Day to Day

Week two of school has started, and we are settling into a routine.  Today I had a chance to have a coffee with thee other American women.  One of Finley's classmates has been new since February, so she reached out to me to meet up.  She brought two other American women she had met, and we had a nice chat over lunchtime today.  It was great to meet other Americans that I can reach out to when I am missing a bit of home.

This afternoon Finley and I did a little bit of shopping after I picked her up from school, and then the kids sat and did their homework.  They don't have much - just a few minutes a night.  (Cainan's has mostly been French because he is new at it)  The school tries to keep homework to a minimum, and offers them time at school to do extra practice so they can ask questions from their teachers.

This evening Mat and I took Scooby for a walk.  I took him down to the remaining wall area so I could take some pictures.

 Small stream near the wall that feeds into the Rhine

 Pretty pathway

And today's German word of the day:

Two Weeks

This morning, I took Scooby on a long walk while everyone got up and ready.  I am enjoying our alone time together - exploring the city.  He is good company because he doesn't complain and he stops to smell the flowers....and everything else.

Today he and I walked in an area that is called St. Alban and near Cainan's school.  I have walked it before, but not near the Rhine in that area.  We walked along the water and found the last remaining part of the wall that used to enclose the city.  There is a walking path and a stream near that area.  It was really beautiful.  I forgot my camera, so it will give me an excuse to return.

We decided to take the kids to a part of Basel called Riehen today.  There is a house there we are interested in, and Mat and I wanted to stalk the area and see how convenient it is for travel, etc.  We had a nice time roaming around, and checking out Riehen's downtown.  It has a nice city center.

 City Hall

 After our walk, we went to the Toy Museum in Riehen.  It is a nice museum with toys from the 1800s and early 1900s.  The kids had a great time (plus this museum is free for kids under 16).  It was a great way to spend a few hours.

Entrance to the Museum

 Outside of the Toy Museum

 Mat and Arlington trying to work a ball through a giant maze

 Finley and Mat watching some spinning pictures

 The rooms and building itself were just as wonderful as the exibits

 Trying out an old fashioned bowling lane

 Creepy early 1900s dolls

 Cainan doing some bowling

 Finley said this was an 1800s American Doll set

 Giant doll house

 In the courtyard of the museum

 Every house, apartment, building has a fall out shelter for war with these really heavy doors

In the evening Mat and I took a walk with Scooby again.  We went on a long walk looking for fountains.  I read Mat an article about all the fountains around Switzerland (Basel has over 200) so we wanted to seek some out.

Natural History Museum

 Fountain with the Basilisk - the protector of Basel - on top

 Another great fountain

 Church we found while walking around

This building is the archives for Basel City - and it and its gate are on the registry for historical places 

 Beautiful iron gates

 This is the oldest fountain in Basel - has been working since the 1300s

New City/Old Town

This morning I woke up before everyone else and decided to take Scooby on a long walk.  We were gone for an hour exploring.  We crossed over the Rhine and looked at a new park I think the kids will like.  WE found a great walking path that goes under a busy bridge so we don't have to walk with the traffic.  I let him stop to smell all the leaves and bushes where other doggies had obviously been.  We had a great time.  That was until we had to walk across the pedestrian bridge.  Scooby has decided that bridges are not his thing.  He won't go near the edge, but even walking across he slows way down and walks very carefully like he is afraid he is going to fall through.  Poor dog.  We are going to have to work on that one.

While everyone got ready, I went to the post office to pick up a package we had missed.  Turned out it was our Permanent Residence cards.  YES!  This was the last thing we needed for us to get our cell phones.  I know - seems weird, but we had to have our permanent resident cards in order to be eligible for a cell phone.  They take it very seriously here what kind of visa you are on.  If you are on a travel visa?  No phone for you.  Crazy.

This afternoon we took the kids for a walk through old town.  We explored the different streets and enjoyed the sights.  We also toured a house that was on our list of possibles for an apartment.  It had a very cute outside, but the inside won't work for us.  Ah well.

Roche is always there.....lurking.....

 Buildings in Old Town

 Today there was a small brass quartet that was playing near the steeple of this church (the oldest church in Basel - dating to 1019) instead of the bells ringing on the hour.

 Oldest church in Basel

 Oldest church in Basel

 Model of the church for the blind

 Doors on the old church

 In the middle of the old town square - a large screen was set up for a movie tonight

 Old town streets

While we were at the house, we stopped at a playground across the street from it.  Finley and Cainan, and even Arlington for a bit, had a good time playing and running around.  We enjoyed the cool weather and quiet park for awhile before getting on the tram and heading home.

 Finley is pedaling to make a fountain turn on in the park

 In the park there was a "take one/leave one" book center

Mat and I went back out this even without the kids to stroll old town a bit more.  We took Scooby along to give him some exercise.  We stopped at a cafe and grabbed a sandwich made out of a pretzel.  It was a pretzel cut in half, buttered, and had cheese and salami inside.  IT was delicious.  We grabbed some ice cream before heading home to round off our evening.

Here are the extra pictures from our day: