Basel with Sharon

Sharon and I decided that it would be important to plan the next day trip in a big Swiss city. A friend asked me previously if I had thought about going on the XChange UNIL trip to Basel, and I thought that sounded like fun. However, instead of signing up with XChange, Sharon and I planned our own tour of the city. This gave us the opportunity to plan our museum list and historical tour, without worrying about whether or not we would get to see everything on our list.



We visited the Kunstmuseum, the Puppenhaus Museum, and the Tinguely Museum, all of which provided a great cultural background of the city and some fun interaction with art and history.



Not only was it a beautiful day with blue skies and sunshine, but we managed to take a rather extensive tour of the historical part of the city and engage in some regular weekend fun. We found the Saturday food market at the Marchplatz, where Sharon and I shared a DELICIOUS pretzel (her first ever) and a garage sale at Petersplatz, where people were dressed up and selling a whole variety of old junk. We also walked over all three of the major bridges over the Rhine (one of the largest rivers in Europe).



Another thing we found out: the Swiss really do love their cheese - enough to fill an entire refrigerated wall and a corner with several refrigerated units. We bought some amazing cheese for our trip back on the train!

Grand St. Bernard

(see photos)

This weekend, I went with the Aumonerie to Grand St. Bernard for a weekend of snowshoeing. I felt like I was in a winter survival movie because there was litte visibility and the snow covered our entire line of sight. It was truly an amazing experience to see the mountains and learn about the area's history.



We stayed overnight in a hospice at the top of the mountain, where they provide food and shelter for free for passerby. Their motto is to welcome and nourish, and it was wonderful to arrive to a warm, castle-like building with small food nooks and bowls for hot tea.



We passed the time playing Jungle Speed and cribbage, and we visited the museum that talked about times from the Middle Ages and ancient tools and equipment used to traverse the dangerous mountain area. They also talked about the origin of the St. Bernard and the dog's role in helping sniff out the travel path after a new-fallen snow. This was a wonderful chance to spend sometime outdoors doing winter sports, a common pasttime (or, rather, obsession) for the Swiss. As the months pass, I am constantly amazed at how much culture the Swiss have to share.

Onion Tart with Mustard and Fennel

Courtesy of Smitten Kitchen's wonderful recipes:




This was my attempt at making dough with yeast, and it came out pretty well! It makes me all the more excited to try bread next. Maybe garlic rosemary focaccia would be good...



And, of course, everything tastes better when you share with your roommates. Marie had some too, but she had to leave for France for the weekend, so she couldn't stay for the whole dinner. Here I am with Mansoureh and Sharon. Our first meal all together!