When S from Scwingen in Switzerland invited me along for  the carnival ‘Basler-Fascnacht‘ (listed as one of the top fifty local festivities in Europe) happening in Basel, I knew I couldn’t give it a miss for this would be a fitting way to end my Swiss adventures literally with a big bang!

The Carnival of Basel (German: Basler Fasnacht) is the biggest carnival in Switzerland and takes place annually on the Monday, after Ash Wednesday in Basel.  It starts precisely at 4:00 am with an elaborate ceremony called Morgestraich and the carnival lasts for exactly 72 hours and, therefore, ends on Thursday morning at 4:00 am.

We were up all night catching the overnight train from Geneva to Basel.  We arrived into Basel at about 3.20am all blurry-eyed, but felt an adrenaline rush because the crowds were all in high spirits, and after finding a nice spot…