Basel - city of church spires, building cranes and backpacks

Basel, Switzerland

Hotel Euler

Today has been a good day. After paying for my gastronomic transgressions last night, I awoke refreshed and ready for the day. I had originally planned to take an all day river cruise up the Rhine, but decided to take it easy instead.

After writing yesterday’s blog and posting it, I rode Tram #8 back to Tinguely Fountain to spend some time meditating on what I had missed. (See my spiritual reflections for more if you’re interested.)

After returning to the hotel and relaxing for awhile, I headed out to do some shopping. I needed to buy another electric converter since the one I’d brought with me was taken up charging all my devices. I also decided to buy a ticket for shorter harbor cruise later in the afternoon. This killed two birds with one stone since both places were in the train station, just a short walk away from the hotel. The Information Center was just a short walk down the corridor from the main hall. I’d been there before.

The electronics store was a different matter. To get there I had to go up to the second floor. Considered the escalator and wisdom prevailed...took the elevator. When the doors opened the sign for the electronics shop was on the far end...literally almost a quarter mile away. (The train station is enormous!) Reaching the far end, I couldn’t find the store. Two station cleaning employees were just getting ready to enter the elevator, so I asked them how to get to the store. They said they’d show me. Instead of going up (where the store sign was) we went down and came out in the back rooms of the station, went through a door to the outside, walked about a block, turned a corner, walked another half block and the lady opened a door and pointed to the shop inside. I thanked them profusely (how many times can you say ‘danka?”) and went in to this confusing array of probably thirty different varieties of converters. A young man saw my confusion, and in his broken English and my nonexistent German, we managed to find a converter that would change American plugs into ones anywhere on earth, and all for only 25 CHF. Again, “danka, danka.”

Now began the long journey back to the hotel. An elevator took me to the back of a shoe store on the second floor, and I trudged down the long hallway. A Swiss chocolate store drew me in like a magnet, and I indulged in a dark chocolate truffle (I’d been soooo good with my fast!) to keep up my energy. (One excuse is as good a another.) I started to take a picture of the store, but decided that it would be cruel to show you all that decadance and not be able to bring you some. (Aren’t I a nice guy??)

By the time I got back to the hotel and rested for a few minutes it was too late to make the boat ride I had planned, so I chalked off the 12.50 CHF and took a nap instead.

Getting up I decided I wanted to see how the other half of Basel lived, so I took a tram that looped out into the suburbs and back again. About half the ride was more city, and the rest was suburbs. As in almost all cities, neighborhoods changed. One had beautiful gardens behind gated walls, In one all the restaurants were middle Eastern...except for an Irish Pub embedded in the middle of it.

They all shared things in common, city or suburbs...outdoor cafes, neighborhood storefront markets and graffiti.

Several things have impressed me about Basel...the old interspersed with the ultramodern; that you can see church steeples and industrial building cranes on the skyline from almost anywhere in the city; and that, to be a true citizen of Basel you have to have a backpack. Everyone-old, young, business person or homeless -seems to have a backpack. And many people were trundling along with wheeled suitcases. I’d expected it at the train station, but I even saw them in the outlying parts of the city.

Basel is also a city of museums, including some world renowned, and I haven’t seen any of them. Makes me wish I could stay longer. But, at a museum a day you could spend over a month here.

Tomorrow I board ship and this part of the adventure draws to a close.

If you want to see more pictures of today’s travels, click here.

If you’d like to share in my spiritual reflections, click here.

Blessings and peace!