On Saturday (11/12), I headed to Basel, Switzerland (via Frankfurt) again for my last international work trip of the year (yay!). I arrived on a Sunday afternoon and stayed up as late as possible to get onto European time.
On Monday, I had a full day of work meetings, and then met up with a colleague to catch the second-to-last night of Autumn Fair. In five different locations, there are foodstalls, rides, games, vendors, plenty to enjoy the last of the gorgeous autumn weather before the winter settles in. The "big" Autumn Fair" at Muensterplatz and some of the other locations (e.g. Barfusserplatz, Messeplatz) had finished on Sunday night, but it was nice to catch the tail-end in Petersplatz. A little more understated, with only a classic carousel and some smaller fair rides and games than the one in Muensterplatz, but quite enjoyable.
On Tuesday, there were more work meetings and then dinner with other traveling SSF folks at one of my fave little restaurants in Basel (tapas place called Restaurant Spalenburg).
On Wednesday and Thursday, I was co-leading an initiative meeting for work and we had a fantastic set of meetings. Great people with great attitudes:
After the first day of meetings, we did a tour of the Pharmazie-Historisches Museum (Museum of Pharmacy), which is dedicated to the pharmaceutical history and houses one of the world's largest collections on the subject, in collaboration with Basel University.
Our tour guide (center), curator Mikael Kessler, an incredibly passionate man with very interesting stories:
Some of the very first Roche products:
I was thoroughly surprised how interesting the tour and collection was, and it was fascinating to hear why Basel is a central location for many pharmaceutical companies.
On the way to dinner, we also took a look at the world's smallest museum, the Hoosesagg Museum. You don't go to this museum, you look at it:
From one website it states:
"Exhibits are changed monthly but consist of collections of small things: from Ferrari Easter eggs to combs, stones, nutcrackers and even chess pieces from around the world. When advising would-be exhibitors, curator Dagmar Vergeat suggests collections should consist of about 30 items, none of which should be larger than a soup plate. The idea is that the exhibits are something that might be found in a trouser pocket (which is how the museum's name translates).
Vergeat's inspiration for the museum was unusual, to say the least. The house she lives in is a routine stop for many walking tours - it was the home of the city's first midwife - and Vergeat found herself growing tired of tourists always trying to peer into the house. So she decided to do something useful with the space and this tiny museum was born."
For dinner, we headed to Restaurant Lowenzorn, a classic Basel restaurant in a historical building. We had a private room, great for a rowdy group of folks who wanted to unwind after a long and productive day.
For an appetizer, there was a lovely chantarelle mushroom soup. For an entree, I chose the venison with poached apple, brussel sprouts, and red cabbage.
Dinner was fabulous, and we wandered back to the hotel (via Marktplatz):
On Thursday night after work, I met up with a bunch of folks from Regulatory at Noohn for drinks to celebrate three different birthdays.
Happy Birthdays to Sophia, Sylvie and Laetitia!
Thanks to the Basel folks and team members from SSF/Nutley/Welwyn/Basel for a great week!
I headed home on Friday and I am looking forward to Thanksgiving week with Will and my family!
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