Another good sleep courtesy of the air bed that Kristina had brought in to let me sleep on was then followed by a final morning walk around the city centre in search of the cheapest breakfast/lunch. It had to be the old faithful bread and Brie combination with some quality H2O to wash it down with. I have now come ro the conclusion that Brie makes me tired but its particularly cheap so it has o be bought. Plans had changed slightly and I was going to visit BSC Old Boys Dream Team then head for Zurich after, as there was no way I could have the key to the office on Saturday morning due to security issues. That was not a problem, I had more than I bargained for in the first place and I think another night in Basel would've put me into bankruptcy anyway.
I arrived at the training ground and was immediately impressed with the facilities. The main BSC Old Boys train and play there also and the Dream Team is a disabled football team under the same name. I initially met Marco, the son of the couple that started the foundation and he told me all about how they started and what they do etc. His parents Silvio and Brigitte were police officers and they used to go into schools and talk to the kids etc. One day they noticed a child with a mental disability not being allowed to get involved with the football and so they encouraged the other kids to help him. This idea evolved into the dream team idea in which every Friday the mentally disabled can join to have a little kick about and enjoy football as a group. Now the course runs from 4:15 till 7 with 3 different age groups and also offers the opportunity for the older ones to develop into coaches for the younger ones. I met and spoke to Benni who started there as a kid and did a bit of coaching when I was there because Marco had to leave early. You can see that video on my YouTube channel.
One thing Marco said that really rung bells through me was that unless they had to know about a serious condition like epilepsy etc they don't ask or know what's different about any of them. The way Marco and his parents acted around all of them was not with caution or give anybody special preferential treatment. They just showed great love and kindness to all, myself included. A lad called Christian only wanted to referee the matches, they bought him a referees kit with cards and a whistle and he referees all the games at the end of the sessions. He loved blowing his whistle that's for sure but no more than Howard Webb and the games were all so light hearted so a wrong decision wasn't complained about, everything was just done with a smile on their face - the way football should be played.
I had to leave a bit early because I was pretty worried about how long it would take me to get out of Basel, which way I had to go to get out of Basel and where I might be sleeping! I managed to get out alright and found a good cycle path in roughly the direction I needed to go. I knew to head east so as long as the sun was setting on my back then I was happy I wouldn't end up back in France. You may remember that in France when it comes to road signs, green is good and blue is bad. Well in Switzerland it's the other way around and it doesn't help that the best route that all roads lead to between Basel and Zurich is a green one! The sun was setting very fast and my main thought about which way to head was, "to the trees!" Every time I would find a nice patch of trees I would cycle a bit further and find myself out the otherside in open land and even though Switzerland is very safe I do like a bit of cover or at least some permission to camp. About another hour had past now and this was easily the latest and darkest I have cycled in. I could still get by without lights but I knew it was getting pretty close to bed time and I was stuck on country roads with fenced fields and no farms to knock on the door of. To add to my issues I had the varying terrain of steep inclines combined with tired legs and all I wanted to do was just find any spot and sleep. I eventually came to farm in a town called Magden or something similar to that. This was it I thought, if this doesn't work then it's another night sleep in a bus stop and I really didn't want that. I knocked on the door and an old lady squeezed her head around the door, "hallo, sprecken sie englisch? " I said. "Huh?" She looked at me
Puzzled, it was dark and i was standing at her door looking very tired and sweaty and slightly hunched over Nigel. Oh great! I thought, better find that bus stop. Then I heard an "I do... a little" in the background, the old lady fully opened the door to reveal a young boy around 11 called Jordan. I told him my situation and he said "woooow yeah sure, just go by the field there on the corner" I thought wunderbar! although in my 8 years of experience of working with kids of all ages I know never to trust them
with anything. Don't believe them when they are telling you what their parents do for a living, don't ask for directions as they have no clue or they like sending you in the opposite direction for fun and never ever ever except food from them. I once had a thin mint from an American kid and almost threw up. If you except anything then forget about anything homemade, make sure it's been mass produced, properly packaged and i would even recommend wearing gloves when opening it because they'll probably be some jam, yoghurt or something sticky on the rapper that has spewed out of the kids lunch box.
So i was very relieved to find somewhere at last but still with this thought in the back of my mind I tentatively set up camp. Half way through organising camp a man came down in his car from where the farm was on the otherside of the house and called over to me. I thought here we go, the mans spotted me, asked Jordan what's going on, giving him a whipping for making promises that he shouldn't and now has to turf me off his plot of land, typical! I said "sorry sprecken sie englisch" he replied "ah, a little, just wondered if you were ok? Did you want a cup of coffee or tea?" An air of comfort and safety draped over me and I smiled, "nein danke, but maybe tomorrow morning" "sure thing, just knock on the window of the kitchen when you're up, sleep well" and with that he reversed back up his driveway. With a shake of the head in disbelief of the kindness of some people I put the stove on and cooked up a storm before bed. Another day down, another adventure complete and another safe sleep to be had.
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