My temporary apartment

Hello!! I'm finally posting pictures of my temporary apartment. From what I've seen while hunting for apartments online this one is fairly typical however it doesn't have a balcony.



Note the little metal risers on the toaster. Meant to just warm some bread rather than toasting.


Tiny frig but everything fits. All the kitchens have these built in frigs. It makes the kitchen look nice.























I've resorted back to taking baths like I did when living in Elkhart. The shower work but it sucks. Definitely will need to verify a good shower when deciding on a permanent place.


Okay, this is the part I can't figure out. Look at the sink, there is no counter space anywhere! Where is a girl supposed to put her makeup bag? I eventually put the cutting board across the sink and that worked.


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Lörrach market

Here are some pictures from the market and the shops nearby. Sorry for the quality, I'm working with my iPhone.
































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Lunch in 5schilling

We ate lunch in a unique shop/restaurant/winery. This time of year is the time for weiß spagel (white asparagus). The traditional way to eat it is with ham and potatoes. You also need to choose mayonaisse or butter. My choice, mayo.
So I'm expecting a European portion, oh no, here it's special. Huge portion of asparagus (8" long and probably 3/4" thick) maybe 10 stalks. Then three smaller sized potatoes and a generous portion of what we would call prosciutto. All of it smoothered in the best home made mayo!
I had the local white wine to top it off. Awesome!
In addition to the restaurant there is an out door play area for the kids. I've noticed that everyone is very kid friendly.
Here are some pictures!





















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Breakfast in Germany

My boss and her husband took me across the boarder to Lörrach on Saturday for shopping. They wanted to leave early (8:30) so we will eat breakfast once we get there. Of course we still had to have coffee before we left.
Lörrach is only about 3.5 miles away so we were there in just a few minutes. We ate breakfast in Migros (pronounced without the 's'), the local chain grocery store. Breakfast is bread. Their oldest, Elias (4), had a pastry cone with a sweet filling. Katja had some kind of flaky bread, similar to a croissant but hardier, she shared with the baby, Samuel. Rudolf and I had te regional bread, bretzel. When they handed me my breakfast I was suprised to learn that it was what we call a pretzel. Not as much salt as in the US but enough. I explained to them that we usually eat pretzels at sporting events, fairs and carnivals.





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Interesting Cars

Here are a few interesting cars I found while walking around Basel.







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Velo Parking

There are bikes everywhere on Basel. They have great paths and lanes set up just for bikes. The other day I passed this "parking space" for bikes. Notice that their are four different kinds of bikes painted on the ground.
Regular bike, a motoBike, and a bike with a trailer. What caught my eye and made me stop and take a picture was the fourth kind. Can you spot it???



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The Purple House

I found a purple house very similar to the purple house across the street from my house in the US. I wonder if they painted it for the same reasons.


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Trash bags

I have been talking to everyone about how expensive it is to live here in Switzerland. I found out the other day that a roll of ten small (like bathroom waste basket small) is $23.
Before you jump to the same conclusion I did wait to hear this rational. They want to encourage people to recycle! I don't believe we pay for trash pick up, rather it's paid by the bags you use. Plus recycling is free as well (at least not directly out of pocket).
I wonder how thy would play out in the US. Would people waste less and think more about what they are throwing away??


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