international geographic

I’m going to Rome tomorrow for Christmas break. Why Rome? Winter is underway and it’s pretty cold here now, averaging in the low 30s most days. Europe has fairly cold winters and traveling can be less than pleasant so heading south is the best option. From what I ready, my best choices were either Spain or Italy so I opted for Italy. As much as I’d like to put what’s left of my Spanish to a test, it’ll have to wait for another day.

Speaking of Christmas, our holiday party was this past Wednesday. It was held in a restaurant of sorts, but with a twist. It was actually an old factory which had been converted into an event hall. On this particular evening it was a “dinner spectacle” and with good reason — it was actually a carnival complete with juggling, gymnastics and “high wire” acts, fire breathing, knife throwing, and silly animal tricks!

It was lots of fun and I got to meet a lot of people from BIG whom I hadn’t had the occasion to meet yet.

Anyways, I’ll be gone until the new year, so there most likely won’t be any updates until then. I just hope I don’t run out of storage for my cameras!

On Tuesday I went to see the Thermals and the Lords of Altamont in Zurich. Zurich is Switzerland’s largest city and cultural capital — and nothing screams culture like Iron Maiden and the Thermals playing shows on the same night! Luckily for me (and a whole lot of Maiden fans) it’s just an hour away by train.

I actually saw them about a month ago at Fontana’s for the Brooklyn Vegan CMJ show but they only played a half-hour set and the place was so packed I could barely get in the room. They kicked ass, though, so there was no way I could pass up a chance to see em again.

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Standing on the platform at the Peter Merian stop near our (temporary) offices. Our building is the last building you just barely see on the left in the first picture.

This weekend was the Basler Stadtlauf, a yearly race for all ages. Children run 1K (a whole 5 minutes!!) and everyone else runs a little more than 5K. The amazing thing was the sheer number of people who turned out and the mayhem it caused! Given Basel’s small size, the short distance of the race, and the fact that the course looped around only a few blocks, a lot of people were jammed into a very small space.
Unfortunately, the thing is held at night, which makes for great atmosphere with the Christmas decorations and all, but also lousy picture taking. I’m still trying to figure out the best way to take pictures in low light situations and fast moving objects at night is just that much harder.

Jeremy and Nicol both ran in the kids division and I guess they had a really good time ’cause it seems they’re already signed up for next year! I tried to get a picture of them at the start of the race but it’s just a huge blur (with the exception of the one time I used flash in the pic above).

And just for comparison, I’ve also posted my pictures from this year’s NYC Marathon. I guess it’s just the sheer size of the thing that brings out all the interesting characters, as opposed to the Basel run which was more about a fun evening out and about.

You’d never guess it, but Basel (and possibly all of Switzerland or German speaking Switzerland) is big on Döner kebabs, also known in various parts as shawarma or gyros.

Below are pics of Sofra and their Döner offering. Sofra isn’t the best in town but it’s one of the most convenient for me, located in the Barfüsserplatz. The chicken isn’t as juicy or tender as it is just a few blocks away but the overall offering is still satisfying.

The light coming from the doorway on the right side is the entrance to my building. In case you’re ever in the neighborhood and feel like stopping by, I’m at Hebelstrasse 90, apt #2.2.