which has a glacier and is high at 3000m. So, hopefully, we will get snow despite the poor snow record in the Alps this winter so far. Have also found a hotel and it is only 2.5 hrs from Basel by train - tough eh?

An Exciting Trip is Planned

I've already organised two trips by Easyjet but in order to get a couple of bigger items out to Basel I've booked a ferry crossing for late March so that I can drive over to Switzerland. This will give me the opportunity to take out some bikes (for me mainly) and plants (for Claire). Had initially planned to go by Eurotunnel but the cheapest option was nearly £150 for the dates I had in mind. Then I discovered Norfolk Line who could get from Dover to Dunkerque and back for a mere £50. Time isn't an issue so an extra hour travelling on a boat doesn't really bother me.

What to expect in Basel

We've got some information on what will happen in the first few days out in Switzerland. Initially the main items to sort out seem to be (in no particular order); arranging a residency permit and sorting out a bank account (there is something strange about having a Swiss Bank Account - stirring up all sorts of exotic / dodgy images). It doesn't look like we need too much paperwork for these thankfully. We can then move on to the fun things like the 101 obligatory insurances that we need in the country.

Kaiseraugst - a local view

Claire's swiss colleague has given us these snippets on Kaiseraugst:

• Our apartment is in a corner just below the Roman theatre area (see Augusta Rurica )and not far away from forest and Rhein river (good for hikes, nature and “Swimming” in the summer….)
• “Landstrasse” is not in the old village center which means that there is quite a bit of traffic (in Swiss terms anyway)
• It’s only a 5 min walk from the Kaiseraugst S-Train station (with Bus Stop also). It is very easy to go to Basel by public transportation (Train or Bus): There is one train (called “S-Bahn” line 1) every half an hour (12 minutes to Basel Main station) and at the main station you have the connection with the Tram.
• Train tickets are probably a monthly season ticket to start with (64CHF for a monthly ticket which allows use of all public transportation in the greater Basel area “for free”; this inclused Buses, Trams, trains…).
  

Kaiseraugst - early discoveries

So I've discovered where Kaiseraugst is on the map (about here). The small village lies to the East of the city of Basel and according to the Swiss Railway Website ( www.sbb.ch ) it is a mere 10 minutes to Basel centre. Claire knows someone who lives in the old part of Kaiseraugst so will be able to find out more in the next couple of weeks. One thing you can see very quickly is that we are on the Rhine and so right on the border with Germany - the location of Basel (& Switzerland in general) is so central that we can be in many other countries very easily.

Second trip booked

Have booked a second flight out now - arranged around my birthday so we can go skiing as well. Haven't decided where we're going yet but we have plenty of choice!

We have a home!

So Claire has just emailed me to say we know where we're going now. A rather spacious apartment has been provided for us in a small town called Kaiseraugst, just outside Basel apparently. I can safely say I know sweet FA about our new home but will endeavour to discover more over the next few days. The description of the apartment has helped me to get used to the manner in which apartments are described as well as the quite expensive nature of living in Switzerland. Or apartment is 4.5 zimmer or 4.5 rooms but these rooms exclude kitchen/bathroom/wc and the 0.5 seems to refer to lounge/dining room combined - but I'm not sure on this. I do now know it has three bedrooms - excellent for early visitors! Cost is over 2500CHF per month (£1000+) and seems the norm from looking at websites covering rental in Switzerland.

Getting Out There

So I've finally managed to book my first trip out to Basel. Claire is going out on Thursday 1st March in order to start on Monday 5th but I'm flying out on the 4th (to allow for games at the Emirates of course!) It looks like Easyjet will be seeing a lot of me (or us) over the next few months/years (depending) and I'll let you know how good/bad they are as we progress.

I've also booked extra baggage for my first flight - to get skis out to Switzerland!

When Does It All Start!

Claire has an official start date of Monday 5th March so that's the first milestone and we'll get an apartment provided in Basel for the first three months (free of charge). Obviously we'll need to sort out somewhere to stay for the longer term. All this really means is that, initially, we will be concentrating on getting stuff out for Claire so she can feel at home in the new apartment. The longer term stuff regarding leaving England will start to creep up but will become more urgent once we know an actual date to move into a permanent place to live.

Start of a really Big Year

Okay, I think I've recovered from the jollity and excess of the Christmas and New Year and maybe it's time to start to think about the year ahead. Maybe you've made a resolution or maybe you're someone that avoids them with a deep intensity but I've got too much to think about to even consider them. In just over 8 weeks time my wife starts a new job in Switzerland and I need to get on with organising everything so that it goes smoothly.

I haven't actually thought too long and hard about all the stuff that needs doing but it is starting to dawn on me that it's not as simple as just packing a suitcase and jumping on a plane for a holiday. In fact I'll try not to think too hard about it, just in case it overwhelms me.

Anyway - I'm hoping that by reflecting on much of what needs to be done, how it should be done and doing it (all via a blog) it may prove beneficial to me and helpful to those of you emmigrating or making a big move yourself.