Saturday, April 21, 2018

Basel Street Food Festival

Mat and I went to the Basel Street Food Festival this evening.  We had a hard time choosing what to eat, but eventually we chose some delicious meat on a stick wtih bread, he had a big hambuger, and we shared a churro filled with ice crea and apple pie filling.

YUM.



Thursday, April 12, 2018

Making Life Long Friends

One of my biggest worries when I moved here, was being lonely.  I have a great group of friends in Boston that I miss terribly.  Having support when you are out of your comfort zone is one of the most important things to have.

Thanks to Roche, and their newcomer support, I have met quite a few ladies that I know will be friends forever. 

Marta lives in Riehen with me, so we see each other the most often.  We get together at least once a week for coffee or a walk, and joined Basel Walkers together on Mondays.  We go shopping and are in German class together. 

Marta is from Italy - one of my only non-America friends over here, and I am grateful for her.  Her husband is also on a long term assignment like Mat is, so we are in this together.  Thanks to her, and Donna, Sue, Tiffany, and Angela....I am more at home.


Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Start of Braille

I put a lot of vacations on here, and don't put much about every day life.  I need to change that.  I forget this is a journal of our time in Switzerland more than anything-  a place to look back once we move back to the United States.

My youngest - Finley - is legally blind.  Braille has been a part of her life since she was 4 years old.  We didn't want her to lose her skills while she is here in Switzerland (even though, thankfully, she can still see regular print), so we started a search last fall for a Braille teacher and taught in English.  This proved to be more difficult than we thought it would be.  Turns out - not a lot of need for English Braille. 

Finally, today, she had her first braille lesson.  A nice, German man who happens to know English Braille and German Braille.  Finley liked him right away.  He can never replace her braille teacher from America, but at least while we are here, she will keep up her skills.

She will have braille once a week on her half day Wednesdays.  I am grateful for this not only because she can keep her skills up, but also because I no longer have a half day Wednesday.  Win win.

I treated her to a $10 Starbucks drink today for her first day of Braille.  It isn't her favorite - to have to do this on top of everything else - but she is being a trooper.


Sunday, April 8, 2018

Anne Frank

The kids have all read the Diary of Anne Frank (and me too), and this month the Basel Jewish Museum has some memorabilia on display.  Not the diary - unfortunately - we will have to go to Amsterdam to see that.  But some great things, none the same.

Otto Frank - Anne's father - is from Basel, and this is where the Frank family foundation is.  We were glad to be able to see some of the display here locally.


Friday, April 6, 2018

Thermal Baths in the Alps

Today I took my parents and the kids to a Thermal Bath in the Alps. The water was perfect, the scenery beautiful. We had a great time. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the Thermal Bath, but we did take some on the way.





 Swiss village at the base of the alps


 Gorgeous lake around Montreaux, Switzerland





 









Thursday, April 5, 2018

Making Easter Bread with the Grandparents

Today my mom taught the girls how to make Easter Bread. Then I made them traditional Swiss Fondue.











Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Concert at the Basel Munster

Tonight I took my parents to a Symphony concert (performed by the Basel Symphony) in the oldest church in Basel. We saw Wagner's (not my favorite) Parsival. It was really good!


Another Visit to Bern

My parents are in visiting us for a week, and today I took them to Bern.  It is only an hour drive (or train ride) from Basel, so very easy to get to.  The weather was beautiful - I think we have finally turned the corner into spring.

We got a beautiful view of the Swiss Alps from there, thanks to the clear skies