Switzerland is amazing

Here we are - in beautiful Switzerland. What a beautiful country. Even though we've only spent one day here I already love this country a lot. The people talk funny and they call it German. As a German I can tell you: Whatever it is they speak here, it's definitely NOT German. It is very clean here and the houses look very pretty. It's a bit hilly here in Basel, too, and the Rhine (Rhein) flows through Basel and gives this part of Switzerland a very mild climate...after all, it was only -2 today, the warmest we've had it in a week. When we left Leipzig last night, it was -13 degrees!

So we're staying in Basel until Monday morning, which is right on the northern tip of Switzerland. The amazing thing about Basel apart from all the above things is that it is situated directly at the German and the French border! So when our friend Conny, the twins' mother, drove us around today, we visited both Germany and France and returned to Switzerland after all that! And what's even more amazing is that as soon as you get over the border, every single sign is only written in the national language and the people can only speak their language. When we took a walk in France, everything was in French, a lady was walking her dog and was talking to it in French, little kids were playing in the street and were yelling French things at each other...and 20 minutes walk down the road, the exact same thing took place, but in German!!! And then, back in Switzerland, people talked this inidentifiable language called Swyzer Dytsch (Swiss German). It sounds like Chinese to me.

Switzerland is so amazing. Michael had his very first ice-skating experience today and loved it! He only fell once and wants to spend his time here ice-skating now. There are beautiful castles, big churches and an endless number of museums here, all surrounded by very pretty houses and streets. It will be a very busy 9 days. STAY POSTED!!!