Children's Reading Festival

Summer is coming to an end, yet summer reading continues!

The Swiss local government is sponsoring a reading festival on Sunday, August 25th from 11am to 5pm at Kannenfeldpark, Basel. Tents are set up for children of all ages. Children relax amongst the pillows and next to their comrades in the cool while listening to enthusiastically read stories.

Most of the readings are in German, as this event does take place in German-speaking Switzerland. BUT, Jukibu will be present and plans to have readings in many languages including English! Rumor has it the English reading/s happen early in the day. So, go to the park and have a look at the schedules to plan your day!

There are foods available for sale as well, including sausages and drinks.

And there is a bonus for the kids: after three punches on their event given punch cards the kids receive a *free* ice cream! Fun and yum!

Useful links:

Young people's international library: www.jukibu.ch
Basel parks and green spaces: http://www.stadtgaertnerei.bs.ch/fr-parks-gruenanlagen.htm

abilia!

WHITE WALLS NO MORE!!

A kind painter came into our house and used a massive amount of white eco-friendly paint to renew our freshly remodeled home. These are WHITE walls! On sunny days it's so darn bright my eyes ache.  So, I've found a solution! A great solution that I'd like to share with you! 

Would you like to support some local folks, get some local, unique art for a great price?? YES??

Look no further than abilia not far from Voltaplatz in Basel. This is an art center with three full time artists working with differently abled individuals from the greater Basel area. A woodworker, a textile artist and a painter work hard along with a wonderful workforce to produce quality product at at-cost prices! 

I found two paintings (and numerous other things, not yet purchased) to bring color into our home. The first was love at first sight and the second a special order! They will work with you to deliver art just to your taste. 

 

Their hours are regular working hours roughly from 9am to 4pm with open doors to view the work and the people at work. And they always have great items out appropriate for holiday decorations. Think Easter? 

Address: 145 Vogesenstrasse, Basel

http://www.abilia.ch (all in German) 

I hope you find something too! 

Tri-Rhena+ Museum Pass!

Hello and Happy 2013 to all!

After a loooong hiatus (sending a 3 year old off to "school" and raising a wee little lad) I'm hopefully back at some regular posts!

So here goooooeeeees!

Although "Museum Night" has just passed, the new year has just begun and there's no better time to pick up a museum pass then in winter! Right? Think warm, family and friend time enjoying an amazing spectrum of culture, history, religion and ART!

Can you guess how many museums there are in Basel alone?!! As the culture capital of Switzerland, Basel touts at least  thirty-six museums!!

A few of my personal favorites (all in Basel) are:

Foundation Beyeler
Naturhistoriches Museum Basel*
Kunstmuseum
Puppenhaus Museum*

*Good for little ones too!

**Also be on alert for free days!** For example, the Naturhistoriches Museum Basel is free on the 1st Sunday of each month.

How about picking up a pass for the whole year?? Oh my gosh! Just take a look at how many museums you can visit in France, Germany and Switzerland using the same "Museumspass"!  Count them babies up: 250! And the cost for 1 adult (including up to 5 under 18ers) is only 79 euros!

Links to all the museums and the different types of passes are listed at the link below:
http://www.museumspass.com

See you there?

KIDS Flea Markets!

I hit the jackpot yesterday- riiiiiiinggggg! As I was waiting for a my sweetie pie to finish up her super 6 hour adaptation session at preschool I ran into a HUGE kinder flea market at Kannenfeldpark! SCORE! Toys, clothes, shoes, trikes, trailers, high chairs, anything and everything!

So, how does this do you any good if it's already over?? Well, it's not over... September in Basel is the month for flohmarkts. Yes!

Below is a schedule for some up and coming kid's flea markets:

Schuetzenmattpark, Basel:

Wedneday, September 26
13:30 to 17:00

There is even a web site where you can find all the "Kinderkleiderbörse" and beyond in and around Basel:

http://www.nachbarnetz.ch


BCT at Gundeli Familienzentrum:

Saturday, Nov. 17th
8:30 to 12:00

*This flea market tends to focus more on baby/young toddler items. The Nov. market is the second installment in a series of two since there was a high demand for table space on the 8th.
www.baselchildrenstrust.ch

FRENCH BUS SERVICE UPDATES!!

Update: Sunday bus service is on its way! Buses go later! Prices have gone up, but deals still remain! 

Distribus! It's the local french bus system that delivers you to and from Basel and hits all the little towns and villages on the french side of the border. The most popular bus # 604 goes through Saint-Louis and takes you right to the heart of old Basel leaving you at Shifflande. It runs every 15 minutes and it is also simply known as the #4. You can check out the links below for the routes and time tables for all the buses, including the bus from Gare de Saint-Louis to Bale/Mulhouse Airport (#11)!

http://www.distribus.com/fr/horaires.htm  Just click on the line that looks interesting.

I find that french web sites are rather difficult to navigate (and not just because of the French language), so I would like to let you in on all the special tariffs that at first glance are not at all evident.

Normal tarif, one way: 1.10€ 1.30

Normal tarif, one way, "aeroport navette": 1€ 1.30

NEW* Round trip, good all day: 2.20 

Bus and tram combined, purchased on bus, good one-way for 2 hours: 2.50€ 3.00, (a two zone swiss ticket works to transfer to the french bus as well, but that runs 3.40€ or 4 CHF last I checked ).

With blue card (not person specific):

one way: 0.90€ 0.83

one way, "aeroport navette": 0.90€ 0.83

* Rechargeable on the bus: 9€ 10 for 12 voyages or 18€ 20 for 24, no photo needed.

Monthly "DistriPass Adulte" (person specific): 25€ 28

This is a good option for commuters or daily travelers

Yearly "DistriPass Adulte" (person specific): 250€ 280

AND THE MOST EXCITING NEWS! 

**Line 604 will start hourly Sunday service from May 14th. Be ready to go at 8h and ride back as late as 19h30! 
**Also, the buses running Friday and Saturday will go until 00h30 so no need to hurry! (Monday to Thursday service ends around 20h30).


Hey Basel Friends! Come visit us in Saint-Louis and stay for dinner too!  

Also available is a one time pass available for 24 hours with a smaller and larger range including access to Mulhouse. See this link: http://www.distribus.com/fr/formules-et-tarifs-triregio.htm

The bus card and passes are available at the Distribus office in Saint-Louis (14 rue de Ballon, Saint-Louis, 68300). It's not far from the grocery store Géant. **A photo booth picture of yourself is necessary for obtaining a pass. Oh, and make sure to avoid the hours of 12-2pm because they are closed for lunch.  : 8h15 ndredi : 8h15 à 12h00 - 14h00 à 17h15

Samedi : 8h30 à 10h

There is also a bus and tram combined pass that is available and payable through the swiss system. But that's a whole other pot of worms.

Oh gosh, I know that's a lot of information all at once! Take a bite of it now and ponder for a bit. Feel free to come back and check out this post when you're planning some time in french TriRhena.

And a bunch of love to the man in the photo for helping me out with all the details!

Diaper Exchange

Are you thinking about using cloth diapers, but don't want to make the investment before testing them out?!

Well..... guess what? YOU CAN! The BCT (Basel Children's Trust) antenatal trainer and sling expert, Susie Atkinson, also heads up a cloth diaper borrowing program. You can try them out for a bit and then give them back all washed up.

Great idea, huh?

You can send an inquiry to this link:
http://www.baselchildrenstrust.ch/contact-bct.html
Choose "antenatal" from the scroll down menu and type in your information and message.

Berryland has asparagus?

Most of us, I would guess, don't even know how asparagus grows, right? Well, there's a rumor going around that you might be able to go and u-pick some of your own at Beeriland in Bottmingen, CH!

A friend of mine has been to Beeriland for berries on many occasion and she was told that asparagus season is about to begin. (It could be early this year due to the bizarre weather we are having...). According to www.beeriland.ch/ the season begins mid-April. Check out their website! They also have information on when the different types of berries are in season! Go to "erntezeiten".

Having picked for money/fun as a child I really look forward to checking this place out!

OH! And there's an ASPARAGUS FESTIVAL to boot!! Mark the date: 4-6 May!

http://www.beeriland.ch/