Sprechen Sie Deutsches?

When I started researching Basel I came across a very unsettling fact: German is the official language of the city. I had it in my head that because it was in Switzerland French would be the dominate language. Needless to say my skills at geography didn't help my common sense. We are, after all, only a few miles from Germany and of course there would be a lot of German influence. After Friday and yesterday I can see that I should have learned German.

Friday we went to the spa. This particular spa is in Germany, right on the edge of the Black Forest, absolutely beautifully located in the hills. Having never previously been to a spa I had few expectations so I can safely say all of my expectations were filled and then some. It is a very classy and chic place with the average clientele age of 55. Everyone, of course was speaking German and everything was in German. There was an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, a whirlpool, a handful of jacuzzi type pools, a cold pool and a hot pool. There was also treatment areas and a sauna. We spent out time in the ever so relaxing jacuzzis and hot pool. The whirlpool was good fun as well. At one point in time we were having more fun than a person is apparently allowed to have and this German woman came over and told us off. Granted I had no idea what she was saying. Sophie and Issy knew enough to know that we were being told off. All in all it as an amazingly relaxing experience and we were all quite ready for a nap.

Yesterday my German skills...or lack thereof were tested even more. Yesterday we went into Basel. Like I said before the official language of the city is German. This was alright as long as I was with other people but we decided that I should take the opportunity to take a look around by myself. I wandered on over the the Rhine and it was beautiful, gorgeous, wish you were here sort of a moment. It was a very nice sunny day with a bit of a breeze but fabulous non the less.

I was then faced with quite a predicament. I didn't get the chance to eat anything before we left the house so I was quite famished by about 2. As I walked about, browsing the stalls of an outdoor market I played with the the idea of just waiting until I got back to the house to eat something. I knew if I did and told mom about it she would probably chide me for not even trying so I decided I would buy something. There was a forever long ling at the bratwurst place so I went over to a pretzel stand (one of many I might add) and got a sandwich. I feel so sorry for that poor girl that had to help me. In a broken German/French/English mix I managed to buy a sandwich.

It was a great afternoon overall. I think I need to to find a simple German phrase book though...