The Basel Triangle

We just love the location of our second swap in Badenia which we had to vacate after three weeks, close to the so-called triangle of Switzerland, France and Germany. We've visited here now for several years in a  row and can highly recommend it, especially if you are a foodie and love scenic hillsides. It's situated in the south-western corner of Germany, which has the mildest climate, btw.

A short hop to Switzerland was on the cards now as we had already explored the French side of the border last year. Basel is the closest city in Switzerland when you cross the border. No matter whether you go for one day or longer, you have to pay the road tax of 42 Swiss franks for a whole year (Swiss Franks at the moment almost equal the US $). A burger, on average, sets you back by $18 and a pizza also by about $20. No surprise there; I had paid $5.50 for a glass of tea in a touristy spot in Switzerland about 20 years ago.

Honestly, this German speaking part of the country is very similar to Germany-- only prices jump up! For food, clothes and certainly hotels. But hubby wanted to get an impression too and visit some places I had seen and liked before.

So Basel it was. The weather gods were smiling down on us as we strolled along the embankment of the Rhine which has a strong current here so close to its origin. We visited the famous Waterfall of Schaffhausen of Father Rhine two years ago. Definitely worth a trip to see!

We were flabbergasted when we saw girls in their bikinis on the promenade. To our surprise, people went swimming in the river. You really had to be a good swimmer and a diver to be so adventurous. Mostly young swimmers, equipped with a plastic bag that holds their clothes, had the guts to go in.

For us it was excitement enough to cross the river in a small ferryboat and climb several dozens of stairs to the historic upper part of town.

Chris de Burgh's song came to mind: "Don't pay the ferryman...until he gets you to the other side."." We felt brave just doing that.s

Farewell to Villa Villekulla (Kunterbunt)

Did you read Pippi Longstocking when you grew up? Pippi Longstocking was the protagonist of a series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. A tomboy living with her monkey, Mr. Nilsson, in a colorful villa, Vill Villekulla, was my hero as little girl. Ah, yes, and she had a horse living with her in it.

Because of the multi-colored decorations and wallpapers in our swapped home in the Alsace, my friend who visited us called it "Villa Kunterbunt" - meant in the most endearing way. We loved it and its decor.

(bathroom)

It was time to pack and make arrangements for our return trip. Readers of this blog may remember that we often have to pay for a rental car to go to the house we are swapping. There we often pick up the home owner's car and have it at our disposal. 

The same happened this year. We had to go and pick up a rental car. Since that was not possible (due to their Terms & Conditions) in Strasbourg, it was a longer way to Stuttgart from where we flew back. The next day, having closed up the house,  we drove back to the airport and returned the rental.

It seems a bit of a nuisance to do the distance  (90min) twice, but it's the only possible way of getting back to the airport.

Our exchange family was lucky . They had a family member to collect them when they arrived (in Frankfort). At least I had helping to clean the house. It was a heart-felt good-bye with the 89 year old "Oma", grandmother' of our exchange family. She had looked after us and welcomed us in a very endearing way.

(kitchen) 

Maybe we'll see each other again.Maybe indeed as we have heard since form our exchange partners that they are interested in repeating this stay.

So we spent the last night in an airport hotel in comfort instead of getting on the road at an ungodly hour. Transatlantic flights depart around 9.30 -10.00 most of the time. With the drive to the airport or 90 min plus an extra 2 hours necessary for check-in we prefer to arrive at the airport the night before.

The inconvenience of stripping beds and cleaning a whole house is just too much for me to bear on an early morning. So you see: planning and organization is the name of the game of a successful home swap. More tips to follow in the upcoming eBook: Insider Tips for Successful Home Swaps.

(livingroom)

                                                   (spacious terrace on garage roof top)

Lalique

If you have an interest in glass and crystal, the name Lalique will mean something to you. On a coolish day, after yesterday's deluge, we drove ca. 40 minutes to Wingen sur/Moder to see this exceptional exhibition. The name is famous worldwide, but hardly anybody knows that these ornaments are produced here and not in Paris.

Glass has been blown in this area of Alsace/France for hundreds of years.Workmen originally moved here from Germany because the necessary types of sand and other minerals are to be found here galore.

This map shows how the factories concentrate in this area. And now to the superb, delicate, impressive artifacts on show there.

A tiara, a brooch showing two butterflies and the head of a horse took my breath away.The pictures need no further comments.Enjoy!

The coffee shop served some decent meals in spite of a bad write-up on TripAdvisor which had also mentioned the Chateau across the road did wonderful food.Except it was only available for prebooked functions and groups.

Your House is not Alone

One of the biggest advantages for me if not the biggest- is that your house is occupied all the time during a home swap. Sure, you can hold your mail and also have a security system in place, but people coming and going, the lights on any given night prevent burglaries as any insurance broker or cop will tell you.
Normally you can expect from your trading partners that they will water your plants or provide pet care if that is needed and part of your arrangement.
In the meantime we have made it into Germany where I'm going to meet my children before making our way down to France. The French family is en route exchange a French version of 95 degrees with  whatever hits them in Florida! For us these temperatures here are breathtaking, literally. On of the reason for our annual journey is the cooler climate. Not so this year! And to bear it without an AC is difficult when you're so used to it. I'm already bored with the never changing discussion that "we only have this heat for a few weeks every year".Yeah, sometimes months! And even these few weeks can be hard on the system!.Not too sure yet if I can grin and bear it....In the meantime: I deserve my refreshments, don't I?

Alsace- We're coming!

We are at it again: Home Swapping with another family. You just can't beat it when it comes to economical ways of planning a vacation abroad or the States - no contest!
It's our 5th season. We had 4 years in a row of successful home exchanges.Well, one turned out to be a bit itchy but the others were all wonderful! I think we had 9 so far!
Our destination this year is France again but a part that is not well known here in the US unless you are a wine aficionado. The Alsace area produces  wonderful wines that are similar to German wines but to some drinkers maybe a little less suspect...:) As a former wine importer and distributor, I had plenty of opportunity to sample and compare them. Rieslings, Pinot Blanc and Noirs, Sylvaner and the inimitable Gewűrztraminer.
And the Alsace region is gourmet country! The cuisine is a little hardier than the typical French haute cuisine or cuisine nouveau you find in Paris or Lyon, again resembling German country fare. If you look at the proximity to my home country on the map, that is not surprising. The other factor is that Alsace belonged to Germany until World War II. Germany ceded the region to France under the Treaty of Versailles. For history buffs and other interested parties, there is more on Wikipedia.

Across the Border: Strasbourg

... Except there is no real border anymore when you cross over from Germany into France, only a sign saying: “ You now entered France!"  and that the speed limit is 120 km/h on motorways and 90 km/h on national roads. Strasbourg is merely 50 minutes away from where we were staying in Baden- Baden and well worth a visit. In fact, Alsace is one of my favorite destinations for quick day visits. The best time to avoid huge crowds that are almost always present, is when summer school holidays are over in September. Truth be told that the month of October is indeed the best for gourmet travelers because the first fresh wines are available, all types of venison and mushrooms.

The whole region is well renowned and loved for its quaint, picturesque and medieval towns, dotted with timber framed houses which all seem to have an abundance of window boxes with flowers spilling out. Whether you drive to Riquewihr, Kaysersberg (birthplace of Albert Schweitzer), Obernai or Colmar ─ you are always in for a treat. The year before, our choice was Colmar, my all-time favorite, smaller than Strasbourg but with equally big crowds of tourists vying for sightseeing spots and restaurant tables.

Since my hubby had not seen the capital of the Alsace region and the seat of the European Parliament as well as the European Court of Human Rights. The city’s population has almost doubled in the last decade, with the greater urban area now comprising just under 1 million inhabitants.

The adjacent area to the northwest covers the magnificent natural park and mountain region of the “Vosges”, an ideal location for hikers, bikers and nature lovers. You will find fewer tourists there. I spent a whole week during my college years on a very isolated but romantic “gite”, i.e. a cottage.

We had tried to find home swapping partners on the French site, in vain. We almost made a deal, i.e. signed the exchange contract, when the French found out that it’s likely to be very hot in Florida in the month of August. Indeed. Though there are many picturesque towns of a similar nature on the German side of the border, the French has a more exotic feel to me, being German. And the food in the restaurants is different, even the baguettes are better…although a bit more expensive. Strasbourg, by the way, is very expensive territory with a normal iceream sundae I enjoy in Germany on a regular basis costing here almost twice as much.

With this being our last excursion of this year’s European stay, we enjoyed every minute in spite of the crowds, and we took plenty of photos. The weather was only glorious. We wished we could have stayed along the banks of the river Rhine which runs almost all the length of the border between the two countries. We brought home some regional delicacies like “foie gras” and wine. We skipped the pottery that is typical for this region, colorful stoneware, but just too heavy  to bring back on a plane. Hubby and I, both agreed that Colmar had a more intimate feel to it. But now we had “done” the entire Alsace.
All there was left to do after this excursion was pack up or numerous gigantic bags and clean the house we had spent 3 happy weeks in for our departure back to the US.

Last Stop: Baden-Baden

Our next stop: Baden- Baden. Eventually we arrived at our final destination and second exchange partner near Baden-Baden. There is always some excitement when you reach your new exchange destination. You have a certain picture in your head from the description of the owners on that website and pictures that you have seen. One has to be prepared that once expectations aren’t always met. In this case we got lucky again. The townhouse was a lovely abode with a small garden in the back and the balcony on the first floor. This time our abode is a little smaller, a duplex as we say in Ireland, but sufficient for our needs. The location nestled against a hillside and its views over the beginnings of the Black Forest were priceless. It being a lovely summer day, we opened all doors and windows to air the place and feel the fresh mountain the breeze rush through it. Most German private homes have no AC. Fresh mountain air cleared the house at night even on the hottest days when the barometer nearly reached 40 degrees Celsius.
There were no unpleasnat surprises, no missing light bulbs like in France last year or broken sinks. Neither did we have to feeed unannounced pets like fish or guinea pigs! 

One downside, however, needs mentioning and that was a bad Internet connection due to the surrounding hills.

Baden- Baden is a world renowned spa resort and also famous for its high-end casino. 

The German word Baden means  to bathe.  In the last century, the elite of European countries came here for the "cure". This mostly consisted of drinking certain water from mineral wells that are still being  made available to ailing people who want to improve their health -- for a few Euro now. Then it was most glitzy. Even the Roman used that already during Roman times. From here, it’s easy to get to the French border into Alsace, France.

The Kurgarten (spa garden) at the Kurhaus annually hosts Baden-Baden Summer Nights, an outdoor event featuring live classical music concerts. I was looking forward to spending time in the Fabergé Museum. Maybe a trip to the Therme (Thermalbad), hot mineral waters you can swim in; good for arthritis but  a bit much on a hot summer’s day.