We Are Not In France Anymore
Bike: 24 miles, 640 feet of climb
Walk: 5.5 miles around Basel
Accommodation: Cozy Room in Home with Cinema and Lounge; host Nikos. Private room, private bath, access to kitchen and other rooms in the house, wifi.
Lunch: Picnic on the trail
Dinner: Boo; excellent Thai green curry with chicken and wok-fried shrimp with vegetables
As we left Mullhouse, it was clear that we had dropped down out of the foothills and into the plains. Corn and vegetables and grains replaced fruit and grapes as the main crops, We stayed on the Eurovelo 5 and a couple of other major bike routes, which were clearly marked and well maintained.
An hour or so into the ride, we realized that people we passed were calling out "Hello" or "Allo," instead of "Bonjour." We had crossed over into Switzerland, and were seeing many more Swiss, German, and American bikers.
It was fun to have an easy ride. We stopped often to drink, eat snacks, and stretch.
As we rode through the suburbs of Basel, the traffic and neighborhoods were much quieter and calmer than the towns and cities we had been in in France. Drivers were polite, people seemed to be in less of a hurry and friendlier.
We were just a bit early, so we stopped at a little café for ice cream and cold water. The proprietor was a young woman from South Africa who also likes long-distance biking. She chatted with us for a while, until other customers arrived.
Our host Nikos met us at the door, showed us to the garage to store the bikes, and welcomed us into his very nice, neat, clean home. Nikos is a former triathlete from Greece who is now headmaster of an elementary school. We had great fun talking with him, hearing about his life growing up in Thessaloniki, France, and Basel, and his struggles as a young professional managing a large school now.
Nikos offered to do a load of laundry for us (!), showed us how to use his fancy coffee maker, recommended a couple of restaurants. We showered before venturing out to explore the city and eat dinner.
As we crossed one of the many bridges in the city, we spotted a swimming lane in the river, with hundreds of people floating along holding onto colorful round dry bags. I took a few pictures, and of course we decided we would have to do whatever that was tomorrow. During dinner, I Googled it and found out the bags are called Wickelfisch, and Wickelfisching is unique to Basel. It's free, and it's popular with both tourists and locals, especially when it's hot (which it most certainly is now). We found out the tourist office sells Wickelfisch.
When we got back to the house, we told Nikos we were going Wickelfisching tomorrow. He has never done it, but he has a large Wickelfisch for Ken to borrow, so we will only have to buy one for me. Nikos said we seemed like pretty responsible guests, so he was going off to spend the night with his girlfriend and we would have the house to ourselves until he returned from work tomorrow.
We behaved responsibly and took ourselves to bed. It was already 21:00 and past our "normal" bedtime anyway.
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| Wickelfischers. |
