Basel

Travel to Basel

It’s overcast and cool today. We leave early because we have a 3.5 hour drive to drop off the rental car at the Basel Airport.

My leg muscles are sore from all the up hill climbing we did yesterday.

From the airport it is an easy and convenient bus ride to the rail station and then a fifteen minute walk to our hotel.

Our hotel stay includes a complementary transit pass and half price museum entries.

Kleinbasel

We hop on a very convenient tram and head into the centre of town.

We cross the bridge into Kleinbasel. The skyline is dominated by the Basel Munster. We walk along the Rhine waterfront.

The spring gardens are simply beautiful, especially the abundance of wisteria on the walls of many of the old houses.

Many of the houses are dated; some even as old as the 1300s…and still in use.

Basel has a very unique river ferry that operates on a cable system to pull the ferry back and forth across the river. Click here for a short video.

Old Town

We stop for a look at the botanical gardens before checking out one of the city’s medieval gates.

We pass through lovely, little squares with pretty fountains and beautiful flowers…and even more wisteria everywhere you look. Basel is known as the City of Fountains and they actually provide clean drinking water.

The Old Town is so picturesque with its lovely buildings & narrow alleys. Easter decor is everywhere. The Swiss take such good care of everything.

Rathaus

All the steps and steep hills are challenging on my sore muscles. We stop for a break at the McDonald’s with the sidewalk seating in front of the beautiful, red Rathaus (city hall). I had an overwhelming craving for McD’s fries…only $9 CAD!… everything is very expensive in Switzerland.

The Rathaus is even more spectacular on the inside. All walls are covered in frescoes/murals. I love the animals in these paintings, especially the dogs and parrots.

My legs are feeling like lead weights but we continue to go up and down steps and hills.

Pants Pocket Museum

We go back uphill again to see Hooseagg Museum (Pants Pocket Museum). At 2’x2′, it is the smallest museum in Switzerland. It is located in the window of a 600 year old house. The display changes regularly.

Rock and Roll Mural

While walking around we discover a rock & roll mural on the side of the building. We spend quite a bit of time identifying the artists and John hams it up at the mural of the Beatles Abbey Road album cover.

Basel Munster

More uphill climbs to the red sandstone Basel Münster (Basel Cathedral). One of the highlights is the 360° view from the tower, but it’s later in the day and I just can’t imagine climbing all the stairs. The inside is lovely with all the ancient effigies.

St Alban

We head to the St Alban quarter of the city it is another beautiful area with many timber framed houses. St Alban Tower is our final destination before we catch a tram back to the hotel for the night.

Travel Day to Luxembourg

Next day my leg muscles are still sore when I wake up. Fortunately, today is a travel day. We head out to the Basel train station catch a train to Mannheim, Germany and then a train to Frankfurt Airport. We pick up a rental car there and drive to Luxembourg.

We are going to Luxembourg because it is the last country John has not been to but I have. However it was more than 30 years ago that I visited so it’s really like starting over for me.

We rely heavily on the car’s GPS and unfortunately this one is only speaking German. We can’t figure out how to change it to English because all instructions are in German. Fortunately we have a son who speaks German. I call and he walks me through it. Things go much better when our GPS switches over to a pleasant British accented voice.

Evening in Luxembourg

It’s a 2.5 hour drive from Frankfurt airport to our hotel in Luxembourg. We check in and grab a very convenient tram in to the city centre. Public transit in Luxembourg is free for everyone and consists of teams and buses.

After walking around a bit, we find an Eastern European restaurant with outside seating for borscht, pierogies and beer. Yum.

We walk a bit of the city and visit the dramatic memorial monument at the Place de la Constitution.

We grab some breakfast food for tomorrow at the grocery store. I cannot resist the cute little chocolate dipped bunny buns. We are back to our hotel by tram in under 15 minutes.