Le Parc du Petit Prince, Ungersheim, France

”Le Parc du Petit Prince” is a small amusement park located in Ungersheim in France, around 30 minutes drive from Basel. It’s not as big as Europa park but definitely good park for the kids around 5 to 10 years old to hang out for a day. Anish thoroughly enjoyed this park and there are so many different attractions for the kid in this small park. The little train, Trampoline Park, The Ballon of the King, Underwater planet are some of the main attractions here.

Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S

Bernau im Schwarzwald

Bernau im Schwarzwald is located in a high valley in the southern Black Forest, south of Feldberg and west of the Schluchsee. It is around 1415 meters high and a great spot for Skiing. Nearly 100 kms of well-marked hiking trails open up the 900-meter high and eight kms long high valley for hikers. We had a chance to go to Schneeskulpturen (Snow Sculptures) festival in February in Bernau. It is an annual event and displays variety of sculptures ranging from small, medium to big ones. From the top, it gives a panoramic view of the entire Blackforest area and definitely a great picnic spot during winter.

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Running in Switzerland

Running has been a great hobby for me in the recent times. Recently I finished Half Marathon in Luzern in around 2hr 41 minutes and it was indeed the best from all four half marathons. I practiced hard by running regularly in the gym and it paid rich dividends in the weight reduction and also to reduce the time in completing the half marathon. Anish also took part in Freiburg Fusilli run and he thoroughly enjoyed it.  Some of the runs, which we did in Switzerland.

1. Basel Bruggelauf 2018

2. Basel Stadtlauf 2018

3. B2Run 2018 and 2019

4. Freiburg Fusilli Run 2019

5. Luzern Half Marathon 2019

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Feldschloesschen, Rheinfelden

Feldschloesschen brewery is one of the biggest brewery in Switzerland and was founded in 1876. We could see this marvel from our kitchen and it’s a masterpiece in Rheinfelden. There is an annual event ‘Tag der offenen tuer’ which allows the locals to visit this brewery and see the various processes, machineries of making a beer. There is also food festival party being conducted here annually where one can try out different cuisines from different countries. 

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Football Club (FC) Rheinfelden

It was always my small dream that Anish has to be part of a Football club and I am glad he is part of FC Rheinfelden. It is so important now a days for the kids to do some sports and play outside and not just watching TV and playing games in the mobile. The training happens once in a week and there are some tournament with other clubs once in a month. It is a great exercise for Anish to do some movement and he started to enjoy it now. Thanks to FC Rheinfelden which takes lot of efforts for the kids to involve in football in the early stages. 

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Basler Fasnacht

The Carnival of Basel (Basler Fasnacht) is the biggest carnival in Switzerland and takes place annually between February and March in Basel. The carnival lasts for exactly 72 hour starts on Monday morning at 4 AM and ends on Thursday morning at 4 AM. Unlike the Carnival celebrations held in other cities on the Rhine, the Basel Carnival features a  clear and well maintained separation between participants and the spectators who line the streets. Anish had a wonderful time with the parade and collected lot of gifts and chocolates and it was indeed a great time.

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Anish 7th Birthday

Time really flies away. Anish is already seven years old. We celebrated his birthday with his friends from school and neighbours in Swiss Mega Park. Since he is a leap year kid born on 29^th Feb 2012, his actual first birthday was on 2016 where we celebrated in Grand Canyon and next one comes in 2020. He will always be a young kid. When he is 80 years old, he will only 20 years old ;) Thanks to each and every one who enlightened the birthday function and made it a memorable day.

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

St. Jakob's Stadium, Basel

St.Jakobs stadium in Basel is the largest football venue in Switzerland and home to FC Basel. Joggeli is the nickname given by the locals and has a capacity of around 38,000. Anish and I went for an international match between Switzerland and Denmark with our friend Florian. The match was completely dominated by Switzerland till the 90th minute with leading 3 goals to nil. We left the stadium in 90th minute and could you believe it, Denmark equalized the match with next 3 goals  in the extra minutes. It was totally crazy to see the result when we reached home it was 3-3. We also saw another match between FC Basel and FC Eindhoven and it ended in a draw with a scoreline of 1-1.

Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S

Roetteln Castle

Roetteln Castle is one of the beautiful castle in Loerrach which is around 10 kms from the city of Basel. Recently we had a chance to celebrate our good friend Iva's birthday in this castle. The ruins of the castle are situated in a forested hill 422 m above the sea level and its third largest castle ruin in Baden. One gets a panoramic view of the city of Loerrach from the top of the castle. The castle has probably existed since the beginning of 11th century. The Basel earthquake of 1356 destroyed large portions of the city and the castle suffered severe damage. It has lush green fields nearby and a perfect place to be when the sun shines.

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Automobile Museum, Mulhouse, France

Recently we had a chance to visit Automobile museum located in Mulhouse, France which is around 30 minutes’ drive from Basel. It has the largest displayed collection of automobiles and contains the largest and most comprehensive collection of Bugatti motor vehicles in the world. At the entrance, visitors are given audio guide in their chosen language. The tour has been enhanced by new sections, films, driving simulators, robots and attractions such as sound programmes. It’s a great place to hangout for half a day for a short picnic.

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Reigoldswil, Schweiz

Reigoldswil is a municipality in the district of Waldenburg in the canton of Basel-country in Switzerland. It’s just around 509m high but one gets a panoramic view of the Basel city from the top. There is a cable car which takes to the top and it’s a good location for ice sledging during winter times. It’s a good place for a short picnic when the sun shines with snow cover all around. Good thing is this place is not so touristic and one can have lot of fun with the family.

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Trier, Germany

During our trip to Luxembourg, we had a chance to beautiful city Trier which is located on the banks of Moselle in Germany. It was the birth place of Karl Marx. Porta Nigra, Cathedral of Trier, Electoral Palace are some of the important places to cover in Trier. It was heavily bombed and bombarded during the second world war. It’s a student city with lot of young population from the University of Trier. One should definitely visit Trier when they visit Luxembourg which is around hour’s drive from the Luxembourg city.

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Luxembourg City

Luxembourg is a small landlocked country in Western Europe, Luxembourg City its capital is one of the four official capitals of European Union. We had a chance to explore this lovely city during our Easter holidays. Vianden castle, Bourscheid Castle, Renaissance Castle Beaufort are must see castles in Luxembourg city. One of my MBA friend Angel was living in Luxembourg and we had a chance to catch up with his family after a very long time. Can you imagine he has two twins – four children? 

The weather stayed perfectly fine where it’s really prone to lot of rains and it was a good drive from Basel. There were really lot of museums in the city and we went to Villa Vauban, the art museum. The architectural buildings, the panoramic view of the city from the high bridges, the amazing restaurants in different corners makes the city very colorful and picturesque.

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy

With our trip to Venice, we suddenly planned a visit to Pisa by train which is around 4 to 5 hours from Venice mainly to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa which has around four-degree lean, the result of an unstable foundation. Galileo experimented the dropping two cannonballs of different masses from the tower to demonstrate that their speed of descent was independent of their mass. All in all, it was a great trip and we thoroughly enjoyed taking various pics against the leaning tower of Pisa. The weather stayed absolutely fine and the lush green grass next to the cathedral was so pleasant to the eyes. 

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Venice - The floating city

We celebrated our ninth anniversary in Venice, a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is situated on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges also known as “Queen of Adriatic”, “City of Bridges”, “The floating city” and “City of Canals”. It is indeed a very popular tourist destination, an iconic Italian city and has been ranked the most beautiful city in the world. The weather was fantastic and it reflects on the color of the waters. We drove all the way to Venice from Swiss and we could take the car in the ferry to the hotel where we stayed. It was totally a different experience when I went as a Bachelor in 2006 and now again with my wife and son. We thoroughly enjoyed the Italian cuisine with Pizza, Spaghetti, Pasta during the trip.

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Rigi - Queen of Mountains

Recently we had a chance to go to Rigi also known as Queen of the Mountains (1800m above the sea level) located in Central Switzerland. We took the ferry from Luzern to Vitznau and from Vitznau to Rigi with the mountain train and this was indeed the first mountain railway in Europe. While returning back we took the train from Rigi to Arth-Goldau and further to Zurich. The whole area offers many activities such as skiing/sledging in the winter and hiking in the summer. One enjoys a panoramic view of more than 13 lakes and a regular “sea of peaks”. Anish thoroughly enjoyed the mountain ride and it was a great location in Switzerland for a picnic when the sun shines on a summer day.

Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S

Schilthorn, Switzerland

During Christmas holidays we had a chance to go to Shilthorn which is above ~3000 metres above the sea level. To get to the Schilthorn from the valley floor is simply breathtaking. The cable cars begin in Stechelberg leaving to Gimmelwald and then on to Muerren. From Muerren another cable car is taken to Brig which is the final change before the Schilthorn. The panoramic revolving restaurant at the summt, PIZ GLORIA was featured in the 1969 James Bond movie” On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”. During the winter, the Schilthorn is the traditional start for the world longest downhill ski race, “Inferno”. Its so amazing to see the snowcapped mountains with blue skies around. 

Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S

Rhine Falls, Switzerland

We had a chance to explore Rhine Falls, the largest waterfall in Switzerland and Europe. Its located on the High Rhine on the border between the cantons of Shaffhausen and Zuerich in northern Switzerland. It’s a very popular touristic destination and a great picnic spot for a day when the sun shines. The boat ride takes you near to the falls, one can experience the thunderous noise and it also takes you to the German side for around 30 minutes. The falls are still under consideration for hydropower projects where it can add great economic value. 

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Aareschlucht - Aare Gorge

We had a chance to celebrate my 36th birthday in Aareschlucht (Aare Gorge) in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. It’s a section of the river Aare that carves through a limestone ridge near the town of Meiringen. The path through the gorge is accessed by entrances at each end of the gorge, for most of its length the path is a wooden construction on a metal frame cantilevered out from the wall of the gorge, with short stretches in tunnel. It was a picturesque sight with the color of the water in green. All in all, a great birthday outing spent with the family.

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Sub Continent Flavours to Alpine Wonders

After spending couple of years in Chennai, India: we moved back to Europe. The purpose of going to India has been solved, spent good time with dad during his tough times. He got a companion and he is back to good spirits. Anish started his first grade in Switzerland and he has started to speak German. Thanks to my wife who supported this decision of moving back to Europe and raising our son here. It was a great time in India and was a great challenge to survive there after a decade in western world. I have renamed the blog from Sub Continent Flavours to Alpine Wonders.

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S