All things must come to an end.

I'm going to be concentrating on my other blog from now on for the forseeable future.

Today is a holiday at the company where I work, but I had to get up early this morning anyway to go to the doctor's for my routine INR blood test. The reading today was 2.4, which is just where it needs to be, i.e. between 2 and 3. Could have done with an extra couple of hours' kip, but I'm up now, so I'd better do something useful. Like washing clothes, or something.

New Year's Day walk

Got up rather late today...

Then I went for a walk to clear the cobwebs, and also took a few arty photos. Felt much better for it. This one - with industrial Basel in the background - won't make it on the tourist brochures, but that's why I like it.

The big freeze

Looks like it could be below freezing for a good few days from around the coming weekend onwards. Reminds me of my year abroad in Germersheim in Rheinland-Pfalz in 96/97 when January was virtually a whole month with temperatures below minus all the way through. Day and night.

Single of the Year

Right, I've made my decision, and it's a draw between three songs, though the first one is by Reamonn. What you would call an "Ohrwurm" in German. Very simple, very successful.

Spending a quiet New Year's Eve tonight. I sort of missed the boat as regards "Silvester" parties. My girl friend is snowboarding in Austria at the moment. I would have loved to have joined her and her friends, but I had to work till midday, and it takes at least seven hours to get to where she is. Thoeretically doable, but practically not.

After lunch today, I went to Pickwicks and had a few beers with some friends. That was a lot of fun, as I'd been looking forward to that "skool's out" feeling on NYE for a long time.. Friends at Pickwicks were all planning to return to the pub later tonight, but I have no energy for that. No worries, though. Did that make any sense?

Happy New Year, everyone!

Smoking

For a country that prides itself so much on its thoroughness and meticulousness, Germany has a blind spot when it comes to laws on smoking in public places. After years and plenty of chances to get it right, resultant anti-smoking legislation is proving ineffective.

When the state of Baden-Württemberg pushed through a law on 1 August 2007 immediately restricting smoking in bars, there was an audible whining and gnashing of teeth among publicans. Instead of regarding the new legislation as a chance to welcome people who previously were maybe discouraged from going out more often, the general tenor was that this would sound the death knell for many pubs and bars across the land. Admittedly, I can sympathise to a certain extent with owners of small Eckkneipen whose livings depend on clientele who enjoy a Pils and a cigarette and whose bars are too small to apply segregation between smokers and non-smokers. Following an amendment to the law in mid-2008 to allow bars with an area of 70m2 or less to operate as smokers' bars, these businesses are now allowed to continue as they were. However, all other bars must either be fully non-smoking or have clearly separated areas for smokers. Since there are no bars in Weil which fall into the "70m2" category, you would expect them all to apply the rule of law to the book. This is Germany, after all.

Wrong.

And I'll give you a couple of examples. After going on a walk on Boxing Day, my parents and I had a bite to eat in an establishment in Friedlingen. The restaurant in question had a smoker's and non-smoker's area. As none of us smoke, we entered the latter room. However, it soon became apparent that the smoking area wasn't properly segregated from our area. There was just a flimsy partition separating the two which remained open near the bar. Consequently, we didn't immediately smell the cigarette fumes being exhaled by the waitress and her friends opposite, but we did eventually inhale them. What's more, in order to access the toilets, we non-smokers had to walk through the smoking area. What a joke. Like the proverbial fig leaf.

Anti-smoking legislation in other countries is meant to protect bar workers as much as clientele from cigarette fumes. However, a different rule of thumb applies here, as it seems most publicans and bar staff smoke themselves. Sure, that's an over-generalisation, but as an outsider, you do get the impression that many publicans here have their own vested interest in actively encouraging smoking in their establishments. Take a certain pub in Weil (I'm naming no names) where people smoke despite the fact that doing so is illegal. I used to frequent the place, but after seeing the husband and wife team who run the place both smoking in full view of their customers, I am loathe to return there. They might as well apply to run the pub as a "smokers' club" and have done with it, as far as I'm concerned. Happily, I have more important things to worry about than to grass them up to the police. I just boycott them instead.

Smoking was banned in pubs in England a few years back, and apart from a few lone crusaders who defied the law at the beginning, the transition to smoke-less pubs has been pretty smooth. So, if we can do it, why can't the Germans?

And why can't the Swiss either? The inhabitants of the canton of Basel-Stadt recently voted in favour of smoke-free pubs and restaurant, but the powerful publicans' lobby in Basel has managed to put back the date the new law will come into effect, meaning that pubs won't be totally smoke-free until 1 April 2010, instead of 1 January 2009. What a joke.

Photo of the year

If I chose one photo which I feel sums up 2008 the best from my point of view, it would have to be this one. It was taken early in the the first half of the Euro 2008 match in Basel on 11 June between Switzerland and Turkey barely minutes before the one of the heaviest thunder storms I've experienced in recent times.

From a personal point of view, 2008 has been one of the most eventful years of my life. I started the year working as freelancer, my knee was operated on early in January, I worked in Zurich for four months, I subsequently decided to abort the freelance adventure in order to work in a proper "day job" again, I contracted deep-vein thrombosis in my lower left leg (this problem is still being treated), plus my social life took off to an extent I'd never even dreamed about only months previously.

I like the above photo because of its foreboding and - excuse the pun - electric atmosphere. I remember watching the match in question on television in my living room in Weil and noticing the big, black cloud that was looming from the north prior to kick-off. With the storm cell arriving from that direction, the rain hit us bit earlier. In fact, it was probably already pelting down outside in Weil when that photo was taken.

Looking back now, it brings back memories both specifically of the summer of 2008 and of the year as a whole, and the changes in both my professional and personal life. In other words, 2008 was a very turbulent year, and I don't necessarily mean that in a negative sense. Looking ahead to 2009, I would say I'm a lot happier than I was at the same time 12 months ago. Not that I was terribly unhappy back then, but just that things just seem clearer now. And I feel more fulfilled. Having said that, goodness knows what lies in store in 2009.

Another considerable amount of time has again passed since my last post. The Christmas rush was the culprit this time, not to mention a social life that's unexpectedly taken off in recent months. Oh how I yearn for weekends alone at home, doing nothing.. Well, not really, but it was nice last week to be able to wind down a bit over the last few days. My parents were here over Xmas - the second time they've spent the festive season with me here in Weil, though the first time since 2004. We didn't do much, but that was just fine. We ate well, had some good wine, went on afternoon strolls, chatted or just lounged on the sofa and watched telly.

After being here for a week, they've now gone home. Their flight back from Geneva to Blackpool was scheduled for take-off at 9.45 this morning. This meant they had to take the taxi at 4.15 a.m. to Basel SBB, from where they took the first train out at 4.57. They made their connection to Geneva Airport via Delémont without any problem and got to the airport at 7.55. As I write, I think they will probably already have landed in Blackpool.

Weekend in Walldorf

Went to Walldorf last weekend to visit friends John and Bérénice. After arriving at midday on the Saturday, we went together to watch FC Astoria Walldorf play VfL Kirchheim/Teck in the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg. The home side won 3-1, scoreline that doesn't quite reflect FCA's dominance of the match. A good time was had by all.

We then took the train to Ladenburg to take in the traditional Christmas market, before heading back to Walldorf for a couple of drinks later that evening. On top of the beer and mulled wine we'd had earlier on.. (Whoops)

The evening ended at John's old local, known unofficially by all of us as "Geoff's" - a place I've visited many a time over the last eight years or so. Geoff the Irish manager no longer runs the place. His estranged wife does instead. After handing over the reins - as it were - Geoff managed another hostelry nearby. However, that venture ended prematurely, and Geoff has gradually gone off the radar since. According to John, no one really knows where he is now and what he's doing. It's all a bit of a sad story, really.

Saturday

This Saturday past was a lovely day.

My five Swiss cousins all have busy lives, which means that it's not often that they spend a whole day all together in one place. However, to celebrate their dad's (and my uncle's) 75th birthday, they thought the best present they could give would be to go on walk with all the family. The date of 15 November had been arranged a while in advance, and I'd also been invited along.

Anyway, the plan was to go on the chair lift late on Saturday morning from Oberdorf in Canton Solothurn up to the Weissenstein mountain and then walk on from there. Unfortunately, the lift is currently undergoing maintenance work, so we reverted to Plan B and walked up the mountain instead. It wasn't too hard a walk, however. We made it to the top after an hour and a half, and the handful of relatives who'd made it up by car (yes, there's a road going up) had prepared a mini-barbecue for us. The photo below is the view from where we ate.

We then walked down the other side of the hill and finished the walk in Canton Berne and the French-speaking village of Corcelles, where we ended up at the "Restaurant de l'étrier d'argent" (The Silver Stirrup). The people there - who spoke both Swiss German and French - served us copious amounts of fillet of steak which we then fried ourselves in pans on the table. Simply delicious.

200th post

Hard to believe but this really is my 200th blog entry. If you consider that I launched this blog back in September 2006, 200 posts begins to sound somewhat less impressive. However, apart from a few prolific moments now and then, I've really never been one of those professional bloggers who feel inadequate if they don't blog at least once a day. The reason I started the blog in the first place was to amuse myself, provide my family back home with some news, and keep an archive of daily life. If I inadvertently amused other people in the process, then so much the better.

If I ever stopped enjoying writing my blog, then I'd pack it in immediately. Thankfully, this isn't the case yet, although some of you may have noticed my other blog about German wine which I tentatively started, then scrapped, and then started again. My intention recently has been to devote more energies to the wine blog, though I've been suffering from writer's block recently - plus I haven't been tasting too much wine either. Maybe I'll get a second wind though, as it were.

Over the past 12 months, I've undergone a number of upheavals in my professional life. At the end of 2007 I turned freelance and began working from home. However, by the end of August, I was getting tired of working from home and the isolation was sending me potty. So I then decided to rejoin the company I worked for from 2000 to 2006. Not the most original of choices, but hopefully familiarity will not breed contempt this time.

Go-karting

Went go-karting last night with friends in Lörrach-Brombach. The track was situated in an old tennis hall on the edge of Brombach. Was a bit of a trek from the Bahnhof to reach, but we all got there on time for our 8 p.m. Friday night slot.

I'd been go-karting briefly a few weeks ago at another venue in Haagen - my first ever time - and had been virtually the slowest. This time, I was ranked 7th out of 12, which is an improvement, I suppose.

A palatable truth

I've always liked to think that my palate is fairly discerning, at least when it comes to wine. For example, I can taste (and usually smell) the difference between a Pinot Noir and a Cabernet Sauvignon, or a Merlot and a Syrah (Shiraz). And I've been privileged to have have drunk some incredible wines in my time. The moment that always stands out for me - and which probably was one of those "epiphany" moments - was reverently sipping a Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese in the drawing room of Von Buhl Estate back in early 1997 and just being lost for words.

On the other hand, I think my palate is fairly robust as well. For example, I regularly use tabasco as a condiment, I love hot Indian food, I love pickled foods, and I also love nibbling on bone-dry Nairn's Scottish oat cakes. On their own.

My new recent discovery, however, is chocolate with 99% cocoa:

I must say, I've never cared for chocolate that much and have never really had a sweet tooth either. I usually much prefer cheese - and especially Stilton.

However, the prospect of eating chocolate with "99% cacao" seemed like an experiment worth trying. As dark chocolates go, you can't get much darker than that. Truly hardcore stuff. On the pack, consumers are advised that they should first try chocolate with 70% cocoa, then some with 85%, before trying the 99%. But I just went in at the top.

It certainly is an acquired taste. I almost gagged when I bit off the first piece. However, after successively breaking off little bits of the chocolate for about a week or so, I finally started appreciating it. You have to let the chocolate almost melt on your tongue, as it were. Behind the astringency and bitter tannins, you gradually detect lovely, delicate fruit flavours. It's an educative experience, I would say. A small piece is nice with coffee, and I can imagine it would go well with red wine, too. Come to think of it, the similarities with wine are uncanny.

Even better though: it's apparently good for me as well. Consumed in moderation, all those antioxidants it contains supposedly help to lower blood pressure, plus the seratonins also help to give me a dose of the old happy gas, even when its dull and dreary outside. Fantastic!

Thrombosis

Almost four weeks ago I was diagnosed with deep-vein thrombosis in my lower left leg. Luckily, the clot was below the knee. Apparently, the risk of the clot rising up the body would have been greater had it occurred higher up the leg. Neither the doctors nor myself are unsure how exactly the thrombosis developed. A subsequent blood test showed that my blood wasn't particularly predisposed to thrombosis. But anyhow, I have since been taking medication in order to get rid of it.

I first went on a two-week course of Heparin injections to thin the blood. Unfortunately, this didn't change much. So now I'm on a three month course of Marcumar tablets. I also have to wear a compression stocking on the affected leg. So far, the Marcumar seems to be taking effect ok. I have been paying regular visits to the doctor to have blood tests in order to monitor the therapy. Today's test showed that everything's going according to plan, and the interval before my next blood test has now been lengthened to a week (as opposed to previously three/four days a time).

Of course, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned by the whole thing. However, now I'm undergoing the right therapy with the right medication, I'm confident the thrombosis will have disappeared by the end of the three months. The main thing is that I keep mobile with regular walks, and avoid sitting and standing still for extremely long periods.

Golden October

The world's scariest beer

This beer was kindly supplied by friend Rob from Heidelberg, who was in Poland a few weeks ago. At 7% vol alc., it packed quite a punch, but, my word, what a label.

Anyone for rounders?

I never thought I would play the game of rounders, but I've now done so twice in eight days. Not what I was planning, and not much good for my street cred either, but this is what happens when you're having fun.

Last Saturday I went to the Basel expat pub crawl which started off at Bar Rouge at around 8.30-9 o'clock and ended up at Redrocks at around 3-30-4 o'clock in the morning. Although I didn't know a single soul there to begin with, I soon started mingling. To cut the story of a long night short, I got to know quite a few new faces, some of whom meet every Sunday at Margaretenpark in Basel for a spot of post-hangover rounders - the "best sport in the world", according to the girl who suggested it to me. Now, I'm not sure I would concur with that verdict. It is, after all, a bit of a girly game. However, this is mixed rounders, so it's not all prancing round a few sticks. It's definitely a good laugh anyway, and it gets me out of the house on a Sunday afternoon.
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In other news, I also went on a bike tour on Wednesday night with some of the same people plus some new faces. The route took us through Muttenz, Pratteln, Augst, Birsfelden and back to Basel and was around 25 km long. Our final destination was the Irish Pub, Paddy Reilly's, where we all drank a well-earned beer.
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Friends John and Berenice was over here yesterday to take in the Altwiler Stroßefescht here in Weil. Unfortunately, it was raining the proverbial cats and dogs, but we had a great time nonetheless. In a quick change of plan due to the weather, we ventured into Basel, joined up with former colleague Karl-Heinz, and then watched FCB beat FC Luzern 2-0 at a slippery St. Jakob-Park (goals from Huggel and Chipperfield), before hitting the fest in Weil shortly before 9 o'clock. As soon as we arrived in the Notehobler tent, we got stuck in immediately with our 1-litre glasses of Spaten Oktoberfestbier and joined in with some timeless classics, before moving on later to the odd glass or four of Korn from our mate at the Trebbin bar. Oh dear. (Trebbin is one of Weil's twin towns, incidentally.)

After John and Berenice left at around midday today, I read the paper and then played the aforementioned game of rounders. A cracking weekend all round, really.

It's been a Weil...

Well, just like last year, August has been rather quiet on the blogging front. There were mitigating circumstances this time, in that I had food poisoning for a good while. I'd never had food poisoning before, and wouldn't recommend it. However, I'm now more or less back to my old self.

Admittedly, August isn't the most eventful of months either. I did go to the Klosterbergfest on Friday evening evening in Basel, though. Very impressed, I was too. The theme of this annual street festival is decidedly latin (Brazilian), but also oriental. The only drawback was that it became slightly overcrowded once the sun went down.

I'm sat writing this on my balcony on another warm summer's afternoon. Probably too hot for cycling - I did that yesterday when there was a cooling breeze (past Haltingen, Binzen, Fischingen, a meander through Efringen-Kirchen, along the B3 up to the point level with Blansingen, and then back) - so will probably go for a walk later, or something. Then again, there's German Cup action this evening, with Rot-Weiss Erfurt at home to Bayern live on telly. Have watched some of the Olympics, of course, though I missed Great Britain's first gold medal performance today (Nicole Cooke won the women's cycling road race).

In other news, I've got in contact with some people in Basel on the English-speaking expat website for Switzerland who go on nice leisurely bike rides together in and around Basel. They meet every Wednesday evening (while it's still light). This week they're going to explore the Petite Camargue, so I think I might tag along.