This weekend, we were lucky to play host to Jessi, who was traveling for work in Stuttgart and decided to tag on a few extra days to come and play.  We picked her up in Zurich on Friday morning (obviously equipped with embarrassing signs) and headed back to Basel.

We spent the entire day walking around and showing her our favorite places.  Some of the highlights included: lunch at Markthalle, climbing the cathedral tower at Munster Kirche, and visiting the Jean Tinguely museum.  And because a trip to Switzerland wouldn’t be complete without copious amounts of cheese, we headed out for fondue that evening.  Around 12:30, Sarah called it quits for the evening, but the Milne siblings were full speed ahead.  They went out to another bar where Chris ended up singing karaoke to Wonderwall and then they rounded out the evening with a yummy Doner kebab.

On Saturday, we got a late start but headed to Lucern for the day.  When we arrived, we immediately heard music and having no firm plans for the day, decided to follow the source.  In Switzerland (and especially in Basel), there are carnival groups, known as clique, who perform music (drums and horns specifically) in groups during Faschnacht.  We weren’t really sure of the occasion in Lucerne, but we enjoyed watching different groups perform – there was a fantastic combination of traditional Swiss/German drinking songs and modern music.  Here is just one video we took from the performers.

While in Lucerne, we also went to a chocolate tasting at Max Chocolatier (a small, local shop).  Here we learned about different types of chocolates, how chocolates are made, and most importantly … we got to eat a lot of chocolate.  It was all very delicious!  In the afternoon, we tried to go up to Mount Pilatus to get a better view of the alps, but our timing was quite unfortunate.  We arrived at the gondola station at 4:05 pm and learned that the last lift up was at 4.  Sigh.  We will just have to get Jessi up to the Alps on her next trip.

On Sunday, we decided to host Sunday Funday in Basel.  We kicked off the day with a big American-style brunch buffet, and afterward, we headed to a park to enjoy some sunshine and a few adult beverages.  When it started to get a little chilly, we headed back to our place for activities (salad bowl, drunk telephone, foosball, etc.)  and some homemade Kasespaetzle.  It was truly a treat having Jessi here, and we couldn’t have imagined a more perfect weekend.