September 5, 2012
Basel Switzerland: "You have upholstery!"
Well, here we are in Switzerland - spent the night in a Youth Hostel in Basel. Switzerland is notoriously expensive and our only option was to stay in the Jugenherberge and the cost for this was 122 euros (which does include breakfast).
The building is truly unique in architecture and design. Our room is completely cement with no decorative elements. The bathroom is however lovely and nicely appointed. We have a deck overlooking a bit of the city and a rushing stream. The building is in stark contrast to the old buildings, full of character, which we had become accustomed to in France. Nonetheless, we find the effect of the building to be quite enjoyable.
We found breakfast to be a wonderful surprise - a tasty spread of food. Museli that had been soaked all night in yogurt and grated apple, cheeses, breads, fresh espresso, etc. We had grumbled a bit about the expense of the youth hostel, but according to Swiss standards of cost, breakfast alone would have probably cost 20 euros each.
One of the benefits of staying in a youth hostel is the possibiity of meeting of other travellers and sharing tips and stories. We met an English man (who had also just retired) who was cycling the Rhine. He had begun his journey with the dream of cycling the Black Forest and the Alps, but the reality of the hills (and mountains) sunk in and he modified his plan to cycle along the river. As he saw us off, he noticed our recumbent seats and exclaimed “You have upholstery when you travel!”. He had never seen a bike like ours and was both intrigued and amused by its design.
Basel has two train stations - German and Swiss. We found the German train station with little difficulty (once a local had turned us in the right direction) and were pleasantly surprised at how less chaotic it was than the Swiss train station the night before. Also, the cost of our fare including the bike was 25 euros compared to the Swiss train which would have cost 75 euros for the same trip. We’re wondering....why do so many people use the Swiss train when it is so expensive?
We were able to get on a train to Singen which left in 20 minutes and off we went, carrying our bike and trailer and panniers up the flight of stairs to the train tracks. The train car was a velo train, but the access was very challenging - going up the train’s steps and around a narrow corner to the bike area required a lot of Barry’s strength to manouver the bike. Once on the train, we realized that it would be best to carry on to Donaueschingen (the source of the Danube) and thus be able to start our cycle adventure down the Danube right away. As it happened, the trains are so frequent, we were able to catch an ongoing train within the hour.
Must mention the able and eager help of fellow cyclists from Norway who jumped up and were eager to help us get our bike off the train at Singen (this turned out to be even more challenging than getting it on the train). At one point, I watched as Barry had the front of the bike over his head, the Norwegian was straddling the rear of our bike and a train employee was attempting to force the bike around a corner. Eventually it worked and our bike made it to the platform. Thanks goodness, the next train had big double doors, was at the level of the platform with no steps and had half of a car dedicated to bike storage.
We arrived in Donaueschingen delighted to be in a place that we have so long dreamt about - our Danube adventure can now begin.
The other part of the day was dedicated to dealing with a problem that has given us a lot of stress for the past few weeks. We discovered while in France that Mary Ellen’s cache of prescription medications had gone missing. We had been trying unsuccessfully to get replacements in France. As some of the meds are from a compounding pharmacy in Canada we were having much trouble. We had investigated having them sent from Canada, but discovered that this is illegal and could lead to problems with the authorities. The German family we had met had offered us their help and their hospitality as well. They had advised us to try a pharmacy in Germany or to seek the help of a doctor. We have been worried because if we were unable to replace the meds, our trip might have to be cut short.
In Donaueschengen, we visited a pharmacy and they promptly agreed to sell us anything that they had in stock. What a change from France. Unfortunately, the key prescription that I need to use daily was not possible. A quick visit to a local doctor, and with no limitations, he immediately prescribed what we needed. This was an overwhelming relief. We were prepared for a hefty cost for this service, but he only charged us 14 euros for the appointment. He seemed more concerned that we enjoy our trip on our recumbent (that he had noticed out the window) and that we have a safe time. The pharmacy made up the needed cream and the cost of this was also a surprise (only 15 euros) as we had been warned that prescriptions in Germany are incredibly expensive.
So, in celebration, off we went to a local coffee/cake shop and had a caffe grande and a piece of cake.
I am so relieved that this problem is sorted as we can now travel on without fear of running out of medication.
Visited the iconic Donauquelle - the historic site of the well showing the source of the Danube - and cycled on to a campground a few km out of town.
Yeah!! What a good day.
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