Small adventures to Basel and Mariastein

This first set of pictures are from Basel. I went there for the second time, but actually took pictures this time. The first is me sitting on the "middle bridge" that goes over the Rhine river. I took a picture with the statues backside! The second is of the tram. They don't all look like pigs, this one was just special.

The next is of city hall. It really sticks out from the rest of the buildings. The next one is from the same square that city hall is in (see what I mean.)



The next picture is the Tinguely fountain. You're suppose to take pictures of it I was told, so I did. It is really a neat fountain. Lastly, Katie and I went to a music festival downtown for a few hours. I took this picture early on in the evening. Later that night it was packed with people and you could hardly move.


Driving in Switzerland
I got to drive the van the other day to take Sterre to tennis lessons. The van doesn't even have a key. You simply have this piece of plastic, kind of like a credit card, that you carry with you and whenever you are near the car, it automatically unlocks the door. So, once you are in you press a button on the dashboard and the car starts. This car is a manual as well, don't forget. So, to sum it up, I get to drive a key-less minivan and a Beemer around Switzerland; sure beats the old Ford Tempo!!




These pictures are from when I took Romee on a walk, which was more like a hike, to Mariastein. It's a monastery that you can see from my backyard and we can hear the bells all during the day. Apparently the story is that a women's two year old son had fallen off the cliff up there and when the mother went to find her son he was alive. He told her that a women dressed in white named Maria had caught him. So the monastery was built to thank her. The first picture is from inside the sanctuary, the second is of the plaques that are all over the walls in the hall that thank Maria, and the last is to prove that the hills really are alive with the sound of music!!


Pronunciations:
Marit, the mother: Mar-eet (strong E)
Martijn, the dad: Mar-tine (like time, with an N)
Sterre: Like Sarah, but with a T
Constantijn: Con-stan-tine
Romée: Rome-A (strong A)
Flüh, the town I live in: Flu, like the illness


***As for an update on the ironing, I'm getting much better. It takes me a long time, but no big mishaps. I just don't really understand it though. I can understand ironing some things, but is it really necessary to iron a 2 year olds's jeans?