Basel, Switzerland

Wednesday February 17th
I arrived in Basel, Switzerland around 2:30 pm after a 3 1/2 hour train ride from Luxembourg. Celine was at the train station waiting for me with a big hug. We quickly grabbed a sandwich (I hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast at the hostel), an all-day transportation pass and some money since they use Swiss Francs here and not the Euro (the francs are about the same value as the American dollar right now). Then we jumped on a bus to take us to Celine's house to drop off my bags. We rested at Celine's for a bit in order to decide what we'd be doing for the day and so I could take a quick shower (I always feel so gross after riding on trains and traveling) and then we headed out to a restaurant on the top floor of a really nice department store to have some tea and cake and catch up with the latest gossip and news. After we finished our tea and cake we walked around the center of Basel for a bit, jumping in and out of shopping stores and running some errands before heading back to Celine's to rest before going out to dinner. Basel's center is covered in cobblestone roads, trolleys and fountains. There are tons of fountains in this town!! For dinner we'd planned on going to an Irish Pub that's known for its food, but it was full so we moved on to a different restaurant that was really chic. Celine and me both decide to have the 'menu' of the day. Our starting dish was a bowl of a soup made of finely chopped veggies in a chicken bouillon, then the second course was a white veggie cream wrapped in ham and a side of salad. The main course was chicken risotto (chicken on rice). All this was accompanied with wine, beer and an after dinner espresso. All of it was amazing tasting, so needless to say we gorged ourselves. After dinner we hit up a couple of bars (it was hard to drink the beers, because there was absolutely no room left in my stomach after our enormous dinner) and were later joined by Celine's boyfriend and some of his co-workers for a few drinks before calling it a night.

Thursday February 18th
Celine and me spent the morning sleeping in and watching the winter Olympics (they had the Olympics and other programs in almost every language in Basel except English. There was German, French, Spanish, Italian and some eastern European, but no English! WTF!!)When we finally got up and ready for the day we headed into town to do a little shopping (I bought a new gray peacoat) and do a little sightseeing, but our first stop of the day was at a food court in a shopping center. This wasn't like the food courts in the USA. There was no stereotypical Mcdonalds and chinese place that indicate an American food court. It was almost like a huge cafeteria and all handmade swiss specialties...ahhh bliss... So after once again gorging myself on Swiss food we hit up the old 'pedestrian only' area of town which is all cobblestone paths, the Cathedral, the frescoed Hotel de Ville and passed many, many fountains while sightseeing. Shopping was entertaining. I basically would find the most hideously atrocious clothes in the store and then try them on for giggles. When we finished sightseeing and shopping for the day Celine and me stopped in a grocery store to buy the ingredients to make some homemade pizza for dinner. Once back at the apartment I watched the Olympics some more, replied to some emails, had some pizza and then got ready to go out for the night. Nightlife in Basel is a little different. People dress down instead of up when they go out. So I would wear my nice fashionable french dresses and clothes during the day and then change into jeans and a t-shirt for my evening wear. Which if fine by me, because they still allow smoking cigarettes in all the establishments, so I'd come home from the bars smelling like stale smoke and I wouldn't want my nice clothes drenched in that smell. First stop of the night was at a billiards hall to shoot some pool and have a few drinks with some of Celine's friends, then her boyfriend dropped the two of us off at a club for the evening. This is definitely one of my favorite clubs I've been to in Europe. Its hard to describe the place but I'll try. It kind of reminded me of a pirate ship. It had wood carved statues of mermaid lining the walls of the second floor where there were balconies to watch the people dancing below. The tables that lined the walls were wood and shaped like barrels and there was rope hanging here and there. But best of all was the music. They had all the new hits that I love to dance to, but also all the classics and the DJ was great at remixing and spinning. Celine and me stayed there dancing and drinking until around 2am when we finally walked back to Celine's.

Friday February 19th
Celine and me slept in and watched the Olympics in the morning. In the afternoon we met up with her boyfriend in order to buy a Raclette Grill for the Raclette Dinner Party at Celine's in the evening. We also stopped by a grocery store and picked up all the supplies for the dinner and I bought swiss chocolate for all my friends who requested it. The rest of the evening was spent watching the Olympics and getting everything ready for the Raclette Dinner Party. Maybe I should first explain what is a 'Raclette Dinner Party'. Raclette is a type of cheese which you melt and place on or mix with a variety of things like potatoes, sausage, pickled veggies, eggs, etc. Its amazing. I've decided that when I return to the states I'm buying one of these machines in order to introduce this amazingly savoring chic 'meat and potato' meal to my fellow Americans. Hours later after we'd all finished gorging ourselves (no wonder why I gain so much weight when I'm in Europe) we hungout at the apartment drinking for a bit longer before making our way to an Irish Pub called Paddy Reilly's to drink and dance until the wee hours of the morning before taking a taxi home and calling it a night.

Saturday February 20th
I woke up and started arranging/packing all my things in order to be ready to catch my train that afternoon back to France. Celine and me hungout in the morning. We headed to the train station a little early in order for me to stop by the candy store that Celine works at in the train station to buy some specially requested chocolates for Nalleli. I still had a lot of Swiss francs so we ran around the train station finding things for me to eat for lunch on the train, then we said our goodbyes and I boarded my first of three trains. The journey back to France was long and obnoxious. I had to switch trains in Strasbourg and had a 45 minute wait. Then I had to not only switch trains in Paris, but also train stations so I had to take the metro across Paris. By the time I arrived in Poitiers the last train to Montmorillon had already departed so I made arrangements to stay at my friend Moona's place. A french friend met me at the train station and we dropped my bags off at his place since Moona wasn't home yet and we headed out to the bars. We ordered a bottle of 'punch' which is rum mixed with tropical fruit juices. Some of Cedric's friends met us there so we hungout for a while and then Moona called and we met up with her and I headed back to her house to crash for the night.

Sunday February 21st
I caught the first train from Poitiers to Montmorillon. I could have stayed and hungout with my friends longer in Poitiers, but I was exhausted from all my travels and ready to be home. I arrived back in Montmorillon at 12:30pm and spent the rest of the day resting and watching tv. And so ended my February vacation :)