Since coming to Switzerland

It's been nearly five months since BK and I relocated to Basel. In that time, he's been back to the US twice for work, and I haven't been back at all. It's been crazy not seeing family or friends for this long, but to be honest, part of me wanted to prove that I could actually live away from home for this long. I've only lived outside of Fort Worth for short periods of time during my entire life, so being across the globe is a new experience.

In those five months, lots has changed and I think we've adjusted really well. We've had a great time traveling all over Europe and are looking forward to more travel for the rest of this year and in years to come. There are plenty of days where I find it to be very strange that I am not working, and that my "job" is to take care of the pups, learn German, plan travel and make our life work over here.

While thinking about our time here, I came up with a list of things I have and haven't done since we've been here. This should be fun...

Since moving to Switzerland, I have not:

• Driven a car
• Used a microwave (no we don't own one, and it's not all that bad)
• Shopped because I was bored (expensive, no selection, must haul it home)
• Done yoga, barre or anything like it
• Learned to "love" cleaning

Since moving to Switzerland, I have:

• Walked an average of 15,000- 20,000 steps per day
• Discovered how quickly dust accumulates when you live with windows and doors open
• Survived 95 degree days (and nights) with no air conditioning
• Picked up more dog poo than I ever thought possible
• Learned that it's not that big of a deal when you break a Swiss rule
• Traveled to seven countries and numerous cities
• Started learning German

I feel certain there are others that I'm leaving out, but these were a few that stood out to me. I'm getting really excited about our upcoming trip to the US and can't wait to see everyone for the first time in a long time!

A work in progress

I was a little frustrated with the blog today when I logged on. Yesterday I actually wrote two posts, with the intention of posting one today. Unfortunately when I logged on I somehow erased what I had written, with no help from the undo button. Such is life.

My dad emailed me a couple of weeks ago and pointed out that I needed to change our "About Us" section on the blog, as we had made it to Switzerland. I have been working to make the blog a little fancier (if you will) with different tabs and sections to look at. Today I finished the new "About Us" section, now titled "The Traveling Frogs." Take a look...you should be able to click on the tab above this post and go there.

I'm hoping to add pages about the destinations we've been to, restaurants, hotels and excursions we would recommend, and some that we wouldn't recommend going anywhere near. Today I started working on some things, then found myself reminiscing about all these places, and didn't get nearly as far as I had hoped. I have a nice nine hour plane ride coming up in a couple of days, so hopefully I can work on this a little bit.

I do realize that not everyone needs my travel advice, but hey, I figure at the least BK and I can remember where we've been and what we liked and disliked about certain places.

BK and I are off to a Basel football (i.e. soccer) game tonight, versus Brazil. It's my first European football game, and BK's second. It should be exciting!

Open Air Cinema

One of the really cool things about Basel is that there always seems to be something going on. It may be a cultural activity, some sort of festival, a concert, or something like it, but there are always public events happening throughout the city.

Right now in Munsterplatz, Orange Cinema is showing films through the end of August. Munsterplatz is one of the bigger plazas in Basel and is situated on top of a hill in the city. They have set up rows of chairs, picnic tables and couches and show a film nearly every night. It's cheap too! Only 5 CHF to get in, which is probably one of the cheapest things you can do in Basel (I just learned it costs 19 CHF for a regular movie in the theatre).

In addition to the movie, vendors are also around the plaza with various types of food and drink to enjoy. I got excited because there was a stand for fajitas. It was good, but the real thing in a few days will be much better. They also had hamburgers, Flammkuchen (flat bread pizza), Thai food, and lots of other selections...like the food truck parks in the US.

Last night BK and I met up with some of my German classmates at the Open Air Cinema. It was great for the spouses to meet each other and for us to get to hang out with one another again. We saw Hangover 3, which was absolutely terrible. In my opinion, the first one was really funny, the second one was pretty good, and this one...well, they should have stopped at two. The movie was in English, but with both German and French subtitles.

I say pass on this movie, but the "Open Air Kino" was great fun!

Deutsch Schule ist fertig

As of this past Friday, I have officially completed levels A1 and A2 of German. I am no where near fluent, but I can do things like read signs throughout the city, read the menu to BK at restaurants, order in German, tell them what I need in grocery and department stores and have basic conversation with people. As I've mentioned before though, my biggest problem in Basel is that they speak Swiss-German and would rather speak English to me than speak high German.

The class was great. I really enjoyed getting to know my classmates (who are all in the same situation as me) and hearing about their experiences here. I think the intensive class worked well for me, as I needed some serious structure to force me to learn the language, and three hours a day, five days a week will do that. The teachers in our class say we need to practice now and let it all sink in a bit. I do want to continue on to the B level, but with our travel schedule through the end of the year, right now my only option is to join a conversation group to practice with so that I don't fall behind while being gone for two weeks at a time.

My other big question is...what am I going to do with myself now that I don't have German class that takes up four to five hours per day?? Of course I still have my four-legged friends who need my time and attention three hours per day, but other than that, I must get involved in something. I've saved up a list of things to complete this week before we come back to the US, then hopefully in September can come back and hit the ground running.

Bis Morgan! (Until Tomorrow!)

We're going to need a couple of raincoats

The weather here in Basel has drastically changed since I posted about the heat on Monday. This morning when I got up to walk the pups it was 60 degrees and raining. Not a downpour by any means, but a steady rain that made it feel pretty chilly outside.

With that said, I quickly discovered this morning that I'm going to need to find two weenie dog-sized raincoats. Here in Basel I've only been able to find waterproof coats for them. They don't need coats yet, but something waterproof would be helpful.

As I've mentioned before, I never thought I would be one to put clothes on the dogs, but the raincoats would actually serve a purpose. Without a raincoat Tanner sulks along and proceeds to look absolutely pitiful for the entire walk. He is also constantly stopping to shake water off of himself. Toby, on the other hand, loves the water and could care less if he gets wet. The problem with him though is that long hair. When he goes out and it is raining, I'm pretty much forced to blow dry him as soon as we get back home. This gets really old, really fast. If I don't blow dry him he will immediately run around the apartment, jumping on anything possible, rubbing on couch pillows, rugs and other surfaces to try and dry himself off. Gross- I don't need the apartment smelling like wet dog all the time.

The search will be on when we come to the US in the next couple of weeks. I've added this to my growing list of things we need to buy while in Texas. If I'm going to walk them for three hours a day, even on the rainy days, I may need to invest in some waterproof pants for myself as well. I'll be outfitted in a whole slicker suit before you know it!

Sending out an untested product

For those of you who have somehow missed this, I really enjoy baking. Since we arrived in Switzerland, baking has been somewhat of a challenge, forcing me to convert all of my American recipes into metric measurements. It's a process.

The funny thing about my baking is that I typically don't eat a lot of what I bake. I like to bake for other people. In the US I would take half of what I baked to my office and send the other half with BK to his office. I also enjoy baking with people. My friend KR and I would often find recipes and give them a try, and typically when BK and I see our niece, HGM, I let her pick out anything she wants to bake and make it with her.

The thing that I've found a little strange in Switzerland is that I haven't just been sticking with the recipes that I know and have baked numerous times. For some reason, I find myself trying all of these new recipes that I find, or ones that someone over here suggests, which is what I did tonight.

One of BK's colleagues knows that I like to bake, and asked me one day if I ever baked cheesecake. She really liked it when she visited the US and had not been able to find anything like it in Europe. So I told her I would make cheesecake soon.

It's not something that I make often, and I especially don't make the kind that you bake in the oven. My mom has a recipe for cheesecake that you just have to let chill in the fridge, which is what I'm much more familiar with. But as I'm always up for a challenge, I decided I was going to bake a cheesecake...and here's how it turned out:

Nothing too overly exciting, but hopefully it's a good, solid cheesecake. I didn't make any toppings to go with it, but only because all of the good fruit that goes on cheesecakes is out of season here, so you either can't get it, or it is extremely expensive. The only other challenge I faced with this was that we don't have graham crackers over here. I used butter cracker/cookie type things as a substitution. When I crushed them up and mixed them with butter and sugar, the crust pretty much looked the same.

The only thing I don't like about making cheesecake? Because it's in a cake form, I am sending out an untested product. I really want to somehow sneak a bite just to make sure it tastes good and is up to the standard that I want, but it doesn't seem that it can be done. My other option is people thinking they got some kind of leftover cheesecake, from which someone has already eaten off of. I can't have that either. Oh well. BK will just have to let me know how it goes over tomorrow. I'll have to let you know.

In case you're interested, here's the recipe I used.

42: The Jackie Robinson Story

BK and I spent this past weekend relaxing, which was a nice change of pace. We weren't preparing for or trying to recover from a trip, and just spent time hanging out in Basel. We don't watch nearly as much TV over here as we did in the US, but Friday night we logged onto Apple TV and found 42: The Jackie Robinson Story to watch.

I've never really done any kind of movie or book review on the blog, but I thought this one deserved some space here. This is a really good movie and has even more of an impact because it's based on a true story. The movie takes you through Jackie Robinson's progression through the minor leagues and eventually to the Brooklyn Dodgers as the first African-American baseball player in MLB.

I found the role of Brooklyn Dodgers GM Branch Rickey (played by Harrison Ford) very interesting. Whatever his underlying motivations were, he braved standing up for what he knew was the wrong practice, that is, having separate leagues for different color players. It was also eye opening to see that Jackie Robinson had to have felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. 

The cruelty that is displayed throughout the movie is tragic, but happened then, and still happens today in so many arenas. Something else that struck me as well was the number of white players who often said to Jackie Robinson, "I just want the chance to play ball." His reply back to them was the same, that he also just wanted the chance to play ball. Strange that so often when discrimination happens the group being discriminated against just wants an equal chance to have what is available to others- not to have something handed to them, but simply to have the opportunity.

A couple of other tidbits I picked up from the movie include:

• In 1997 MLB retired the number 42 for all teams; this is the first number in sports to be universally retired.
• The only exception to this is April 15, Jackie Robinson Day- which commemorates his first day in MLB, when all players wear the number 42 to honor the breakthrough he made.

This was a great movie to watch, and I would recommend it if you have the time. It's a great portrayal of two men and the lengths they went to alter the course of history.

A different kind of heat

I've totally been slacking off on the blog lately, and I'm not sure why. I need to get back on track, so here it goes...surely I can meet my goal of blogging daily.

When you think of Switzerland probably one of the first things you think of is the Alps. Those cold, crisp mountains. Unfortunately those images are very far away from us in Basel right now, and so not what's happening.

For the past few days it's been in the low to mid 90s. Now for those of you in Texas, I know that the 90s may not seem that hot. And compared to a heat index around 110 degrees, it's not. But when you don't have air conditioning, the 90s are really hot! Not only do we not have air conditioning, but pretty much no where does, so there's no cooling down inside either. The grocery store is pretty much the only place that is air conditioned, and I can only lug my basket around for so long when I really don't have that much stuff to get.

The 90s may seem much cooler than Texas, but you also have to think about the amount of activity that we do outside. In Texas people pretty much walk from the house to the car, from the car to the office, then back into the car to journey to whatever the next indoor destination is. On the other hand, in Switzerland any time I need to go anywhere it involves walking outside- to the tram, from the tram, to the store...and of course then there's the walking with the dogs three hours a day.

Thankfully it's supposed to cool down in a few days, and the high will only be in the mid-60s. BK and I are headed back to Texas in the next couple of weeks, and although I am not looking forward to the heat, I am looking forward to climate controlled buildings. I'm also hoping that when we get back fall will have crept into Basel and it might be just a tad cooler.

Don't take this the wrong way, I'm not complaining about living in Basel. It's still an awesome experience. Also, take note. I will absolutely come back and read this post when I'm snowed in or moaning about having to put on seven layers to go outside.

Salzburg: "The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music"

Ahhh...finally we arrived in Salzburg. After already hitting Luzern, Venice and Vienna, Salzburg was the last stop on our trip with KM and BM. I think I mentioned this when I blogged about Venice, but this trip was definitely a whirlwind...really fun, but still a whirlwind with tons of activities planned.

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Salzburg? The Sound of Music, of course. Salzburg is about a 2.5 hour train ride from Vienna, but is a completely different type of city- much smaller and seems slower paced. To give you an idea, Vienna has 1.5 million residents and Salzburg has 150,000. We stayed at a hotel near the train station, and the center of town was just a 15 minute walk from there. Like I mentioned before, we arrived in Salzburg in time for dinner and just grabbed something quick and easy at a local restaurant.

View of Salzburg from across the River

The next day was packed full of activities. First up was a Sound of Music bike tour. A couple BK and I met in Belgium actually recommended this to us, and it was really fun. The ride is not strenuous at all and includes many stops that are in the movie including the horse fountain, cemetery, Frau Maria's monastery, twirling around in the Salzburg hills, the house where the pond and terrace scenes were filmed, the facade of the outside of the house, the gazebo and the Do-Re-Mi steps.

Our tour guide was also great. She gave us lots of facts about Salzburg and was even able to talk about when the film was made. A couple of things I found interesting included how difficult it was to shoot the scene where the Nazi flag is dropped over a building in central Salzburg (20 years after the war ended, so still a little sensitive) and that the German version of the film actually ends when Maria and the Captain get married...leaving out a pretty crucial part of the movie. Another thing was that when they're running over the mountain, they're actually running the wrong way- toward the German border, which would have obviously not been good.

After the bike tour we had a quick lunch, then headed up to the Salzburg Fortress. It is massive and pretty much sits on top of the city. It is quite a hike up (very steep), but there's also a cog train that goes up as well. Many of the palaces, fortresses and castles in Salzburg were build by Catholic Archbishops who used these buildings to demonstrate their power, authority and riches to everyone in their city. Within the fortress you can tour various areas and go up to the top of a tower, which has 360 degree views of the city.

After the fortress we did a little bit of window shopping, then BK wanted to hit the most traditional beer garden in Salzburg, which also happens to be Trappist- as in the beer is made by monks. The Augustiner Abbey & Mullner Brau Brewery is a great spot to end your day. You get in line, buy a token, select a mug from the shelves, then you're filled up with beer straight from the barrel. The garden is lined with chestnut trees and has been self-catered since the 1800s, meaning you can bring in food or order from one of the many stands there. It's well worth a visit.

KM and BM left the next morning and headed to Germany for the end of their trip. BK and I had most of the afternoon in Salzburg before catching our train back to Basel. We rented bikes and went back out to Hellbrunn Palace (where the Sound of Music gazebo is located). Within this palace there are many options for tours. BK and I chose to do the garden and trick fountain tour. Like many others, this palace was also built as an Archbishop's summer home to flaunt the wealth he possessed. In his garden he built many landscapes and fountains that had a trick aspect to them, used often to give party guests quite the surprise!

After we rode back into the city we caught our train back to Basel. The train ride back through Austria, Germany and Switzerland was beautiful through the Alps, various lakes and small villages. Hopefully BK and I will make a trip back to Austria before our time here is done. It was beautiful and had so many different experiences for us to enjoy!

Vienna: we have lots left to see

After spending three days in Venice we headed to Vienna. Vienna was a great city and felt vastly different from Venice. I think it's partly because we were back in a country with a strong Germanic influence, leading to much more order and what felt like less chaos.

We flew into Vienna in time for dinner and found a great spot, thanks to my Trip Advisor app. We dined at a traditional Viennese restaurant called Zum weissen Rauchfangkehrer. The food and service were great- we had Wiener schnitzel, veal, beef tartar and a couple of other things. A note about Wiener schnitzel- you may think this is a traditional German dish. In reality it comes from Vienna. In German Vienna is called Wien, hence schnitzel from Vienna.

Traditional Viennese Restaurant

The next morning we ventured out to Schonbrunn Palace via the subway. Public transportation is very easy in Vienna and I would recommend the bus, tram or subway to get around. The palace was massive. I'm not sure if you can make advance reservations or not, but I don't think you need them. We purchased tickets there and were able to get right in. The palace also has a complimentary audio tour that gives you information about the rooms, furniture and art you're viewing. I found it really interesting that Austria ultimately ousted the Habsburgs, but they have a lot of museums, monuments and other sites that focus on this family. I guess it's because so much of their history is wrapped up in this family.

After we toured the palace we also toured around the gardens, park area and a large monument opposite from the castle that is also part of the property.

Schonbrunn Palace

The rest of the day was spent exploring Old Town. Vienna has a nice pedestrian area in the center of the city, which is great to wander around in. The city also has some amazing cathedrals. St. Stephen is probably the one that is most well known. It is in Old Town and is huge. We did a tour of the catacombs, which was really interesting, and included seeing bone yards and various rooms where people were buried in mass graves under the church. Additionally, the four of us climbed to the top of the South Tower and enjoyed an unobstructed view of Vienna from the top. The picture below is of another cathedral not too far from St. Stephen that had a beautiful interior.

Our final day in Vienna was spent wandering around to various sights we wanted to see. Vienna a city where I feel we barely scratched the surface. We walked through the Stadt (City) Park, saw the grounds of Belvedere Palace and Museum, then headed to Museum Quarter. 

Mozart statue in Museum Quarter

Vienna has so many museums- I'm not sure how long it would take you to get through them all. For our last day we chose to see the Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum and Silver Collection. These three museums are all connected in one, so it's easy to move from building to building, and again, they provide a great audio tour with your ticket. It was interesting again to learn more about the Habsburgs and the life they led before being ousted from the country.

I really liked Vienna and would enjoy the chance to go again, as I feel there is so much we didn't get to see. After museums and a quick lunch we grabbed a train to Salzburg, arriving there just in time for dinner.