Basel, Switzerland - an Industrial beauty on the Rhein

On Saturday we visited Basel as planned. It was the weekend of the Art Basel (huge art exhibit where it is all for sale!) but we did not go as I am not really keen on rubbing elbows with the likes of Brad Pitt... you know me. Down to earth, American girl that has an excess of salad. Yes... and the tickets were expensive, so we skipped it and took in the sites of the city and paid our respects to the Van Gogh exhibition (also very full with tourists and not cheap, but very well done...I would recommend it).

The Tinguely Fountain near the Elisabethenkirche provided hours of endless fascination (many others must agree as there are tons of videos on YouTube). I think Jace wants to build one in our backyard one day. I believe I read in the Lonely Planet that these scultural fountains are done by the same artist that did those outside the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Then it was on to the center of town where the Rathaus stands in all its glory. On Saturday many were also in attendance for the market. It was really lovely - lots of cheese, fresh fruit and veg, and flowers.

We then walked through the old town to the Rhein and across the Mittlere Brücke. It really was a glorious day.

We ended up on the other side of the river again, taking a VERY COOL means of transport that I will highlight tomorrow... the cable ferry boats! Thanks for the tip again, Don M. They were awesome. The boat took us right to the Basel Münster church, one of the most stunning architectural buildings in Basel, completely made of red sandstone.

I would highly recommend Basel for a day trip - not sure if there is enough to see to warrant an entire weekend. But it was lovely and I can imagine a Rhein river cruise or a walk along the river would have been great as well!

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Living and Working in Switzerland, 12th Edition: A Survival Handbook. This is an essential for anyone thinking about living in Switzerland. Buy it now via Amazon UK or pre-order your Amazon.com copy today! Thank you for supporting Swisstory by shopping on Amazon.

The Strawberry Fields of Urdorf

Remember this guy?

Well he is back, and he is packing a mean basket of tasty strawberries! On Saturday, after we went to Basel (post and photos tomorrow), we were walking back home and I saw this guy out of the corner of my eye and immediately knew despite the fatigue and heat, I needed to pick some strawberries!

This pick your own strawberry field is in Urdorf right across from Migros and Spitzacker and from June until the beginning of July you can go and get your fill of delicious, fresh picked strawberries for just CHF 2.50 per 500 g! It is a steal and these babies are delish. There are heaps of these fields all over Switzerland at the moment, so keep your eyes peeled for signs along the side of the road.

There are some rules though about how you go about picking them. This is Switzerland afterall - it would be odd if there weren't.

Rule 1: Stick to your row. You will get a number. Make freakish noises and throw bad strawberries at those that try to creep into your row and steal your strawberries. I like to froth a bit at the mouth as well...

Rule 2: Pick all the strawberries in your row that are edible, and those that are not you either place in the bucket you were given or in the middle of the row to be disposed of. You are the laborer now and you are rewarded with a cheap bounty, so do your duty!

Rule 3: When you get to the spot where you are going to stop in the row, put the stake in the ground so that the next person knows where to start.

(These rules are specific to Urdorf, but I am sure they are similar everywhere...)

Follow these rules and you will be rewarded with some of the sweetest, most delicious strawberries you have ever eaten! And do not eat any on the field, ok...? That is so tacky... there are other things you should not do on the field, too - read last year's post for details!

Check out that bounty... just CHF 7 for the lot!!!

Got Strawberry Fields Fever? Want more?

Check out this video from last year:

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Living and Working in Switzerland, 12th Edition: A Survival Handbook. This is an essential for anyone thinking about living in Switzerland. Buy it now via Amazon UK or pre-order your Amazon.com copy today! Thank you for supporting Swisstory by shopping on Amazon.

Update: How does my Swiss Garden Grow?

Now my flower... but I wish it were.
My garden is in the background.

Things in my Swiss allotment garden are going splendly really. Here is a quick update for all of you that love to hear about my 'Green thumb' adventures in Switzerland.

I have finally planted the full garden, meaning I am using up almost every available meter in my 6 x 16 meter space. At the moment, the only produce I am harvesting is salad... and boy am I ever harvesting salad. There is so much that when my Swiss garden neighbors stop by, all they can say is... 'That is a lot of salad.' And 'Man, you could sell that salad on the market.' And by the way, the word for lettuce in German is 'Salat.' So I had to translate it like it sounds in German... 'Salad.'

And they are right... I do have a lot of (lovely, lovely) salad. And feel free to read this in the Bubba Gump voice I am using in my head as a type this... There's...

American brown leaf salad....

curly green salad...

heads of robust leafy salad...

And even Asian mixed leaf salad... I think that is about all the salad there iSSssss...

As you can tell... it entertains me to no end to talk about my 'salad.' :) I planted it all because Jace nags me about not making him enough salads, so I wanted to have enough lettuce to make him a few. Now... I have enough salad to supply Cuba with surplus. Oh well. (If you are in the area and want some salad, just come on over!)

But there is more than salad that I am excited about, for example:Yellow and grean beans.

The beans came up despite not covering/protecting the seeds. I think all the old timers were surprised that the birds did not eat my beans. I told those birds, 'Stay the hell away from my beans...' And you know what, they did. It must be the American accent.

There are all kinds of pumpkins coming up, too... let's not talk about the fact that they are going to be squished because I no doubt planted them too close together. Let's just talk about how cute they are now all in a row on the straw matting I stole from the garbage and the stares I got stealing it and dragging it to the plot. :) Keeps the weeds down and is GREEN. Love it.

And let's talk about chilis.

Another crop that I will no doubt have too much of. Jace loves his chilis.

All the plants are coming up swimmingly, I am getting lots of (unwanted but nevertheless friendly) advice from neighbors about how my potatoes are not going to make it and my onions are sick and how my tomatoes are all going to get blight and die. Joy. And some old man came onto me the other day and insisted that I have a coffee at his place and get an Italian boyfriend... but besides all that I am really loving the experience and cannot wait to eat more than salad from this fine piece of Swiss land.
More updates, coming soon. :)

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Living and Working in Switzerland, 12th Edition: A Survival Handbook. This is an essential for anyone thinking about living in Switzerland. Buy it now via Amazon UK or pre-order your Amazon.com copy today! Thank you for supporting Swisstory by shopping on Amazon.

Supersaver tickets - WOW. I am in love.

As I mentioned, I am off to Basel for the day tomorrow. Call it a mini-break if you will. It was so spontaneous that I planned it all on Monday. Thank God for the weekend. I bought our tickets yesterday via SBB online, and I got such a deal (practically 2 for 1!) that I just had to share. Repeat after me: I love SBB Supersaver Tickets. This new program allows you to save heaps on tickets between most major cities in Switzerland, sometimes 1st class is cheaper than 2nd. Booja!

Basically, you just go online, pick where you want to go and when... options are limited to those dots above.

And then pick from the Supersaver Tickets on offer. The deal is that the savings are only for specific routes at specific times, but if you are flexible about arrival times it is no bother. Only deal is you have to buy each way separately. In the end, we spent about CHF 42 for 2 round trip tickets to Basel with half-tax. Practically BOGO! All the details are here... some conditions to note:

• You can only get tickets 2 weeks in advance with Supersaver.
• Routes are set and it tells you how many tickets are left for each route. Clever.
  
• Get extra savings with half-tax.
  
• You have to buy both ways separately.
• Only available online for a limited time. This is just a pilot offer folks. Strike while its HOT!

Check out the SBB Supersaver Tickets now and Happy Weekend!

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Living and Working in Switzerland, 12th Edition: A Survival Handbook. This is an essential for anyone thinking about living in Switzerland. Buy it now via Amazon UK or pre-order your Amazon.com copy today! Thank you for supporting Swisstory by shopping on Amazon.

Tips for Basel on Saturday?

We are checking out Basel on Saturday... any tips? Hot spots? Restaurant suggestions? Thanks for your help and of course I will post on it next week!

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Living and Working in Switzerland, 12th Edition: A Survival Handbook. This is an essential for anyone thinking about living in Switzerland. Buy it now via Amazon UK or pre-order your Amazon.com copy today! Thank you for supporting Swisstory by shopping on Amazon.

Sectors: Making your life easier, one platform at a time

Tired of getting on the train and finding out it is a 1st class section instead of a 2nd? Want to get on the right section the first time, every time? Boy do I have the answer for you.

Meet the 'Sektoren' map... or sectors map if you want me to translate. These maps will make your commuting life easier. I promise. Let me explain.

On the fancy new signs in the Bahnhof and at most stations in the Zurich area that have the new digital signs, the Sektoren information is displayed under the time and destination information. (BTW, I know these are not new, and the printed signs still abound. Look for them as printed maps at the Bahnhof for many of the longer distance trains...)

The Sektoren information tells you which sector (A,B,C, etc.) on the platform will have 1st class train cars and which will have 2nd. That way you can make sure you are in the sector that you need before the train arrives. Confused. Let me show you an example.

Take this photo below of the S9 sign, a train I frequent:

In this example, the train is going to be 2 platforms long. How do I know that? Because there is Sektor information above the B and C platforms and none above A. On this train there are two 1st class sections (see the number 1s?) and two 2nd class sections (there are 6 number 2s, so that means 2 big sections). So if you have a second class ticket, go ahead and get on in Sector B. There should be plenty of seats to choose from there. Just don't stand in Section A or you might be running to the train! Want another example? ...Ok.

In this example, the train will be 3 platforms long and each section has mixed cabins of first and second class. Easy peasy.

You can see where the sections start and stop using the signs on each platform, like this one:

In this picture from Urdorf Bahnhof, you can see that I am standing in the B section...

... so checking the map again, I know I will be able to
get a second class seat as there are plenty in B. And if I wanted a first class, I know it is a split section, within the B...

These maps are also available if you are getting on a train in which you have a reserved seat, as many times it will tell you which Sector to stand in for say compartment 104. Just look for 104 on the map instead of 1 or 2, and it will tell you which sector (A,B,C, D, etc.).

If the information is not on the digital sign, check around. There may be a printed sign somewhere with this information. Do check as it makes it much easier to see where you should be standing to make your boarding easy and efficient.

Good luck and let me know if you have these signs in your neck of the woods, too!
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Living and Working in Switzerland, 12th Edition: A Survival Handbook. This is an essential for anyone thinking about living in Switzerland. Buy it now via Amazon UK or pre-order your Amazon.com copy today! Thank you for supporting Swisstory by shopping on Amazon.