I ♥ Switzerland

I just got back from Basel, Switzerland tonight and I have to say, I loved the place and can’t wait to go back. I live about a an hour from Switzerland depending on how you get there, so for my first vacation, I traveled with my friend Jo, another language assistant, to Geneva. The whole trip was basically spur of the moment and it turned out really well for not planning anything in advance, a method I don’t typically follow before traveling. So Jo and I, along with her friend Mark, made our way, via car into Switzerland.

For three days we toured around Geneva and tormented Mark, who was there on business working for C.E.R.N., a fancy physics laboratory. After a couple late mornings, we made our way to all the sites and even got some night life in at a cute bar in the Carouge district, where we danced all night long to good old fifties pop classics!

After much discussion, Jo and I decided to continue our Swiss adventure in Basel, literally a city sandwiched between France and Germany. As we entered the German swiss world, we found our French to be a little less useful. However, almost everyone speaks either French or English or both, so getting around was a piece of cake. After consulting the tourism office, Jo and I opted to try our hands at the YMCA, I guess there was no JCC. It was awesome! The place was clean, cheap and perfect. Free internet, laundry facilities, a kitchen and a tv/game room to boot!

So Jo and I toured around Basel for the day, making/eating our way through the city. I came across Basel’s amazing pretzels the first day, while looking for lunch. My friends, you must try a pretzel sandwich some day. Imagine the best soft pretzel ever, not the greasy Aunt Annie’s kind, sandwiching your choice of cold cuts and cheese...mmm!

Basically this city is amazing! Great shopping, great sites, considering it’s a medieval city, great watches, chocolate and pretzels, open air markets, fairs and one of the best art museums I’ve ever been to. Conclusion of the evening: I’m going back to Basel as soon as possible for some fun future weekends and if you come to visit, I’m taking you along!
Hope you’ve enjoyed my rant,
ciao Lindsay

Note: Thank you to Alli for teaching me how to say thank you in German, it came in very handy!