|
We arrive in Basel and embark on
our
beautifully arranged programme!
Friday 13th September
2024 (afternoon)
|
|
|
|
Less than 10 minutes
after departing from Saint-Louis station (France), we arrived
at the Burgfelderhof tram stop in Switzerland. This is also
the border between the two countries. Our tram approached
from the rear right of image (beyond the customs point),
passed in front of the pink building (in France) before
making a sharp turn left into Switzerland and stopping in
the same place as the tram on the left. (Not our picture
obviously, because we were on the tram at this point). |
|
|
| |
|
| |
Looking back towards
France, this tram could have turned right if it was going
on into France, which every second tram does. Instead it
was looping around to the left to return to Basel. |
|
|
| |
From the border it was
only another 6 stops (10 minutes) before our tram arrived
at the Musik-Akademie stop, which was right outside the
Set Hotel, where we would be staying. If only all cross
border travel could be this easy! |
|
|
| |
It was still only lunch
time and our room wasn't ready for us yet, so we dropped
our luggage and walked the short, but quite steeply downhill
distance into the centre of Basel.
Our guided tour had begun and Edith and Gregor were in charge! |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| |
Nearby is this lovely
view across the Rhine. |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
A short walk from the
viewpoint, we could see the Basel Minster. |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
One of four Rhine river
ferries, the “Leu” links "Grossbasel"
with "Kleinbasel". The ferries are attached to
a long wire cable and are driven purely by the current of
the Rhine itself. |
|
|
| |
We made our way down
to the river to catch the ferry. |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
Disembarking on the other
side, we took a short stroll along the riverbank... |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
...to the Italian restaurant
chosen by Edith & Gregor as our lunch venue. |
|
|
| |
After a really tasty
meal with good wine, we walked a little further to a bridge
where we would cross back to the other side. |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
By now, it was time
to claim our hotel room. Edith and Gregor left us here in
the dining/reception area (where we would have breakfast
every morning) and took the tram back to their home. We
arranged to meet back here again in a couple of hours' time. |
|
|
| |
A benefit of staying
at a hotel in Basel is that all guests receive a "Basel
Card", valid for the duration of their visit. With
the card, travel on buses and trams is free. There are other
benefits too, some of which we hoped to use. |
|
 |
|
| |
We loved the hotel.
The minimalism, which contrasted strongly with the hotel
in Strasbourg, was a refreshing change. |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
The view from our hotel
room, overlooking its quite different sister hotel, the
art-themed "Der Teufelhof", with its distinctive
steel tightrope walking figure on the roof. |
|
|
| |
Later, we had pre-dinner
drinks at a bar, well known to E&G and where they were
equally well known. Being a Friday evening, it was very
busy indeed, but they managed to secure a prime location! |
|
|
| |
Afterwards, we went to
dinner at a restaurant serving traditional foods. |
|
|
| |
|
| |
We chose one the specialities
on the menu, pan fried sliced veal strips in a mushroom
cream sauce, served with Rösti ("Geschnetzeltes
vom Baselbieter Vollmilchkalb - Pilzrahmsauce - Rösti").
It was delicious! |
|
|
| |
|
After dinner, we returned
to our hotel for an early night. We had much to look forward
to tomorrow. |
|
| |
|
|
