Zurich
Beautiful views as we land in Zurich. Looking forward to some nice Swiss chocolate😋!

We flew into Zurich via Frankfurt and spent a couple of days exploring …I’m already in love with Switzerland and today is only the first day!❤️

And that’s what I ordered for dinner😋 @ Zurich Marriott Hotel.


Exploring Zurich … It was a bit gloomy this morning but the view was still spectacular!

Some creative artist created this piece of art at the park.

We took a train from Zurich to Basel, it’s only about 3 hours to drive…
Basel
This is the cathedral in Basel where world tennis champion Roger Federer was married❤️

A beautiful day to explore the City of Basel. The Middle Bridge of Basel is the oldest crossing over River Rhine that connects Gross Basel and Klein Basel. Many people like to swim in the Rhine during the summer despite potential hazards in the river. There were already a good number of swimmers taking a dip in the Rhine today.

Tina floated down the Rhine River this evening. “It was so fun!” was what Tina said!

Exploring the beautiful down town area in Basel. There were stalls selling food, flowers, and all sorts of commodities in the open area in between the buildings.
Marketplace – Basel, Switzerland

And visiting the Chocolatier is a must when we are in Basel. We handpicked some delicious chocolate truffles of different flavors to take home. Cute wrapped milk chocolate in the shape of animals are also available at this shop, needless to say, our kids absolutely love those kind! We also bought some chocolate sold by big pieces for different purposes!
Lauderach is our favorite chocolatier in Basel, lots of tasty chocolate with abundance selections ranging from classic chocolate bars to individual flavored selections to cute animal features chocolate for kids.


Walking around and exploring the little town of Basel …
Basel Minster

Munsterplatz

Zschokke Fountain

Augustiner Brunnen

Beautiful historical fountains are very common in Basel. In the hot weather, people can drink freely at the public drinking fountains which are well maintained in order to cool off. Most water fountains are drinkable unless otherwise stated with a sign, “Kein Trinkwasser” means no drinking water. Some people even soak or bathe in the bigger fountains to cool down although some measures have been recently implemented to ensure safety and hygiene for the users. Users are also expected to be considerate when using the fountains. Apparently, tap water in Switzerland is better than bottled water.
BEWARE!!!
Look what we got in Basel! If you are in Switzerland, be sure that you DO NOT park your car on spots with yellow zigzag lines even if the driver is just waiting in the car…

Alsace, France
aWe rented a car at the airport in Basel and drove to Alsace, France for some sightseeing…Weather was great and we had a nice meal at a local restaurant!



Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg
After lunch, we visited this 12th-century castle in France, the chateau du haut-koenigsbourg, a medieval castle that overlooks a plain which was used from the middle ages until it was abandoned in 1648. It was rebuilt in the early 1900s by the German Kaiser Wilhelm II. During the middle ages, it passed between a number of warring, factions and emperors until ultimately it came into the possession of the Habsburg Emperor in 1633. At that time, during the 30 years war, where the Catholic forces fought against protestants, the castle was put under siege by Swedish protestants, who ultimately prevailed and then burned and looted the castle. After that time it was left unused and became overgrown by the forest until it was finally restored in the 1900s. A beautiful place to visit to see a classic medieval castle.
