Die Kultur geht kaput!

Today marked my return to Switzerland, home of the Alps, “neutrality,” army knives, watches, banking, punctuality, cheese, and chocolate, after a 1.5 year absence. I’m sure that some Swiss bank accounts are paying somebody off to create such a stainless reputation. Regardless, my language course offered an excursion to Basel, the second largest city in Switzerland, located at the intersection of Germany, France and Switzerland. The whole day was a snowstorm, and was also Sunday, meaning that the city was silent.

After arriving in the Basel train station, we walked over to the Rhein, but rather than taking the bridge across, we had planned to do the cultural thing that no Swiss people do anymore unless they are Amish*, but even Amish* people use bridges and none live in Switzerland: take the cute little boat across, which is powered by the river’s current. We arrived at the ferry station and rang the bell to summon the captain, who was on the opposite shore line. The captain wasn’t really in a hurry to respond, so Dennis, the leader of the excursion, exclaimed, “Ach, die Kultur geht kaput!” and then had to use his cell phone to call the captain, who ferried us across. Although I may sound mildly cynical, it was actually fun. I love that the Germans apply the word "kaput" so liberally.

The rest of the day was spent touring the impressive Basel Muenster, Basel Art Museum , and the disappointingly boring PuppenHausMuseum. I also ate delightful Turkish food and bought cut-rate Coop brand Swiss chocolate from the Coop grocery store.

*I suppose one nice thing about writing this blog on the internet is that I can be guaranteed that no Amish people will read it and be offended.