Only 35 Days Until Christmas...

But more importantly...only 200 days 'til HELL!!!

I walked by the train station today and I saw on the big countdown clock that it's only 200 days until Euro 2008 begins in Austria and Switzerland (Basel is one of the host cities!)! That is when about a zillion soccer hooligans will descend on Switzerland. Can't wait...NOT!!!

What makes things worse (in case this is your first time reading this blog), is that the Art Basel 2008 exhibition - which normally causes all the Basel hotels to be sold out - overlaps with Euro 2008 from June 4 - 8. That, my friends, is when Mrs. TBF and yours truly will be heading the hell out...of...town!!!!

We're thinkin' Scotland.

Note To Self:

June 4-8, 2008 - GET THE HELL OUT OF BASEL!!!!

I just read the following in swissinfo earlier this afternoon:

Euro 08 faced with shortage of hotel beds

Thousands of fans are expected to come to the Euro 2008 football [soccer] championships being co-hosted by Switzerland and Austria - but not all of them may find a bed.

The four Swiss host cities - Basel, Zurich, Bern and Geneva - do not have enough hotel accommodation for such a huge influx of people and are searching for solutions. But they have already encountered problems.

An estimated five million visitors [the population of Switzerland is just over seven million] are expected to visit the championships - the third-largest sporting event in the world - next summer...

"We have too little capacity, and added to this there is a week's overlap [June 4-8] with the Art Basel contemporary art fair," Christoph Bosshardt, the Euro 2008 delegate for Basel, told swissinfo.

Basel is therefore planning to BUILD FAN CAMPS: CHEAP, PRIVATELY RUN CAMPING GROUNDS FOR AROUND 2,500 PEOPLE [caps mine]. But the plans...have already run into problems...

Bern [might]...open up its civil defence installations, such as bunkers, which are equipped with beds...

Both Basel and Bern have turned to their local populations for help with accommodation. Basel is looking for about 500 host families to take in fans... In Bern, people can sign up on the city's tournament website if they are willing to house fans...

Let's see now...

Hosting a bunch of drunk, soccer hooligans in our apartment? Where do I sign up?

NOT!!!

Am I taking crazy pills, or should the lack of hotel rooms in Basel, Zurich, Bern, and Geneva been a consideration before Switzerland was elected as a co-host of Euro 2008.

Mark my words: we will be far, FAR away from Basel during the first ten days of June, 2008!

Oh, and King? Don't even think about trying to rent out our bedrooms!