Kicking it off in Switzerland and India

We’ve never had a more packed two days!  We arrived in Basel, Switzerland, on Sunday afternoon. After arriving at Barry and Reto’s place, and a brief rest, we headed out for the first event of the Fasnacht carnival, which began about 7 pm (never mind, you must arrive about 5 PM to get a good spot on the parade route). It all started with a roaring bonfire on a cart pulled through streets packed with people. Accompanying the bonfire on wheels were marchers carrying huge flaming torches right by their faces, and many marching masked, 40 to 80-person cliques of drums and piccolos. Having 30 hours in with no sleep made this a very exciting awakening event.
Barry and Rito hosted us in their lovely guest apartment. They fed us quite often, too. We rested again for just a few gaga hours and then rose at about 2:30 to return to the celebration area, where city lights went black at 4 am for a parade of thousands of people in elaborate masks, costumes, and lighted, messaging lanterns. Wow! Before going home, we ate again. And if that weren’t enough, we returned the next day for an all-afternoon session of colorful, musical parades going down the streets, up the streets, and across the streets. The art, costumes, and masks were astounding, the political and satirical messages in the lanterns were thought-provoking, and the crowd was there being kind and having nothing but fun. What a fantastic experience! We thank Barry and Reto from the bottom of our hearts for inviting us and hosting us at such an event that only a few in the world ever get to see. We enjoyed every moment. I lost count, but we ate, and ate, and drank a little too!

The next day, we made our way to India. Keep in mind, by this time, Stan and I are extremely sleep-deprived. We landed in Delhi close to 1 o’clock in the morning, and by the time we reached our hotel, it was 3 o’clock, but we were so messed up and still are, by the way, that we just kept going. Even right now, we don’t know what day it is or what time it might be. Talk about being wonky!

India is an experience in itself. It certainly is not Kansas. It is busy. It is loud. Small-time construction is going on everywhere, and the place is dirty. That is, until you reach the huge area of the Kartavya Path. There, from the presidential abode to the India Gate, a great monumental arched memorial to the Indian soldiers who lost their lives in WWI, everything is modern, clean, well-kept, rich, and very green! Like the D.C. National Mall, along the way are government buildings, museums, and long manicured lawns. Here, though, monkeys freely patrol the lawns and parrots, and hawks soar above.

Today we did a walking tour that quite possibly showed us India in its authenticity. We visited temples of Jainism and Sikhism, and the largest spice market in the world. We also had some delicious snacks called paratha at a place established in 1875. I’ll say one thing. I love spicy food. I can tolerate and enjoy almost anything. But I had no idea how extremely spicy and hot real Indian food can be, and most of it is. In fact, it’s quite difficult to find a dish that won’t burn your belly. I’m managing to do OK, but Stan is suffering a bit.