I remember very little of Basel, so it’s a bit like arriving in a completely different city. We basically spent Yesterday afternoon and today traveling around Basel, checking out both the historic and shopping aspects. It’s more expensive than anywhere we’ve been yet and there are a number of shops with very nice and very expensive clothing and jewelry. We did find a flea market though that was quite interesting, but even their stuff was relatively expensive compared to Holland.
We visited the Ethnographic Museum, which only had a small sample display due to a major renovation. They did have a good exhibition about Fasnacht which was vey good, and gave Frances an idea of what it’s like. I was fortunate to be in Basel during Fasnacht in 1988 and it was quite amazing – the one period of the year the Baselers break out of the staid, quiet behavior to make as much noise as possible – for a short time.
We also spent some time at the University Botanical Gardens which were fantastic, including a tropical rainforest with birds from Asia. They have an amazing array of plants, and an equally amazing array of systems and devices to provide the appropriate micro climates for them.
Tonight we had dinner in the Mr. Wong restaurant. The decor was a strange mixture of Chinese and other Asian motifs, and run by a Thai woman. In Australia we’d think it would be pretty weird, but not here. All in all, we really enjoyed our couple of days here – the architecture is fantastic, especially the Rathouse (Town Hall) and the public transport system of trams and buses makes getting around incredibly easy.
Tomorrow we pick up our VW Polo and begin our drive south to Italy. Unfortunately Frances has developed a very painful hip, making moving around difficult – we hope Voltarin will fix the problem otherwise we may need to seek medical assistance.
Internet access will be difficult, so the updates may be sporadic for the next 2 weeks. We’ll try to check emails when we can.
PS: Forgot to mention that Fances wanted the see the place where you can swim in the Rhine. It was a large open structure with a a cafe and sun chairs. The water was coooold, the current strong and full of swirling eddies that aparently make swimming dangerous. However we saw two men were preparing to swim the 300m across, waiting until there were no boats downstream as they could easily be hit! Eventually they waded into the cold water and commenced swimming - not as we do, but a sort of paddle and side stroke. The current was so strong that they basically rode the current accross, landing approximately 500m downstream. The current is so strong, that a small ferry crosses the river only uing the current. It is tethered to a high cable running across the river, and just steers the small boat across and back. It uses no other power at all!
We visited the Ethnographic Museum, which only had a small sample display due to a major renovation. They did have a good exhibition about Fasnacht which was vey good, and gave Frances an idea of what it’s like. I was fortunate to be in Basel during Fasnacht in 1988 and it was quite amazing – the one period of the year the Baselers break out of the staid, quiet behavior to make as much noise as possible – for a short time.
We also spent some time at the University Botanical Gardens which were fantastic, including a tropical rainforest with birds from Asia. They have an amazing array of plants, and an equally amazing array of systems and devices to provide the appropriate micro climates for them.Tonight we had dinner in the Mr. Wong restaurant. The decor was a strange mixture of Chinese and other Asian motifs, and run by a Thai woman. In Australia we’d think it would be pretty weird, but not here. All in all, we really enjoyed our couple of days here – the architecture is fantastic, especially the Rathouse (Town Hall) and the public transport system of trams and buses makes getting around incredibly easy.
Tomorrow we pick up our VW Polo and begin our drive south to Italy. Unfortunately Frances has developed a very painful hip, making moving around difficult – we hope Voltarin will fix the problem otherwise we may need to seek medical assistance.
Internet access will be difficult, so the updates may be sporadic for the next 2 weeks. We’ll try to check emails when we can.
PS: Forgot to mention that Fances wanted the see the place where you can swim in the Rhine. It was a large open structure with a a cafe and sun chairs. The water was coooold, the current strong and full of swirling eddies that aparently make swimming dangerous. However we saw two men were preparing to swim the 300m across, waiting until there were no boats downstream as they could easily be hit! Eventually they waded into the cold water and commenced swimming - not as we do, but a sort of paddle and side stroke. The current was so strong that they basically rode the current accross, landing approximately 500m downstream. The current is so strong, that a small ferry crosses the river only uing the current. It is tethered to a high cable running across the river, and just steers the small boat across and back. It uses no other power at all!