Week of changes

It’s nice when everyday life gives you a change. A short break from the hustle and bustle of the usual days. This week brought several changes, each of which I really enjoyed.

We are blessed with another summer week. Despite the restrictions, I’m enjoying it, or perhaps because of it. Everything is a little more leisurely, at least when the heat takes over at around 10 a.m. and we retreat to the darkened rooms, which are a little cooler than the sun-drenched streets outside. Before that, everything that is physically intensive is done. Shopping for myself and the neighbor, sports – workouts at home or a jog shortly after sunrise.

Crossing the border

I always find jogging in particular to be a great enrichment in my everyday life. It’s the perfect opportunity to escape for a moment. I’m not very ambitious when it comes to sporting goals. I do it because it’s good to move and because I can just let my thoughts drift while I jog along. The nice thing about running is that you can cover a long distance in a relatively short time, so you can see things that would take too long to see on a walk. As the weather was so hot, I ran the Lange Erle loop again this week, through the floodplains of the River Wiese, which flows into the Rhine in Basel. The floodplain forest along the river provides a few shady moments and cooling air. The river is right on the border with Germany and I often take another lap through the meadows and fields on the other side. Fortunately, this border is invisible. There is nothing more than a hint that you are now in another country. No barrier, no barbed wire, just a border that connects. I like that. The short time on the German side was filled with great discoveries. A few storks were looking for food in the freshly mown meadows and fields of fennel, kohlrabi and leeks whetted my appetite for fresh vegetables. It was like immersing myself in another world or another time and the run allowed me to switch off completely.

A change of perspective

Another escape from everyday life was a visit and drinks with dear friends at Launch 47, which is located on the 47th floor of one of Roche’s two towers. The city of Basel is dominated by these towers and you can always see them from somewhere. Even from my kitchen window, I have a direct view of these buildings, which have now become a piece of home. It’s simply wonderful to look at my familiar city from above. The view that stretches into the distance, towards Germany in the Black Forest, towards France as far as the Vosges mountains and towards Switzerland to the hills of the Jura. The Rhine, which meanders through the city as a green ribbon and in which the tiny people of Basel cool off.

A change of location

Saturday marked the start of the first vacation of the year. The annual hiking week in the Swiss Alps is coming up. This year it takes me to Graubünden in Val Müstair. Val Müstair is located on the opposite side of Switzerland, right on the border with Italy. A 5-hour train and bus journey across the country is necessary to get there from Basel. The surroundings there are the complete opposite of the urban environment in Basel and the nature is beautiful. Müstair lies on the edge of the Swiss National Park, which we will be hiking through over the next few days. However, it started to rain on Sunday night and the weather was bad all day. There was only time for a walk across the border to Taufers in Italy before the rain started again. In the afternoon, a guided tour of Müstair Abbey, which dominates the village, was on the program. The history, the beauty of the art it contains and the architecture of the monastery, some of which is over 1200 years old, are fascinating and definitely made the rainy day worthwhile. 

Animals

In reference to my upcoming hiking week in the Swiss mountains, I have exhibited three photographs in the window of my studio that were taken during the 4 springs tour last year. Motifs of alpine farm animals that I encountered along the way in the Gotthard massif.

See all Photos of this week