August 6 –
(Today’s title courtesy of Duncan!) The family set out to explore Basel without me today as I had business to attend to. I spent the morning doing work in the Fed office at the BIS before having lunch with Gabi and preparing for the afternoon discussion on data management strategies within the Monetary and Economics Department at the BIS. We covered many topics but there still wasn’t enough time so I’ll have another data session tomorrow after I spend the morning with the web folks discussing dissemination issues.
While I spent several hours chatting with lots of folks on interesting issues, the family decided to cover all of Basel on foot. They wandered around the old town and did some shopping – looking for Birkenstocks and Swiss watches. Then they wandered around the Marketplatz and other shopping areas. They had salads for lunch – it was HOT today – and rambled some more. During this wander, they spotted an add for a collector’s toy store out of the city center so it was time to explore some more! They took the tram to where they thought the shop should be but got a little lost before they finally found it only to discover that it was closed! It turned out that it wasn’t quite what they wanted anyway so they decided to walk back to the center of town.
While wandering along the banks of the Rhine they noticed two interesting sights: topless Swiss sunbathers and people swimming in the strong current of the Rhine. Apparently there are swimming lanes marked but they are difficult to navigate given the strength of the current. There was more wandering about town and few more tram trips before they wound up at the Munster – which is relatively plain compared to churches we’ve seen this trip. (No candles!) Not a lot of stained glass either so I didn’t mind missing it today. They walked some more and scouted out museums to visit tomorrow; most were closed today. They enjoyed some Swiss chocolate, stopped by the Tinguely Fountains to take some pictures (they are really cool!) and then there was *more* wandering before heading back to the hotel where I joined them at 6:30.
Since I had been sitting for several hours, I made them walk some more to get dinner and we had another fabulous meal – this time at Gifthütti where Frank had the best steak he’s had in ages and I really enjoyed my curried shrimp and veal (?!). More walking along the river before we got home. Now the tired folks are tucked quietly into bed.
/san/
[Pedometer: 32, 671 or better than 17 miles since Frank’s steps are longer than mine. They set a new record and I probably managed about 4 miles today if I’m lucky. Not enough to burn off even the cream in my curry sauce….]
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