Basel Switzerland
We have disembarked the ship in Basel, Switzerland. We will spend the next 3 days hanging out in Basel. The language here is Swiss German, they use the Swiss Franc as currency and the city has great public transportation as is also very walkable. Be sure to get a BaselCard, which many hotels provide to their guests.
During our visit, we stayed at the One Motel Basel. This is a really nice “chain” we discovered when we had traveled in Europe previously. The Basel version was consistent with this brand; clean, comfortable, excellent breakfast, great service, affordable and centrally located in the old city of Basel. This is a “must stay” for us on future visits to European cities where there is a One Motel located. This One Motel supplies each guest with a BaselCard which gets you free rides on public transportation (which is excellent in Basel) and also provides discounts at many of the museums so be sure to ask!
On our first day, we planned a private tour of the old city. We booked the tour through Viator and were very pleased with the entire process. Our guide was very good, right on time and easily accommodated our schedule. I gave her a list of all of the places we wanted to see in the 3 hours we were together and she easily managed it for us.
The Cathedral/Minster
We started out with a trip to the Basel Minster. At one time, this beautiful display of Gothic architecture was a Catholic cathedral. It remained a Catholic Church for about 500 years, starting in the very early 11th century. Following the Protestant Reformation, the Cathedral was redone on the inside to meet the standards of the Protestant Church; however, the striking red sandstone walls and colorful roof tiles were maintained and can be appreciated today.
The interior of the church underwent a stark renovation since Protestant Reformation times and is far less opulent than one would typically see if it were still owned & operated by the Papacy. Even the stained glass, while beautiful, is far more conservative than what you would see from the Roman Catholics. They are such show-offs, those Catholic kids! LOL
There are tombs and crypts aplenty, including the tomb of Erasmus of Rotterdam. Our guide shared that Erasmus, while unknown to me or Jim, was a great thinker of the Renaissance, a priest, and a scrapper (my word). Evidently, he did not go along with all of the Catholic Church doctrine and was quite vocal about it. His casket seems to indicate he was not highly regarded by the Catholic Church or his local monastery’s leadership. Poor Erasmus!
Way creepy! Looks like an urn!
The Rathaus
The other landmark that absolutely deserves attention is the Rathaus Basel, or Town Hall. This building is amazing. It is fun, quirky, humorous and functional, all in one. Rathaus sits prominently in the Marktplatz It is also quite ironic in that its function is to house the meetings of the local Parliament and the Canton of Basel, while its interior and certainly its exterior are not representative of a typical government building. The Rathaus screams “playful”. Just a little history, the building is more than 500 years old, and as I mentioned, dominates the central Marktplatz.
Around the lunch hour each day, the Marktplatz is filled with people getting their lunch from local Food Trucks! Tables and chairs are set up throughout the Marktplatz and you can enjoy your lunch outdoors on a beautiful day, accompanied by bees and pigeons! There are also a few farmers’ market stands set up in the platz, so after lunch you can pick up a few items for dinner.
We really enjoyed visiting the Rathaus and even took a tour of the inside of the building, which is just as much fun as the outside. I feel as though you would have to visit this building more than once to actually see all of the little hidden design gems scattered throughout. Highly recommend at least one visit to the Rathaus. Take a look at the pictures and see what you think!
These are pictures of the outside. Look at all of the paintings/murals, Golden Tower, colorful tile roof and more!
These are pictures of the Clock Tower. Check out the hands on the clock….so clever!
The inside is as colorful and full of surprises as the outside…
and the building is full of fun and interesting little gargoyles, statues and fun fountains…Check out the gargoyle on the drain spout!
The Fountains
Another really wonderful and interesting bit of Basel culture is the outdoor water fountain. There are more than 200 fountains in the city of Basel. The water fountains are meant to be drunk from. Everyone keeps a stash of paper drinking cups or a water thermos on their person. You will be hard pressed to find a bottle of water in a store. If you can find one, you will pay a fortune for the bottle (we paid $10 for a bottle of water in our hotel). You will see people throughout the city drinking from the fountains, either directly from the spigot or using their thermos/cup. I was very skeptical at first – how could that water be pure??? Before the end of the first day, I was not only a disciple and a believer, I was actively promoting! The fountains are all creative, beautiful and/or fun.
My personal fav!
Even the pups have their own water supply! 
And this fountain is worth a special visit. I took a video to show the animation of these fountain objects but the blog software and I are still fighting over who has the final word on posting videos. For now, still life is my only known, and therefore preferred, method of including media files.
This is the Tinguely Fountain designed by the famous artist, Jean Tinguely, a 20th century Swiss sculptor known for his kinetic art. The fountain is built on the site of the stage of Basel’s old city theater. The little mechanical figurines are actors or dancers. The mechanical actors/dancers perform their art over and over again; however, none of them does the same performance. It is really a interesting landmark and worth the time to visit.
Big Pharma
Another place of great interest to Basel is the pharmaceutical industry, which represents the leading industry in Basel. You can see their large building in the skyline, boasting such powerhouses as Roche Pharmaceuticals, here seen from the bridge in the Old City Basel. Why is Bib Pharma here in little old Basel? Well, it has to do with silk ribbons to salt to chemicals to life sciences to sciences to pharma. A tale of “rags to riches” (sorry, had to do it!) to be sure! If you are interested in the hundreds-of-years worth of industrial revolution that made this success story what it is today, then definitely pay a visit to the Pharmacy Museum!
We visited the Pharmacy Museum because big pharma is a big topic here in the US and frankly, something of interest to us. We were pleasantly surprised that our BaselCard got us a 50% discount on admission to the Museum, which made the visit certainly “worth the price of admission”.
The Museum follows the history of healing from the stone ages to more modern day (which really only became “modern” in the 20th century!). On display were mummies, spiders, herbs, alligators, snakes and other creepy crawlers whose remains or parts were used to create healing potions. Also on display were the various means of administering these potions. Talk about medieval!
So here is a cute story. Tobacco was once considered a healing drug for cancer!! OMG, the irony there! And the device used to administer the cancer-curing tobacco substance looked like a very miniature pipe. I submit Exhibit A, your honor, note the device on the far right hand side.
It works like this: you pack the tobacco in the “pipe”, light it and then pump the smoke into the anus of the patient (regardless of where cancer was located, this was the site where the “cure” was administered). Can you imagine? I guess that is where the saying comes from: ‘just blowing smoke up your ass”! sorry, had to do it!
Anyway, the Pharmacy Museum is really interesting. It is a self guided audio tour so you control how long you are in there and listen to what most interests you. Jim and I were in and out in 1 hour. We learned a lot and were even able to feed our sophomoric senses of humor! Bonus!
The University of Basel Botanical Gardens
Basel has a few other great cultural enrichment opportunities. For example, the University of Basel Botanical Garden is a ridiculously beautiful place to wander for an hour. You will see Sequoia Trees from America along side fauna from Japan, Malesia, Costa Rica and other far away places. They have a succulents garden that is incredible! And the tropical plants greenhouse is unlike anything I have ever seen. The Garden is located on the property of the University as it serves as the “research lab” for students who are majoring in the botanical sciences. There are little benches and stools situated throughout, where you will find students and visitors alike enjoying lunch, conversation or doing research for an upcoming term paper. Here are a few of my favorite things!
Dreilandbrucke/Dreilandereck
There is point in the Rhine River where Switzerland, France and Germany meet. It is very cool to stand on the Three Countries Bridge (Dreilanderbrucke) with a hand and both feet planted in a country at the same time. On one bank of the river, there is a monument recognizing this phenomena (Dreilandereck). Jimmy proudly displays his ability to be in 3 places at one time! And me too! Then of course, there is the monument.
Eating in Basel
We found a few fun places to eat lunch, namely the Marktplatz and MarktHalle. Both are great lunch spots featuring a multitude of food vendors. The Marktplatz is outdoors, food trucks and little tables and chairs set up throughout. Located in front of RatHause. Bring cash, not all vendors take credit cards. The Markthalle is indoors and not in the center of the city so have to take a tram. Communal tables indoors with food stands featuring food from everywhere in the world, including Ukraine, Afghan, Thailand, Italy, America, Samoa and Spain to name a few. Again, bring cash and do not show up any later than 1pm. Even though they advertise from 11am-2pm, if it isn’t busy at 1pm, the vendors start to shut down and go home.
We had dinner at 2 of the best restaurants we have been to in a while.
Restaurant Fiorentina is located in the Old City and has a roof top terrace. On a beautiful night, it is THE place to be with a beautiful view of Klinebasel (Little Basel) and the river. The Italian food is excellent. I had the eggplant and Jim had Tuscan style steak and both were superb! Great selection of wine as well. Bring your appetite, your wallet and do not show up without a reservation. They are packed from 5pm on, in both upstairs and downstairs venues. When you make the reservation be sure to specify if you want to eat upstairs on the terrace or in the downstairs restaurant. Sharp, casual dress is what we saw. Service here is not what they are selling. It’s food and the view. Unless the servers were just having a bad night…
Schlusselzunft is also located in the Old City. Again, the food was superb, the service was outstanding, what I call “old school”; service by waiters dressed in white shirts and black trousers and who most likely have been serving guests for their entire lives. They know their food, they know their wine and they know how to earn a good tip – with outstanding service. Bring your appetite, your wallet and do not show up without a reservation. Dress code was sharp casual here as well.
Jim and I both agree that these restaurants were a definite plus to the Basel visit.
Oh and don’t forget the chocolates and the gelato! We tried several gelato places and found Bruno Lorenzo Gelato Lab to be the best. Cross the bridge into Kleinbasel and walk a few blocks using your GPS. The Gelato Lab is a hidden gem and I mean GEM!
Swimming the Rhine
To cool off on a hot day and for fun, people float down the river. Using a water-proof sack, they load their work clothes into the sack, which also act as a flotation device! They float down the river with their floaties until they are ready to get out. On to the river bank they go, remove their swim gear, get dressed and off they go. It is the craziest thing and so much fun to watch these people float down the river en masse. Some are solo, some are families, some are coworkers floating side by side!
They can also be observed down the river from your seat on the St. Alban Fahre, a non-motorized ferry that crosses from one side of the river to the other on a cable. It costs $2 per person and takes about 5 minutes. It’s just for fun and relaxation. Walk along the river until you get to their sign and then walk down to the river bank and wait for their ferry. You won’t be disappointed!
We walked across the bridge several times to check out Kleinbasel (Little Basel), the newer section of Basel and the side of the city where all of the big Pharma and other business are located. The view from Kleinbasel over the river to Old City Basel is really pretty, day or night.
On
On our last afternoon in Basel, we roamed the side streets of Old Basel and checked out the little area known as Spalenberg where you will find charming medieval houses, little cafes and great boutiques. Wander down another side street and you will find the 5th and 5.5th Beatles!
Well, it is time to leave Basel and return to Amsterdam where we catch our return flight to the USA. It has been a wonderful adventure and one we know we will repeat. There is so much to see and learn about from this great continent and its diverse cultures, languages and histories. More than we can see in a lifetime. So until next time, farewell/tchuss/au revoir to Germany, Netherlands, France and Switzerland.
Final word: when we got to Amsterdam, we stayed at the Renaissance Amsterdam Schiphol Airport Hotel as our flight back to the US was the next morning. The hotel is a $30EU taxi ride from the airport or you can take the Hotel Shuttle for free and it runs every half hour. Follow the airport signs to the Hotel Shuttle parking spots or ask someone in Airport Info Booth on the baggage claim area level. They all speak English and can easily direct you.
We also had dinner at the hotel restaurant and the food was actually good. Jim had the hamburger and it was huge and perfectly cooked. I had a chopped salad that was also good. Nice glass of wine, clean and comfortable bed and an excellent shower all made for a great stay our last night.
PS: everywhere we traveled, except Switzerland, uses the Euro. Switzerland uses the Swiss Franc so be sure you have some if you plan to stay in Switzerland.