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.