Teddybär Himmel in der Schweiz

Just because I'm in a good mood!

One great thing about Germany is its central location. Honestly, Europe isn't as small as everyone makes it out to be and traveling places within Europe definitely takes a long time. But Germany is probably one of the best home bases for traveling...if only I had more time! And because I lack time (and tons of money) I haven't gotten to go everywhere I want. But this whole time I was confident I'd at least go to Switzerland and Austria because they are both German speaking countries that are just next door. 

And can you believe it, I only JUST went to Switzerland yesterday and I haven't even been to Austria yet. In fact, I'm not totally sure I will anymore, because the train costs so much! I know it's not the end of the world, but I love going places if you couldn't tell. 

 So, yes, I used the last day of my BahnCard to go to Basel, Switzerland. It's only two hours away, right near the French and German border of Switzerland. It's not as well-known as, say, Zurich, Bern, Interlaken or Geneva, but apparently it's Switzerland's third most populated city. And so I figured, hey, why not? I went alone this time because I wanted to. I'm not totally sure why, but I just didn't feel like traveling in a group. It has been almost two months since I was in Italy, so I figured another solo trip would be refreshing...and it was! It was also easier because one day is not a lot of time to explore a whole city. But, I tried my best to see the sights.

Rick Steves doesn't even mention Basel, which made me uncomfortable, but I did some research anyway and wrote down some of the main attractions. I even looked up a vegetarian restaurant that seemed promising. So after my relaxing train ride, I arrived in a land where they don't use Euros. I know, it's hard to believe. The Swiss Franc is worth a little less than the Euro, but since I didn't know the exact conversion rate, I was a little confused now and then. One thing DID become extremely clear: Switzerland is EXPENSIVE. I'll rant a little more about that later, though. As I was saying, I got off the train and did the most important thing of all: I acquired a map. And hey, here's a spoiler alert, I didn't get lost once! It was kind of a miracle. Switzerland is too cool to be confusing like Italy, obviously.

My main goal was to walk all the way to the main market square, stopping at a few churches along the way. That's almost exactly what I managed to do, except I forgot one thing: it's Christmastime! So I took some pictures inside the Elizabethan church, which is apparently underrated but important, since it was "the first new Protestant church building in Basel following the Reformation and is considered the most important neo-Gothic church in Switzerland." I thought that was pretty cool. And it had some awesome stained glass windows, of course. I also made it to the Basel Muenster, the main landmark in the city. Ironically I did not spend a lot of time there because my camera battery ran out (even though I thought I charged it) and I couldn't climb the top because I was unaccompanied. I read later that it's because there's a risk of people jumping off it. That's cheery, isn't it? The gardens weren't really garden-y since it was winter, either, so instead I just took pictures of the outside and the view of the Rhine. I didn't really mind though, because to be quite honest, I have already seen some of the greatest cathedrals of Europe, so I'm a bit spoiled.

To spoil myself a little more, I went through Basel's Weihnachtsmarkt(s) on the way to the city center. I hadn't even thought Basel would have them, which is silly, because I've heard that they exist in Switzerland and Austria as well as Germany. But there they were: the little huts smelling delicious next to the little huts looking shiny and awesome. I know I haven't made a Weihnachtsmarkt blog post explaining what they entail, but I have really been waiting for the right opportunity. You see, it has been cloudy and rainy all week, and I figure if I'm going to take some good pictures it'll either be on a clear night or a snowy day...neither that have existed in a while...until NOW! That's right, when I woke up this morning it was snowing and it is STILL snowing! I haven't been outside, but I can see it blanketing the trees and the ground, and I know that when I go into town tomorrow it'll be picturesque. At least, I hope so...I want some awesome photos! (You can never have enough!)

Anyway, I digress. I still plan to have a post all about Weihnachtsmarkt, because it's awesome. And basically at the Basel Weihnachtsmarkt I had a delicious blueberry crepe, and some even more delicious Gluhwein. And it was awesome, and possibly even better than Heidelberg's! I spent a lot of time looking at everything, and before I knew it it was already 1pm. I rushed off to go to the vegetarian restaurant I researched, and when I got there I was totally confused. I had thought it was a sit down restaurant but it was apparently a buffet. So I shrugged and put some interesting veggie treats on my plate, including a yummy tofu avocado salad. I know that sounds gross, but it actually wasn't. In fact, all of the food (even though I wasn't totally sure what it all was) was yummy. Buuut that doesn't excuse the PRICE! I had NO idea it was going to be as expensive as it was. I'm embarrassed. But I know it's not just me...I saw some other guy's receipt and almost passed out. I mean it didn't ruin me or anything, I just didn't realize what it would cost. All part of the Switzerland experience, I guess, because EVERYTHING was expensive there, as I've mentioned.

While walking down the main street to the market place, I looked in the store windows and didn't even bother going in. They were displaying thousand-dollar watches. That's all you really need to know. Switzerland, you see, is classy. They don't have cheesy souvenir shops everywhere. They had one, and it was fancy, and a Christmas ornament that wasn't even particularly special was 30 dollars. I don't know if that's normal but it sure didn't feel like it...so I just stuck with a keychain. Trust me, I know I can be frugal and people tell me I can splurge when I visit a foreign country, but I am not exaggerating. At the end of the day I didn't even have enough money for McDonald's with the budget I gave myself, and I barely bought anything. Still, window shopping was enjoyable. The one thing I DID buy was chocolate. It was interesting...thin, kind of like peppermint bark, and there were multiple flavors. I got gingerbread, and it was amazing. Somehow this thin chocolate had a sweet gingerbread flavored filling. While savoring the chocolate I just looked around at all of the decadence surrounding me and thought, "Switzerland, you've done it again!"

Aha, and I haven't even told you the most important part of the trip. Through my research I found that Basel has art museums, history museums, and...a teddy bear museum. Can you guess which one I went to? It was four floors of teddy bear displays. Okay, that's not entirely true. There were many detailed dollhouses and one section was dedicated to origami creatures that were, I believe, made out entirely of napkins. I don't totally know why this place exists, but it was AWESOME. I was basically jumping up and down like a little kid because it was SO COOL. I apologize in advance, because I took a million pictures. By that point I realized that when I turned off my flash, the camera saved battery, so they're not all great quality. You just have to go yourself to experience the pure delight that is the Spielzeug Museum. Of course, all of this joy came to a screaming halt when I went to the gift shop and saw how much a little teddy bear cost. It made absolutely no sense to me. I guess the bears were replicas of some famous bears from the 20s or something, but STILL. I don't even want to talk about it. 

Anyway, despite going broke, I had a lot of fun. It was a really cold day, but it felt good for some reason. The city was pretty, elegant, and extremely classy. The overpriced food was, of course, amazing. And do you know what? I spoke German the whole time. Okay, it's not like I was talking that much, but I only communicated in German. I spoke it at the tourist center, the restaurant, the stores, the Weihnachtsmarkt, the museum...everything. Swiss German is definitely different. They have totally different words for things, so hearing "Gruetzi" instead of "Hallo" definitely threw me off. But I did quite well for myself, I think! Not that anything I had to hear or say was particularly challenging, but it was nice to know that I could hold my own!

Well, that's really all I have for this post. If you were wondering, I am not homesick anymore. I feel a lot better. I'm just trying not to stress about the papers I have to write. For now I will try to get some work done, watch the snow, and listen to Christmas music. Tschuss!
Yeah...Ron Swanson would not have approved of my lunch.