Summertime

The weeks in which I complained about too much rain and cool temperatures are long forgotten. At the moment, I wouldn’t mind a cool rainy day in between.

Sometimes you just need a little patience in life. The long wait for summer finally seems to be paying off and this week has been another one of hot and dry summer days. Summer days for me in Basel really mean summer days. There is no escape from the heat in the attic apartment where I live. Air conditioning is not allowed here. The sun beats down on the roof all day long and everything heats up. Darkening the windows and closing them during the day helps a little, but in the end you still need a fan nearby to feel comfortable. Despite everything, I enjoy these days. You take it all a little easier, approach things more slowly. I try to do everything strenuous in the morning when the air is pleasant. I also enjoy the warm nights. Sleeping with the windows completely open, the connection to the outside. My bedroom window opens directly onto the balcony, so I can see all the plants, almost as if I were in a garden. I sleep without a blanket, just like that, naked on the bed with the fan blowing gentle breezes of summer night air over my legs. 

My little paradise

The balcony in general is a real blessing for me. I enjoy spending the evenings there reading a book and watching the sunset, even if I have to put on noise-canceling headphones to find some peace and silence. The rumbling of the city is still far too loud at this time of day. But surrounded by greenery and the scent of flowers, you forget everything around you and can wonderfully relax.

Stunning beauty

Two balcony moments in particular have stuck in my memory this week. Tuesday evening, while I was still sitting on the balcony to let the day fade away, there was a thin, bright white crescent moon in the middle of the evening sky, which changed from deep blue to yellow and then to a warm red towards the horizon, crowning this beautiful, delicate and noble play of colors. It looked so peaceful. And when I opened my eyes the next morning, the world outside my window was bathed in glistening orange light. At first, it looked like the days with Sahara dust that occasionally bathe everything in an unreal light. But when I stepped out onto the balcony, I saw that the rising sun was shining into an approaching storm front and the rain was reflecting the sunlight. The crowning glory of this scene was a rainbow over the city. After the spectacle of the previous evening, I felt so blessed to be confronted with so much beauty.

A brief relief

The thunderstorm that followed shortly afterwards with its rain then provided the only fresh moment of the week, in which it was wonderful to jog and get completely wet.

A Swiss escape

I was granted another escape from the sultriness of the city on Friday. I got up at four o’clock to get on the train to the Bernese Oberland before dawn. A hike up the Morgenberghorn on Lake Thun enriched my week with indescribable impressions and wonderful views of the Swiss mountains. I still worked up a sweat, but the feeling of falling into bed after a strenuous day in the wilderness with all the impressions is simply indescribable and very satisfying.

See all Photos of this week