A Sunny Saturday in Basel

Holy mackerel! This last weekend was unbelievably beautiful in Basel.  On Saturday we headed out the door to do one of the 5 city walks around town that start in Marktplatz in the center of Grossbasel.  This building is across the street from our flat and it is pretty nifty, even though it is a few hundred years too modern compared to most of Basel.

This is the majestic Münster that overlooks the Rhein and is noticeable from almost anywhere in Basel.  Construction was started sometime in the 12th century.  It kinda looks like it was made out of Legos.  But it has some pretty sweet Gothic charm.  As you can see, however, these 1000-year old buildings need some maintenance from time to time.  Guess they didn't build things to last back then.  Too bad they didn't have ply-board and dry wall to work with.

The city has dozens of fountains scattered throughout and they all dispense delicious, fresh water.  We can't wait for summer to see if swimming is allowed in them.  As you can see, Austin is a big fan of these fountains.  He insists on being picked up and placed on the edge so that he can have a drink.  We should mention, however, that many of the fountains have been modified so that our four-legged friends can have a drink on their level.  We think he likes the mineral content of the water here.  Mmm, minerals.

Just another ridiculously old building in Basel.  We just love how on every corner, and around every corner, there is a surprise waiting for us.  Like this little archway/house near the cathedral.

We will probably have to do an entire entry or six on the art scene here in Basel, but here is a teaser with the famous Kunstmuseum Basel.  There are at least 35 art museums in Basel, a city of approximately 200,000 people.  There are also many galleries and lots of bars have exhibitions as well.  When you apply for a visa here, the immigration office gives you a booklet with free passes to ALL of the art museums in town. 



In addition to the four main bridges across the Rhein, there are also a half dozen or so ferries that take you across "ancient" style.  There are cables that span the river, and these little boats carry you across with the power of the current only.  These old-school green machines only cost 1.50 SF per person!  And dogs can come too!

The picture on the left is Basel's "beach".  This is where much swimming happens when the temperature soars above 60 degrees Fahrenheit.














Another thing Basel is famous for is invisible benches.  Here, Jon is having a rest in the sunshine.




 






On the right of this photo is Mittlerebrücke, or middle bridge.  As the name implies, it is the central-most bridge connecting Grossbasel with Kleinbasel.  Despite its appearance, it is not from the middle ages, it was rebuilt in the 19th century to allow trams and such to cross.  There are always flags flying along the edges, announcing one thing or another.  The only thing that would make it better would be one of those guys with the super long trumpet blasting out and yelling "Hear, ye! Hear, ye!"  Or something like that in German.

As is almost always the case when we walk around town, we stumbled into an event!  This one was Basel Head.  It was the first annual rowing event hosted by the city.  Teams from all over Europe came to try their luck at tackling the Rhein.  Neato mosquito!

This is a view of the race from Mittlerebrücke.

Row, row, row your very expensive race boat, furiously down the Rhein!!!!















Wow!  We hope you are all enjoying these blog entries.  There is still so much to share with all of you!  Please stay tuned as there will be many, many more entries to come.