Soccer camp starts and meetings kick off!!!

Today the kids headed off to soccer camp.  They were concerned that no one would speak English, but as it turns out, the entire camp is in English. The kids had a great time.  The camp is run by Intersoccer and they run teams and programs all year long for children 5-16.  

Here they are leaving in the morning:

And here they are coming home, EXHAUSTED:

It was a long day, as the camp runs from 10am to 5pm.  They are still very excited to go back, so that's a good start!!

Today I went to Novartis for a few meetings.  It is my second visit to the Novartis campus and it was just as impressive as it was the first time I saw it back in March.  There is basically one main street lined on either side by beautifully designed buildings.  The Gehry building is where most of the Novartis interviews take place.  Gehry also designed a similar building in Boston at MIT.  Here is a picture of the Gehry at Novartis:

 

There are many fantastic restaurants on Campus and employees are encouraged to eat on site and mingle with colleagues from other buildings.  I could go on and on about the campus, but if you live in Basel, this is probably the very best spot to work in the city.  I also quite enjoyed the central AC!

It's hot, very hot.  The Swiss don't usually have heat like this and therefor, no AC in most places and so last night we just melted.  But today I figured out the system.  All the flats have these metal shutters:

They aren't for storms, but rather to keep the heat out during the day. I shut them today and I'm quite happy I figured this out because the flat is at least 20 degrees cooler than last night.  Makes for a much happier morning!!

The Rhine is lined with people, pretty much all day and there are many places to get a bite to eat or have a drink.  You can also bring food and drinks, including alcohol, and just find a spot and start grilling, like anywhere.  It's a very relaxed and chill vibe around here. It appears the rules they do have here  mostly apply to being green and conserving energy, all other things seem to fly.  My kind of place!!

We hit the river for an ice cream tonight and then it was off to bed early for the kids.  They are back at soccer camp in the morning and I am looking at office space and then headed to Roche and Lonza. It's also my sons Bailey's 5th birthday tomorrow!