So, a while back, I'd heard someone say that the best way to buy cheap groceries in Switzerland is to go to Germany. Curious, I decided to test this theory--I went to visit Basel, a city on the Dreiländereck, or three-country corner. From Basel, you can easily take the trams to France or Germany. Both countries, having realized that poor Swiss people are desparate for cheap food, have kindly provided enormous shopping centers on the other side of the border.
On the train, I ran into one of my Finnish friends, who was kind enough to help Gary get a good view of the Basel train station.
From the train station, it took about half an hour for the streetcar to reach Germany. I wish I could have spent more time exploring around Basel, but I'm afraid that that adventure will have to wait for another day.
I think I crossed the border into Germany here-ish?
The Weils am Rhein shopping center looks quite a bit like an American Mall.
Inside, it resembles and American mall, too--food court and everything (only, due to European food laws, the food court food in Germany is made out of actual ingredients). There's also a multi-level supermarket in the Rhein Center, which had, much to my awe and excitement, AFFORDABLE FOOD. Everything was cheap, from the chips to the chocolate to the fruit and even the liquor! It was enough to make a Swiss student want to cry, and I bought way more than I should have of everything I could find.
After shopping in Germany for an hour or so, my companions and I decided to walk to France. This involved a fairly arduous journey--we had to walk across a whole bridge. It might have even been almost half a mile!
 |
| Between two countries. Notice the lack of border patrol... |
On the other side of the bridge, we wound up in Ville de Huningue. With a population of almost 7,000, it's basically French Kirksville.
Ville de Huningue is about as mountainous and cosmopolitan as Kirksville, too. Still, I did earn the glory of saying that I walked to France, and there were some sort of interesting buildings.
 |
| A pirate ship--for the kids |
Not quite the Duomo
 |
| I have to admit, Kirksville doesn't have its own obelisk |
After French Kirksville, we were scheduled to go back and meet some friends at the Rhein Center, so we went back. Since we had a little extra time, we decided to check out the Rhein Center pet store. It turned out to be the COOLEST MALL PET STORE EVER!!!!
 |
| Piranha. In Germany. Why not? |
 |
| Baby guinea pigs, sitting in their food dishes!! It was just like home! |
 |
| We found Nemo |
 |
| And whatever these fish were |
|
Finally, the day ended on a touching note with a surprise family reunion that left everyone in tears:
No comments:
Post a Comment