The Hills Are Alive...Switzerland Part 2

Hello again my friends...I hope you enjoyed the first part of my report on the BT HQ holiday....

...morning 3...more modern "art"...pfffft.....

...I insisted we took the typist outside for the good of his mental and physical health...here we are by the Rhine again...

....we decided to take the ferry to the other side...the ferry is very clever..it is attached to a long rope across the river and the speed of the current pulls it across....

.....here I am in the middle of the river....we were heading for that tall building in the background because it was near a museum of funny machines ....but we did not end up in that museum because we wanted to have lunch nearby first but could not find anything to suit...so we walked back along the river in to the centre of town and went for a nap...and then the typist went for a run along the river and over the bridges...he got to see more of the city than the rest of us did I think...

....and then afterwards mum took him for a "vegan feast"....*whipser* he won't confess it here but it was actually rather delicious...they made nice iced-tea with grapefruit too...

....to keep him happy we went for espresso and dessert in the cathedral square afterwards....

...the next day we four them selling this in the market square by the tram stop...that's quite a word isn't it?...gotta love the Germans.....(8we were in the German part of Switzerland)

...after this we caught a bus to Germany (..not actually that far away...)...no one checked our passports ...in fact no one even checked our tickets....

...we went to the design museum called Vitra....this fancy place was selling coffee and ice cream in the grounds....

...designed by the famous architect Frank Gehry....the building, not me...

...i took quite a bit of interest in the design...comfy chairs...useful table...

....mega-comfy chair!...actually an Eames chair and costing about €5,000!!...

...and I simply had to share this with you...it was mum's lunch at Vitra...any guesses?....watermelon and pumpkin soup...with a pesto thingy in it...

...i took the opportunity to leave a few ideas of my own for them to work on....

...in the morning we left Basel by train and went to see some reeeeeeallly old friends of the family who live in a small village called Grellingen...pop 2,000......

...OMD...the weather had changed by the time we reached Grellingen....there was an enormous thunderstorm....

...uh oh...leaves in the pool...

...we did a super walk round the village in the morning.....

....thankfully the storm had cleared.....

...we even met some of the locals...

...i rather like Grellingen....

..in the evening we alkyd over the big hill to get dinner and admire the view....

...but all good things come to an end and before we knew it we were back in Basel at the station and waiting to catch our train back to Paris and on to England...

...we had some suitable reading on the train...we arrived in Paris a couple of hours ahead of the Tour de France but we could not stay to watch the cyclists as our train was due to leave at exactly the time they were due to arrive....

......Miss Lola was delighted to see us....she had spent the week at the farm and they had finished the haircut she had had the week before we left...much smarter I think

...so that is my report my friends....we did enjoy Switzerland and can recommend Basel for a break...just member to empty your piggy bank before you go....


Woof...Herr Clapton....