Thursday, June 19, 2008

Football Madness

My friend Sabine and I went to Basle to see the cathedral (and I got some great photos from up in the triforium where you can't normally go, but that's another post, another time.)
After our visit to the cathedral workshop, we walked around the city a bit.
The Europeans are in the midst of their international football (ie soccer) playoffs.
There was Football Fan stuff everywhere: huge screens and seating in public areas, strung across bridges on the Rhine, out in front of the cathedral, and so on.
One enterprising fan had even hung a Swiss football scarf on the top pinnacle of the cathedral. I WISH I had a picture of it but I only heard about it, from one of the workshop employees who had to scale the pinnacles and take it down. (You'd need ropes and some serious climbing equipment. I can't imagine how the scarf was placed up there, probably the person was drunk.)
Anyway, the following bit of football fandom really amused me.

This is a medieval bridge chapel over the River Rhine.
Notice the statue of the bishop blessing passers-by.

But wait- stop and look inside the chapel!
Instead of an altar for travelers' prayers, we find flowers.
And below the flowers...


Yes, not only are there swiss footballs nestled in amongst the votive flower offerings, look closely at some of the hanging baskets (holding patriotic white blooms):


Football planters, ho ho ho!

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