Melinda and Robert Schoutens - Family Winter Outdoor Activities

Melinda and Robert Schoutens have been helping families reduce the obstacles to connect with nature in Switzerland since 2019. In addition to inspirational ideas, under their "Fresh Air Kids Switzerland" banner (published by Helvetiq), they provide tons of practical information for accessing the outdoors in their books: "52 Inspiring Hikes That Will Make Kids and Parents Happy", "My Book Of Discoveries" and "Hut to Hut". They also maintain a website with lots of imagery that will get you longing for another outdoor adventure. Fortunately, outdoor activities have not been curtailed by the pandemic, and with a little planning, you can also avoid going hungry when arriving at a remote hut which may be closed. On their itinerary this winter are hiking, snowshoeing, cross country skiing and winter sledging. Easily accessible to Basel are Wasserfallen and Weissenstein (which also features a "sea of fog" if your timing is fortuitous) for these activities and more! Listen to the interview here.

Our music theme this week was all about songs with memorable basslines (played by male bassists; we'll get to female bassists soon!). We played:

Queen and David Bowie - Under Pressure (bassist: John Deacon)

Ben E King - Stand By Me (Lloyd Trotman)

Jackson 5 - I Want You Back (Wilton Felder)

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell - Aint No Mountain High Enough (The Funk Brothers)

Muse - Hysteria (Chris Wolstenholme)

The Beatles - Come Together (Paul McCartney)

Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer (Tony Levin)

James Brown - I Feel Good (Bernard Odum)

Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Give It Away (Flea)