A Mitteleuropaisch Sojourn - Part 2, Days 2-3: Basel and Mt Titlis

Though the next day was a Saturday, there was an International Day celebration at Soumya and Sagar’s school. Soumya had set up a Charity Raffle stall at the function, and naturally, Jayashree had been roped in to help with the organization. As a result, the two of them got ready and set off for school very early in the morning.

After breakfast, the rest of us set out for the Sankt Johann Park, which is located close to their house. Avinash hijacked Sagar’s bicycle, Sagar took his scooter, and I hijacked Sundar’s bicycle. After spending about an hour at the park, we got back and set off to join the festivities at the kids’ school. The school is quite far from Sankt Johann but there is a direct tram to get there in about 30 minutes. Avinash was thrilled to use the touchscreen terminal at the tram stop to buy our tickets for us. 

Avinash and Sagar

Waiting for the Tram

The international day function was similar to that at Avinash’s school, but with one major difference – the parents and kids representing the different nationalities actually belonged to those countries. There were sizeable contingents representing every corner of the world – from Argentina and Brazil, to the US and Canada, the Nordic Countries, and of course, China and India. Given that the football world cup was on, they had also organized matches between teams representing different nationalities. Unlike in the real world cup, India did quite well. 

International Day

After sampling food from different countries, and participating in the raffle, we were all set for the tour de force of the day – Sagar’s participation in a Bollywood dance. The previous session had a bunch of kids playing Western classical music – and everyone was quiet and serious. As that session drew to a close, a more raucous crowd of Indian parents started walking in. And I must say the Bollywood dance was a great success, with not just the Indian parents and kids, but also the sober Swiss, German and other parents and kids joining in shaking a leg and whistling with the music. (Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures of the dance)

After a fun event, we headed back to town, and got off at the railway station to buy tickets for our journey to Luzern and Mt Titlis the next day. After buying the tickets, we decided to walk back home – clicking a few pictures of Basel on the way. 

We then headed out for dinner to Tibits – a vegetarian restaurant in Basel. Dinner was a buffet, with a massive spread, and the cost being based on the weight of the food you put on your plate. After an excellent meal, we headed home – to catch up with the football, and rest before our journey to Mt. Titlis the next day.

The next morning, we woke up to a glorious sunrise over the Rhine, and then headed out quickly to catch the 8:04 train from Basel to Lucerne. 

This train was scheduled to reach Lucerne at 9:05, and we were to connect to the 9:10 train from Lucerne to Engelberg. I guess it is only in Switzerland that 5 minutes is enough to change platforms and catch a connecting train. We made our connection without a problem, and reached Engelberg by 9:55. On reaching Engelberg, we were welcomed by a stall offering us Indian style Masala Chai on the platform. This stall had been organized by the owners of an Indian food stall located at the Cable car station. We then walked to the Mount Titlis cable car station, and found that the Indian food stall had “Vada Pav” on offer, and spent some more time making a meal of that. 

Vada Paos at Engelberg

We then took the three cable cars up to Mt Titlis. Mt. Titlis was great fun as usual – it gave Avinash his first real experience of snow (far superior to either the small amount of sludge he saw on the way to Lake Tahoe last year, or at Snow World in Mumbai), and we spent time, going through the Ice Cave, walking across the bridge over the glacier, playing with snow balls, and Tubing down the slopes. All in all, it was great fun. I had been somewhat apprehensive about whether I would enjoy Mt. Titlis on this second trip, but I must admit that I had great fun too. The time passed far faster than we had anticipated, and before long, we were taking the second last cable car down to Engelberg.  

Some Snaps at Titlis

 

By the time we got back to Basel, everyone was tired – but Sundar and I nevertheless went for a rather long walk through the old town, seeing sights like the Roche family home, before getting back home. Our short visit to Basel and Switzerland was thus done – leaving us with great memories and a number of pictures that I have tried to put up. 

Tesla Comes to Basel

Basel