Friday 3 July 1998

  Slideshow Pictures

At the Swiss border we were stopped by border guards who weren’t too interested in our passports. All they seemed to be interested in, was 40 Swiss franks for road tax. We arrived in Basel which is right on the French border at 12:15 p.m.. Drove toward the center of the city, and stopped for directions at a gas station-restaurant. Went in to buy a map of Basel, but they didn’t have any. Asked for directions to Hotel Basel in broken German. The six patrons, the waitress and the mechanic all pointed in different directions. A heated argument erupted and after a few minutes of this, the mechanic grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the garage. There he had a large map of Basel on the wall. After going over the map from one end to the other, searching for the street the hotel was on, he found it. With great pride he exclaimed that he was right, and proceeded to draw a map. It proved to be very helpful and we arrived at the Hotel Basel around 1:00 p.m..

We walked in to the lobby of the hotel (very nice lobby) and were told that check in time was at 2:00 p.m.. We were asked to wait in the coffee shop and were served complimentary drinks while we waited.

When the room was ready we moved in and since there was no parking at the hotel an attendant took our car to the parking lot. Very modern hotel situated in the center of Basel.

Our room was on the top floor of the three story hotel and we ended up with a fairly nice view. While the ladies were unpacking I went downstairs to the desk and asked where I could buy a video camera. There was a store right next to the hotel, which was similar to an A&B sound. I had heard, that in Europe, they had video equipment which could work in different formats. No such luck. Went back to the room, then we were off sightseeing.

We went to several clothing stores, and Rachel bought a couple of T-shirts. Went in to a delicatessen and bought cheese and a baguette. There was an old man, on the sidewalk outside the store, playing Hungarian music on his violin. Toured around and went to a cathedral.

There we met a group of Hungarian men who had been in Germany on a business trip. They took our picture.

Tried an ATM but for some reason it didn’t accept our cards. Can’t fool Swiss banks, they know we are broke. Went back to the hotel and phoned Tina and Dean, asked them to buy us a video camera and send it to Hungary. While the ladies were getting ready I went out and found an ATM that accepted the card. Aha! You can fool some Swiss banks.

We had dinner at the hotel restaurant "Der Basel Keller". I had fish soup and risotto; Rachel had lamb; Rita trout and salmon. We were told by the waiter that there was no drinking age in Switzerland, "When people eat they drink". There were no ashtrays on the tables so we asked the waiter if we could smoke. He was very surprised by the question. Told him there was no smoking in restaurants in Vancouver. He couldn’t understand why you would want to pay for a meal if you couldn’t enjoy it. We had a bottle of red local Swiss wine. Not one of the best on our trip, and Rachel had a "Rivella" which she enjoyed. Dinner cost $200 CAN.

Rita noticed that a lot of the ladies had "Wonderful backpack purses". She, of course, needed one. After dinner Rachel stayed in the room watching TV while we went out and walked across the bridge over the Rhine.

We noticed a McDonald’s and looked at the prices. Big Mac $9.90 CAN. They also sold beer at McDonald’s. On our way back to the hotel we passed an outdoor bar on a square where people were watching the world cup.

Saturday 4 July 1998

About 9:00 a.m. we had buffet breakfast at the hotel restaurant. It was included in the price of the room.

Rachel bought a skirt for 69 Swiss franks in a store opposite the hotel, went to a market and bought gooseberries then we went back to the delicatessen we had been in the day before and bought lunch. Cheeses and three small cutting boards with salamis and cheeses wrapped in plastic and also some chocolates for gifts. They were 11 SFr each. Went back to hotel asked for the car to be brought around, checked out 305 SFr $299 CAN. and left Basel.

We had intended to take a side trip to Lucerne, but we ran into a traffic jam and at 11:00 a.m. decided to head east towards Liechtenstein instead. Drove through Zurich and into another traffic jam. Noticed that the traffic light went from red to amber and then to green. About 1:30 p.m. traffic finally started to move.

There were some beautiful rolling hills with houses scattered here and there, dairy country.

We stopped at a gas station. No WC, but people were drinking beer. Went into a tavern and had beer, Rachel had Rivella. Asked for directions at the tavern for Liechtenstein and was told that there would be road signs everywhere. No problem. Drove and drove. Finally we saw a sign. Liechtensteig. Well the French called Basel "Bale", we guessed that the Swiss called Liechtenstein "Liechtensteig". Makes sense, doesn't it?. Up and down the hills of Switzerland we went, until there were no more signs to Liechtensteig. Stopped at a fire hall where the firemen were out on the parking lot. Told them that we were on our way to Liechtenstein and that the signs to Liechtensteig had ended. We were told that Liechtensteig was a village in the direction from which we had come. I guess we drove through it, never realizing that we had been in Liechtensteig.

The fireman told us that we were on the right road and there would be signs to Vaduz everywhere further down the road. Drove and drove. Realizing that Switzerland is a small country we started to have concerns about ending up in Italy. Decided to drive into a shopping center and buy a map. Went into a store which looked exactly like K-mart. Same cosmetic brands, clothing, all except the language according to our shopping expert (Rita). Bought a map for 15 SFr which is $15.00 CAN. Went back to the car opened the map and found out that Liechtenstein was on the other side of the road. Drove out of the parking lot, saw a sign to Vaduz, crossed the road and we were in Liechtenstein.