A Well Kept Man

Alli's sister is in-continent (not incontinent, that would be something much more funny, but probably not for this blog) for three weeks, so we decided to guilt her into coming to see us in Switzerland. The real purpose of the trip is for her to make kissy faces with her boyfriend in Germany, but blood is thicker than hefeweizen so we convinced the two of them to meet us halfway. Basel is an industrial city in the north (kind of central, kind of west) of Switzerland. It is bisected by a river, and has a distinctly German feel to it (they even speak German...which isn't really that noteworthy or surprising).

We chose Basel both for it's proximity to both our home in Switzerland and Stuttgart, Germany (where the boyfriend spends his days and nights), as well as for the fall festival that happened to coincide with our desired rendezvous weekend. I would equate the festival to the Minnesota State Fair (really any state fair, or county fair, or church carnival), the only difference being the fact that it was held in the city vice a fairgrounds. Most European cities don't reserve prime real estate for the sole purpose of selling whirlpools at factory direct prices, as they deem the land valuable for such things as agriculture and housing. This led to a very disjointed festival as the various parts of the fair were blocks apart. One plaza had a ferris wheel and spinning tea cup ride, while another had one of those slingshot tower drop things and whack-a-mole. Our favorite was the section devoted to food...nothing was served on a stick (much to the disappointment of all Minnesotans).

The interesting tidbit I'd share is that when you order a bratwurst (more specifically thatwurst and thiswurst as I had no clue what the difference was, or even which was which...Alli's wound up having melted cheese inside, mine was just a normal brat), it does not come with a bun. You just get a brat on a plate with a squirt of spicy mustard. Sometimes you will get a slice of rye bread as well, but that's it. I noticed the locals using the bread to hold the brat in place while they tore off a piece from the end with their teeth or fingers, depending on the individual. I opted for the tear by hand method to avoid hot brat juice in the face...Alli went teeth first and ended up with molten cheese all over her cheeks (rookie!).

We also managed to devour cinnamon roasted almonds, crepes, garlic/mustard pretzels, and glühwein (spiced red wine, served hot). Not a bad haul if you ask me. There was also a large convention center which had many of the things you'd expect to find at a state fair: first floor had indoor rides and coin operated games; second floor had discount merchandise; third floor had spas, whirlpools, windows, vacuums, Ron Popeil automatic food dehydrator (or whatever Euro-equivalent), power tools; fourth floor had food, a fashion show, and representatives from various vacation destinations in and around Switzerland.

We had dinner early as we all had about a two and a half hour drive back to our respective hamlets, but it was nice to catch up with Alli's sister and her long-distance main squeeze. We will see them again at Christmas in Minnesota, and possibly over the winter for a ski-getaway. Unfortunately I don't really have anything positive or negative about the non-fair aspects of Basel as we were really only focused on the fair, visiting with Alli's sister, and avoiding the smell of fresh, hot, roasted chestnuts (marrons) which were everywhere.