Xmas Market in Freiburg

So despite the problems with our visitors not being able to travel from England due to the snow Claire took today off and we visited the Christmas Market in Freiburg. With the wonderfully priced 28Euro group ticket (up to 5 people & just use the slower trains) it was a cheap trip too! Plenty of Gluhwein was needed because of the cold but with a snowy scene it was a great day.

FC Basel May Make Europa League!

Last night Basel may not have had a realistic chance of making the second stage of the Champions League but at least this result sees them achieve their real aim of making third place and so enter the Europa League. Maybe they will get one of the English clubs left in that competition. However, let's hope the Seibi Keller gets the Kasekuchli back on the menu!

FC Basel Suffer v Roma

Tonight was the second home game of three for FC Basel in their Champions League group. After a wonderful 3-1 away win in Rome last time out there was a real possibility of Basel qualifying (most unexpectedly) for the next round of the CL. However, they came down to earth with a big thump despite dominating much of the game. Roma just had that little bit of composure and class (in players such as Totti) and took their chances to take an undeserved 3-2 away win and so leaving Basel most probably chasing after a Europa League place now by finishing 3rd.

German Level is High End B1 !!!

Am considering going and doing another fairly intensive German course as the regular daily diet of podcasts and local newspapers has got to a reasonable level but I want to get a top up, a turbo boost if you will. So firstly I needed to see where I actually am in terms of Academic language levels. Here are my results from the German test via Migros Klubschule online. It was a pretty good test as you continue level by level until it determines you have reached your point of no return!!

Axalp 2010

Switzerland never fails to amaze me and this wonderful event help up in the Alps was a truly wonderful day. For over sixty years the Air Force has used the mountain range near Axalp as the perfect testing range for firing practice and for two days each year spectators are allowed to come and watch. It's a fair old hike up the mountain (1-2 hrs, parts very steep and as the queue for the chair lift part was massive I walked all the way). In fact it's the part after the chairlift that is the hardest but it was worth the effort. The show may not be the most spectacular in the world (it's only 90 minutes) but the setting is unique and superb. Perfect weather, in the mountains (2250m) and above the cloud line was a most amazing experience. Some of my photos can be found here.

Switzerland v Wales at St Jakob

Attended the match between the two bottom teams in the same group as England (the tickets for both games had to be bought as a package and hence I was at St Jakob Park tonight). Quality wasn't that great but an interesting 4-1 win for the home side even if Wales can look back on the award of a very soft penalty when the score was 2-1!

Mulhouse Cycling Trip

Decent weather today (and looking like it will be cold next week onwards) so I took the last chance to get a trip by bike to France and, in this case, Mulhouse. Found a new route (after finding a dead end for a road bike! Would have been fine by Mountain Bike) and rushed to the station to find that the train was delayed for 25 mins anyway!

FC Basel v Bayern Munich at St Jakob

I managed to get tickets for the three FC Basel games in the Champions League group Stages this season and the first game was the big one as far as most locals were concerned. A lot of supporters inside the ground were definitely supporting the German Champions and not the home side! A great goal from Frei gave Basel the lead but a soft(ish) penalty and a last minute goal gave the visitors a slightly lucky 2-1 win. Good atmosphere from the home side but after two losses in their group the next two home matches maybe a little anti-climatic.

Unfortunately it was time to return home from San Francisco yesterday but at least we did have the luxury of upstairs travel back on a Jumbo!

Watching Arsenal at 7AM!!

Great to be in San Francisco even if watching an Arsenal game in the pub is rather different from my previous experiences. Here, with the 8 hour time difference, the game kicked off at 7am and despite a pre-match resolution not to take a drink, the 1-1 half time score at home to Bolton drove me to a couple of beers for the second half. Thankfully we managed to control the second 45 minutes and run out 4-1 winners. Thanks to the friendly welcome from the local Arsenal Supporters Group, the Bay Area Gooners and the hospitality in Maggie McGarrys.

Enjoyed a decent 30-35mile bike round the Sonoma Valley today whilst Claire spent her day in the hotel working! Thankfully she has now finished and we have around 8 days to enjoy San Francisco, a little more of the Wine Country and a couple of days in Monetery/Carmel.

After 24 hours travelling (including this, my first drive over the Golden Gate Bridge) I finally arrived in Sonoma. Been a long day and am looking forward to my bed!

Switzerland v England at St Jakob

I'm not the greatest fan of the National side but the chance to see England play here in Switzerland was an event that I couldn't miss. The pre-match beers in town and outside the ground was good fun (but maybe I will regret this tomorrow on the early flight from BAsel to Heathrow then onto San Francisco). As for the game, England actually played quite well to win 3-1 even if (as usual) it was an Arsenal player that got injured!

Here is the party at Clemens & Petra's house - the house that we shall soon be calling home! We will miss both of them but we can't wait to be in such a lovely place. The party is getting going and we have had music, food, wine, beer and soon - Schnapps! Then there is brunch tomorrow too!

Good Lunch and Unexpected Visitor

Went out to meet my good mate Jim for the normal Wednesday Haussmann lunch at Zic Zacs in Allschwill and discovered it was just Jim and I until late on when another American Dan arrived with his young daughter. It was a hot day and I had cycled so it was even hotter going home (and that after a couple of sneaky beers too!)

Also today I met a new visitor who had popped into our bathroom - here he is pictured. Took one tupperware bowl and a bit of patience to get him out onto the balcony to be released.

Hot Ride

Did a reasonably quick but very hot ride today, off to France and back. Then off to the garden to pick more raspberries, courgettes & first aubergine we've ever produced!

Public Viewing WC Semi-Final

Went to the Public Viewing again today in hope of a reasonable crowd for the Germany v Spain Semi-Final. Still not packed but a reasonable attendance with a majority of German supporters unsurprisingly. Spain won 1-0.

Cycling in the Heat

Having discovered that my Mountain Bike had a broken spoke yesterday and with a WC free day I had time to both get a cycle ride in and take the wheel to be repaired. I decided to do a road route that I haven't done for a while and got out early as the heat is getting a bit difficult for cycling at the moment. I had forgotten it had some rather steep sections and so was glad I completed it in the morning!

In the afternoon I took my wheel to a great little cycle shop next to the SBB Bahnhof in Basel, Wenger's Rad Shop (nothing to do with Arsene) and the guy said it would be ready in an hour!!! Spoke fixed, wheel trued and just 22 CHF - it's not all expensive out here. Also the owner had a photo that showed he was in the Guinness World Records for smallest tridem (bike for three) ever ridden too!

A Lone Englishman in Germany...

So it's a second round game v Germany and where better as an Englishman to watch the game than in Märkt in Germany with a load of Germans, including one very fanatical supporter, Dirk! Despite the awful England performance and result it was still a great afternoon with BBQ (thanks Michael - it was so hot!) and a cycle ride there and back - even including the mad scenes in Weil Am Rhein on the way back!

Quiet Build Up - Frenetic Ending

So the two "big" teams managed to qualify from their relatively easy group as England and, right at the last minute, USA struggled over the line into the last 16. USA deserved top spot after their disallowed goals and it ensures a game against Germany for us. It wasn't a big build up (see left) in Paddy's but soon got going with both games on and even a couple of Algerian fans there too.

Basel Goes Quiet!

Following last week's unexpected victory over Spain, the whole of Switzerland is in World Cup frenzy and with a 4.00pm game against Chile - rush hour started at 3.00pm with everyone in place (see photo from centre of Basel) ready for the game. I watched it in Paddy's (a regular haunt) and despite the loss to Chile people were still hopeful of a good win on Friday and progression to the next round. However, I then was off to Jim & Beth's for an evening with some old friends from USA, back over for Roche meetings and a late night on a MONDAY!

Beers Needed to Watch England Tripe..

Strangely the Swiss are very keen to show support for this England side (I guess it is all as a result of the Premier League coverage across the world) and I even saw a few Swiss wearing England shirts. I watched the game in a regular football/rugby haunt in Paddy's and we needed the beers to shut out how bad the match was - 0-0 doesn't even describe how bad it was.

Switzerland beat Spain!!!

It has been a really miserable wet and cold day here in Basel today but that has not even been noticed as the Swiss Nati have surprised everyone, including themselves and all of Switzerland, by beating the European Champions, Spain. Jim and I ended up watching this match with hundreds of Swiss fans in the Querfeldhalle where the result was greeted with joy and complete and utter disbelief! Hopp Schwiiz!!

Ticket from Yesterday

Public Viewing ticket from yesterday's game at St Jakob!

Big Screen - YES, Big Crowds - NO!

I went down to the large public viewing area that has been set up near St Jakobs Stadium today for the Denmark v Netherlands game. I think we can say that the crowd was a little on the disappointing side - maybe the the people will turn up for the Switzerland game this week!

All Square with the Yanks

Well actually with just one Yank, our good friend Jim. Claire & I went round to Jim's for the game against USA and everyone was left relatively happy, except perhaps Robert Green after that howler! Even the Swiss shops were supporting England though!!!

Four Weeks of Football Kick Off

Looking forward to all the games with South Africa time zone fitting in perfectly to the European agenda! WC wallchart is up & running!

Too Many Drinks?

Yet another really nice evening at Jim & Beth's last night but we may have over done it a little on the alcohol front. There were five of us in total and Beth texted to say that she found 11 empty bottles - surely some of them had been there from before!! Here's the view from their balcony and we're back next week for the USA v England WC game.

Swisscom Connections Sorted?

One of the things that needs to be sorted before we move into the house of Clemens & Petra is a new DSL connection from Swisscom so that we can still get their Bluewin TV and hence the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five stuff as well as the football (via Teleclub Sport) for me! I met Clemens in Basel to have a quick meeting with Swisscom and it seems that it is all pretty straight forward but we shall wait and see. Apparently the Swisscom technician should appear some time in the next few weeks and the official changeover date will be August 23rd when our current phone number and service will switch to the new house. Fingers Crossed!

Garden Antics Continue

So we had a lot of heavy rain last night and I knew that I needed to get up to the garden today as the winds were pretty strong as well. It cleared up enough to cycle up and find nothing amiss - aside from a few pots having beem blown over the courgette plants. I also managed to plant our first Butternut Squash & Pumpkin (Jack O'Lantern) planst (both having been grown from seed at home). Everything looking okay though I still seem to be finding ants to a distrubingly large degree.

View From the New House

Despite the drinking on Sunday here is the view we shall have from August onwards...

Bank Holiday Cycle Ride & Crash

Despite the rather long and drunken session with our friends Clements & Petra yesterday (from Brunch at midday until 11.30pm!!) we managed to get this morning for a decent bike ride. Claire resurrected her speedier bike for the trip but it was all rather over shadowed by my major crash. Unfortunately it is impossible to avoid an accident once the front wheel disappears in a train track! Luckily I survived with just a few grazes, some cuts to my shirt and no broken bones it seems.

The Swiss & Their Cash

One of things you really notice when living in Switzerland is the fact that they use good old-fashioned cash a lot more than in the UK, for example. People will willingly walk around with large wads of notes or, often, with a large bill such as this 1000CHF note. Putting that in a UK perspective that is £611! A woman in the supermarket paid with one of these today in front of me and the cashier didn't blink an eyelid, imagine a similar occurrence in the UK - you would be looked as a thief, forgery or just weird and they would never accept it - most don't even accept £50 notes without fuss.

Last Day Skiing 2010

With Claire away and also having access to Jim's car this week I decided to get out for one last day of skiing by driving down to Meiringen-Halsiberg. It's just over and hour and forty minutes to drive to the resort and it was a truly beautiful day. I don't really "do" Spring Skiing as the snow is just not particularly nice to ski on unless the resort is really high. However, the limited pistes and the hot sunshine were still good enough for a few hours of fun in the snow. It's a very strange experience (to me) to ski in such temperatures and I'll definitely take a different set of gear next year if I repeat the experience!

Claire off to the States & Swiss Climate Change

With the BA strikes ongoing there was a little wait to see if Claire was able to catch her flights as planned to the US today. Thankfully it has all worked out and she managed to leave Basel and get her connection with little worry. I also found this website with data "proving" the effect of Climat Change here in Switzerland. Of course, many still diasagree with any facts or evidence but this is quite a simple graph that in one picture illustrates the changes happening as we have become more and more industrialised as a race.

Spring Cycle Ride

After the skiing week, it's good to see that back here in Kaiseraugst the Sun has appeared and it would appear that Spring has definitely arrived. As a result it was a chance to get the road cycling legs moving with a short ride today - here (and pictured above). Time to start on the allotment work this week too.

Back Home & Proof of our Skiing

We got back a lot easier than at New Year as there was no snow on the roads and the traffic was a lot lighter. With the warm weather that could be it for skiing this year :-( Here's a little picture of me on the webcam at Les Crosets this week that I captured on my iPhone.

Last Day Skiing

Another really warm and sunny day skiing here in Les Crosets with very slushy conditions by the end. We had to call it a day as some runs actually were like skiing on rubber, the skis nearly coming to a halt! Claire bumped into a friend whilst we were over in France, near Avoriaz, she met her by the loo in a creperie. Here Claire also found a new friend - see the picture.

Birthday Skiing

Just can't beat a day's skiing on my birthday and today was even better as the weather was perfect too. Even the coffees seemed to be enjoying the day out!

We also had another great night out at Chez Nelly, a place we loved at New Year too.

Sun Continues & Trip to Le Relais

We had tried to get to the panoramic restaurant in Les Crosets, Le Relais, when we visited at New Year but had failed due to snow conditions. With perfect weather and a great opportunity to get Barbara up to the top of the mountain we managed a sunny, if windy, lunch at the restaurant. Here's a pretty picture of the tiny chapel in Les Crosets just for effect!

Sun & Lessons

The three remaining girly skiers decided to get a lesson today and that meant that I pushed myself a little harder in the afternoon and so was absolutely knackered at the end of today. Luckily we only had to walk upstairs to go to the restaurant!

Second Day Blues

Second day and a little cloud had arrived as well as all of us feeling saddened by yesterday's events. Barbara showed a positive face and we all endeavoured to ensure the rest of the holiday was as good as it could be. We came back to the apartment for lunch and with more cloud and even a little snow in the afternoon it was a shorter day.

First Day Tragedy

Having arrived in glorious weather it was a great sight to see similar weather on our first day of skiing. Unfortunately any delight at the weather and the snow conditions was ruined by one of those oh so avoidable ski accidents. A skier came in from a side run onto the main piste hitting Barbara and damaging Knee Ligaments. The need to visit hospital and bring a very distraught person back to the apartment didn't augur well for the week. Here's all of us before the accident when it all seemed an unlikely event.

Off to Les Crosets

Weather looking good on the morning Swiss TV flick around the Alps! Sun out, Snow looking good and we're off to Les Crosets (again despite my requests for Nendaz - oh well it's a tough call) soon. A week skiing but with four women!!

Wild & Windy Here Today

Blimey it's really blowing a gale here in Kaiseraugst today and glad that I'm not in the mountains as most lifts seem to be closed. However, there is fresh snow up there and Claire & I are off to Lauterbrunnen (for the first time) to ski Murren/Wengen this weekend. Forecast is looking okay for tomorrow and iffy for Sunday but it's the mountains so you just never can tell.

Claire Off for a 40th Bash in York

So I'm all alone here in Kaiseraugst this weekend as Claire is seeing old University friends in York for a 40th Birthday party. She is flying from Geneva to Newcastle with a load of Geordie kids she says!

We had a great night yesterday evening at the Restaurant Kunsthalle with a work dinner from one of her business groups and partners were invited which was fun. Met some interesting colleagues of hers and another cyclist for some trips once the weather improves.

Ice Age Thawing..

We've had our fair share of snow here in Basel and it's thawing a little this week as this picture of the Tinguely Fountain clearly shows.

Pancake Day Arrives!

I love pancake day as it's a day for which there is no real difficulty in choosing a menu for the evening and the ingredients are always to hand. Today I did a savoury pancake with peppers, pancetta and onions followed by bananas, coffee ice cream & chocolate sauce pancakes. That all went down well on a day that I picked up my birthday present - these skis!

An Enjoyable Walk in the Snow

Yesterday we went out to enjoy the recent snow even if we were a little too tired to ever have a chance of getting to a ski slope! There is a good website for local walks and we took on the Liestal - Kaiseraugst route (see picture). It was about perfect aside from the steep start to the walk. Then I made Roast Chicken with Sticky Toffee Pudding to follow with Cremant to celebrate Valentine's Day....

Enjoying Kaiseraugst's Fasnacht Celebrations - Saturday Night

I'm not sure this sort of thing happens anywhere in the UK these days. We live in a tiny town called Kaiseraugst and like many other Swiss towns it's carnival time (Basel's Fasnacht takes place next weekend for three days!). Here local groups of friends dress up in outlandish costumes and have a parade - nothing surprising there. But in the evening groups then go round various meeting points (some of which are obvious like hotels but some are mysterious cellars that only act as hosts on Fasnacht night) and sing, do satirical sketches (on world wide and local issues) or, as this group shows, play music (the young lads seen here at Gasthof Adler) - still in their costumes. This went on all last night and in a town where everyone knows everyone else who has lived there all their lives it's when you realise you're a visitor, even when you've been here three years. Great fun though!

Birthday Skis Already!!!

It's been a grey day here in Basel and looking at the sun in the ski
resorts I wish I was there. However, have been cheered up by Claire
and I going into town to look for my birthday present. It resulted in
my getting a nice new set of Rossignol all-mountain skis! Will put a
picture up once I collect them on Tuesday. Watching some great rugby
today from the six nations and then we're off to Kaiseraugst's own
Fasnacht celebrations later.

Kaiseraugst Fasnacht this Weekend

This weekend will see the local Fasnacht celebrations here in Kaiseraugst. Here is the local "Plakette" (Badge) that are produced annually for such events. The picture depicts the strange moving of a railway building at the Bahnhof (a listed building) whilst development work was carried out.

More Snow Arrives

We've had a few more inches of snow here in Kaiseraugst and it's looking good for the skiing holidays to come later this month!

A Lovely Gift At The Door

Last weekend was the start of the Six nations tournament and to help watch the Rugby I needed to visit our new local shop for supplies. The new store which is at least 10 yards from our apartment's entrance is The Beer and Wine Store, opened by the daughter of our amiable Landlord, Werner Schmid. Now having an off at such close proximity could be dangerous, especially as Milan (Karen's other half) has decided to stock "London Pride"! However, on Saturday when needing such beer poor Milan had to tell me that an Englishman from Augst had bought his remaining stock!

Such an incident could scar a man but this morning I had the wonderful gift of a single London Pride bottle left outside our apartment with a note saying, "It's Back!" That's what I call customer service...

Cold Bike Ride & England to Play Switzerland!

Claire and I went out on this bike ride today - the mapping (see above) is all provided by a recently acquired App for my iPhone, iMapMyRide. Proves quite a useful little tool for recording cycling (or walking) routes. Weather turned out to be a little colder and wetter than expected so we only managed a short loop to Basel and back. On our return I saw that Switzerland have drawn both England and Wales in the next European Championships qualification campaign that starts in September! No idea if I'll be able to get any tickets though.

More Tax Forms & More Snow

I completed my 2008/9 tax repayment forms today and will get them in the post in the UK this weekend when back for the United game on Sunday afternoon. We've had a bit more snow here in Basel today, just enough to make it look pretty and not too much to cause any problems at all (though it needs a lot here - I must get a photo of one of the little pavement snow blowers they use here). Just looked at Zurich airport (right) and there is a bit more snow there but hopefully not enough to worry me on Saturday when I depart.

Tax Forms Completed..

..for Claire...for 2007/8.

Maybe I'll get round to doing the next ones now. I did at least get ₤350 back for my tax claim in 2007/8 so hoping to get at least that for Claire.

A Haggis Supper

I managed to bring back from England a small (but perfectly formed) haggis in order for us to enjoy a proper Burns night supper. Unfortunately friends weren't able to join us but it meant that there was more for us! It was a very simply cooked haggis (in the oven for an hour) and served with neeps (found in La Manor in Basel) and our own home grown tatties. I even found a decent whisky sauce recipe.

Suffering A Cold

Claire has just said to me that I always seem to be ill at the end of January and she may be right. I'm just suffering a small head cold but it's infuriating - especially as it's stopping me playing on the Wii with Claire - she is addicted I'm sure.

New Toy for Us

After a little nagging I've finally got round to getting both the Wii station and the Wii-Fit board for Claire and I. It's probably more for Claire than me as she is very excited about it indeed.

Les Crosets at New Year - Leaving Day

We had to negotiate the heavy snowfall from the previous night and both cars needed the snow chains to get down the hill to Val D'Illiez. Unfortunately Duncan had a small accident (no injuries to people just automobile) on the way but managed to get back to the Eurotunnel.

Les Crosets at New Year - Day 7

A really fun NY Day ski as we got the opportunity to ski with the kids as they had no lessons today. It was amazing to see how fast they were going and how quick they had picked up the sport. A fall for Adele late on was scary but she got a ride on a Skidoo with the emergency services and thankfully seemed better when back at the chalet. Last night we saw a great firework display and were very lucky that we had a clear sky so that the valley display was so memorable.