Air Raid!

We've been apartment hunting and recently I learned that all buildings have a bomb shelter for tenants to hide ~ if needed.  When I saw the giant doors I thought they were from an old bank safe or something.  But no.  Even new buildings are equipped with them.  They are often used as storage until such occasion should arise that a bomb shelter is needed.  Then you have 24 hours to remove all your junk from storage and move down into the bunkers yourselves.  Hummmm... old tradition, but still practiced.  If your building doesn't have a built-in bomb shelter, you are assigned one nearby. Hummmmm.

So Alex and I were playing in the apartment just now when suddenly I heard a siren that sounded like an air raid siren from the movies.  Then I thought: NO. It's just a fire alarm.  Then again: NO, that's for an air raid!!! A fire alarm would be sounding in the building and this is outside!!! FREAKY!!  So I quickly (stumbling the whole way) try to get my jeans on while mentally preparing what I need to bring for Alex and call E.

He said he thought he just heard something too (oh god, my worries are confirmed) but then the alarm stopped.  Okay, phew, false alarm whatever it was.  Then I remembered hearing an alarm once in France.  It was at noon on a Wednesday.  So I checked the time.  13:32 on Wed. Feb.1.  Okay, it's possible it was intentional after all.  And E assures me nobody is moving around at work.  So we hang up.

Again. It wails.

Is this for real!??!!! Freaky!!! So I called someone who has been helping us 'arrive' in Basel.  Yes, it was an air raid test. My gosh!  It's going again as I type!!! But now I know it's just a test that they do about 3 times a year on a Wednesday at 13:30.

What an unnerving thing.