I knew Basel would be pretty, but I was still pleasantly surprised at how attractive it is. All around are old buildings, narrow streets, plazas and great spots to discover and enjoy! We did not have a plan for the weekend, except to walk around and explore...
The Offene Kirche Elisabethen, or Church of St. Elizabeth was the first stop on our self-guided walking tour of Basel. It's on a busy road, and it's in Neo-Gothic style. It's beautiful, and we were confused when we found that part of it was a cafe. Turns out (thank you internet) that it was up for demolition, and now it is now hired out for events.
We then walked by the Tinguely fountain. Jean Tinguely has a museum in Basel that we didn't get to, so it was nice to see the fountain. This is a hot spot for teenagers later that night.
We meandered through the town and then headed to Münster Cathedral, going through the Münsterplatz to get to it. It's under construction but impressive nonetheless.
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| The Münsterplatz |
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| Münster Cathedral, under construction |
We then went through the narrow, winding streets to go to the Rathaus. We couldn't stop snapping pictures on the way!
The day had been cloudy and sunny, but when we got to the Rathaus, the sun came out and shone on the lovely building. There was a little market in front, that was closing up for the day.
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| Rathaus and market |
Walking to the Spalentor, the city gates was a gradual uphill climb through more winding streets lined with narrow, attractive buildings with boutiques, shops and cafes. And periodically we'd find a nice fountain!
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| Fountain and Spalentor in background |
The Spalentor was built in the 14th century I believe, as one of 3 gates built to protect the city.
We then walked back to the train station or Bahnhof to get the bus back to the hotel. Like Geneva and other cities, tourists get free city transport during their stay.
That night, we ventured back into the city to have some dinner and watch football. Then, we found the Imagine Festival, which we'd walked by earlier that day, was continuing. We caught the last act, a Spanish group called Fuel Fandango, that really got the crowd going!
The next day, we went to the Kunstmuseum, a grand art museum containing contemporary and more classical art. We saw a fantastic Renoir exhibit, where pieces had been collected from around the world.
There were many more exhibits to see there, and our feet were aching after we finished exploring the museum!
After more walking around and lunch, we ended the weekend with a drink on the river, at a nice terrasse, where we had a good chat with Amanda's colleague.
Basel is the first place I've been to where Swiss-German is spoken. We muddled around with our very limited German, but of course people spoke English too. I was delighted to find Bretzel, soft pretzels served plain or as a sandwich. We had one with raclette and also one with olives. Both delicious!
This was a great weekend trip that passed by quickly.
