A Bit of Christmas Sausage

With the cold weather upon us in December we decided to pay a flying visit to a city of Christmas markets, gluhwein and sausage - Basel. The first excitement was arriving at Euroairport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, one of the few airports in the world operated by three countries: Switzerland, France and Germany. Upon arrival there was a door with a sign on it "France". We left via the Swiss exit but the option to pop through the French door was very tempting.

Basel itself is known for being a big conference venue but we enjoyed some wanders through the old town and in particular the Spalentor (above) - the town gate dating from the 1370s which marks the edge of the old town. The real reason we were in Basel though was to get some Christmas spirit - both in the form of the Christmas markets and in the mulled wine (which we sampled plentifully given we were on foot and it was very cold!)

We also managed to visit what is apparently the biggest Christmas decoration store in the world - I'm sure that some American store probably beats this one but it was very beautiful and my tree will be benefiting from some of the purchases from this place in years to come!

The next morning we grabbed a hire car for the day and set off to do a flying trip through some of the little towns in Alsace to the north, just over the border with France. On our way we visited the fantastic Haut-Koenigsburg castle - perched on an 800m outcrop overlooking the Alsatian plains, which was looking spectacular in the snow.

Heading further north we stopped for lunch in the Alsace wine making region, sampling some quiche lorraine and tarte flambee (fluffy local pizza) and entertaining the patient locals with some bad French. Even though it was a cold day and off-season, the towns were so picturesque it made me definitely keen to try and get back here in the summer.

On our loop back south to Basel we came across another Christmas market - but this time a medieval themed market, with men on stilts, jugglers and men dressed like Friar Tuck stirring up a whole lot of trouble in giant cauldrons in the middle of the street. It was great to experience Christmas in true winter style - a cold couple of days but definitely worth it!

M