Sunday Funday

The title of this entry is in dedication to Katie Jo.

Although our phone alarms were set for 7 am, we didn’t have Kubin up and rallying everyone until around 9, when we booked it out of the hostel to avoid a late check out fee and made cautious plans to spend the day in Basel by catching an earlier train. After a confusing trip to the train station, we grabbed a noon train to the border town.

The train to Basel was just unfair. As we passed picturesque mountains to lakes that put Maine to shame, I felt that I was watching an episode of Planet Earth right outside my window. It’s just not fair that such beautiful things exist and people to get to live right there. The rivers were even the color of Ice Gatorade. You can’t make this stuff up.

Basel is located right on the border of France and Switzerland, with half the train station in one country and half in the other. Luckily, on the train there, we met an American couple from Wisconsin who recognized Yuker (a mid-West card game) the others were playing and struck up a conversation. Turns out they lived in Basel for a year and gave us the locations of some good places to eat and pointed us in the direction of the city centre.

We ventured into Basel, backpacks in tow, hopped on the trolleys of this wired town, and made our way to a quaint city centre and scavengered for somewhere to eat. This was the epitome of doing it live. We made a plan basically on the train, hopped off in an interesting looking town, and went with it. We had all we needed on our backs and each other to laugh about all the memories.

Basel was very adorable, with cobblestone roads and cafes lining the streets. We saw their stunning town hall draped in frescos and our mouths-watered outside the bakery and chocolatier windows. We have decided everything is cuter in Europe, from the towns to the shops to even the dogs and children. It’s just not fair.

Eventually, we caught the train to Luxembourg city, all of us finding time to nap or play cards. Ahh, down time at last!

We had such an amazing weekend it just wasn’t fair. I can’t help but think we had the best weekend first, because nothing can be as much fun as what we just did. However, I am holding my hopes high for Munich and Salzberg next weekend. I’ve got a great group of friends, a backpack full of clothes, and a semester to see it all!