Tag Archives: Germany

Basel Wrap-up

15 Oct

15 October 2025.

Schweizerdeutsch and Italian mix with occasional Chinese and other tongues and reverberate off the buildings in our neighborhood. Children play outside and even adults glide by on scooters and bikes, laden with packages from the nearby Migros. Apartments blocks are six-stories high and and tightly packed, as with any high-density city. Parking is scarce. This normal, middle-class neighborhood in a vibrant city has been our home these past two weeks.


We chose Basel as a base for two reasons: (1) It is somewhere we have never spent any time and (2) its location in the tri-country region, the Dreiländereck (border triangle) of Switzerland, Germany and France, offered the opportunity to explore a small part of Germany, the French Alsace, and this pocket of Switzerland.

Ric at Cité du Train, the largest railway museum in Europe, with a vintage carriage; One of many vignettes staged in older railroad carriages, this one depicting an Italian family in 3rd class early 20th century. The oldest locomotive in the collection.


This year’s plan is to spend two weeks in each of three mostly new-to-us locations, establish a base, and explore the area. Samedan, our earlier stop, we had passing familiarity with as we had stayed in nearby Pontresina twice (see On the Road Again). Our familiarity with Basel extended to changing trains here several times over the years and grabbing a coffee in the station.

Our apartment is on the 3rd floor (4th American) of a late 20th century building: in other words, modern. Jennifer, our kind host, fully remodeled the unit a couple of years ago so it is quite comfortable and easy to live in. The windows have great soundproofing and automated shutters, critical as those charming neighborhood sounds become annoying when the gathering across the street, watching a match on Saturday night, cheering and jeering, are still doing so at bedtime. There are three grocery stores within easy hoofing distance, and the tram stop is the next block over.

Basel is a nice, medium-size city with a charming Alt Stadt (old city). People slip in-and-out of German, Swiss German, French, Italian, and English seamlessly. As a crossroads for centuries (the Mittlerebrücke is one of the oldest bridges on the Rhine and in the 14th  century became a significant crossing for international trade) the residents are accustomed to foreigners, although these days many visitors are here to take a Rhine River cruise, or to finish one.

The Basel Rathaus, 500 years old. The Swiss pronounce it ROTE-haus which is a play on the color red; Halloween window decor; My delightful Pacific omelet at Sunday brunch

Exploring has been challenging without a car. I thought briefly about renting one for two or three days, but I find that stressful overseas. I do not even like driving at home so one of the benefits of our travel method is not having to drive AT ALL. The trains are, of course, amazing, but transit times can be frustrating. It takes 1.5 to more than 2 hours each way for some of the places I had scoped out to visit. That’s fine a couple of times a week, but not daily.

Scenes from Freiburg im Breisgau: The Munster from the top of the Schlossberg; The unique channels in the street to manage water accentuated with little figures in front of a toy store.

Still, we found things to do and visited some lovely and interesting places.

  • Our path to lunch “art” walk (Crossing Borders) was obscure but lovely and so very close to the city yet far away in atmosphere.
  • A circuit through vineyards above Turckheim and lunching on an Alsatian specialty, the Tarte Flambé.
  • Visiting the old towns of Solothurn, Freiburg im Briesgau, Neufchâtel, and Rheinfelden, each with its own character and few tourists.
  • The largest railway museum in Europe, the Cité du Train at Mulhouse (muh-LOOZ) France. Unbelievably well curated and interesting.
  • An informative and free city walking tour in Basel (tips appreciated and well worth it).
  • The Basel Zoo where we were introduced to species with which we were unfamiliar. Black-and-rufus Sengi, anyone?
  • A walk in an Alsatian wetland La Petite Camargue Alsacienne, just a quick train ride into France, near the airport, but a world apart.

Cute little Turckheim top row: Gate, once imposing now welcoming; Main square with church; my Alsatian Pizza, aka Tarte Flambé. Bottom row: Vineyards surround Turckheim. We saw almost no one on our walk, just farmers in their fields. Last photo, the Collegiate Church at Neuchǎtel.

We are not museum people, as a rule. These days they are places to go when there is bad weather or there is a particular show or collection to view. (Although, I would go the the Orsay any day, if only for the Van Goghs.) The Tinguely Museum, with creations from the mind of an innovative mid-20th century artist, Jeannot Tinguely, was well worth our time. That said, there are abundant museums of interest and one could fill two or three days. But we had good weather so ventured out.

Tinguely Fountain, Basel

We missed several places I had hoped to go in the Alsace due to travel times. 2.5 hours each way to Ribeauville was not happening. Ditto the long ride to Strasbourg. The best parts of the Black Forest were just awkward and lengthy to get to from here without a car.

Should we have rented a car? It would have cut travel times but added expense. The train fares, even with a Swiss Half Fare Card, added up quickly. Nothing is cheap in Switzerland, although it was a pleasure to pay in Euros when we ate in France and Germany.

Would we come back? Not for such a long stay, but should an itinerary require a night or two in Basel, gladly.

A two-week stay gives you the chance to get to know a place in a way you cannot in short stay. Not every sight is a Rick Steves Triple Diamond must see, but then we are not fighting the hordes in Europes hot spots. There’s a lot of pleasure in that.

Now we are in Ferrara, Italy, another town that is not on the itinerary of most travelers. So happy to be back in Italy! More to come…

Cin Cin from the land of aperitivi!

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Crossing Borders

8 Oct

8 October 2025.

Monday we walked from Switzerland to Germany, passing closed border-control booths. Not in a high-mountain pass. A suburban street was our path, once again, to lunch.

Staying in Basel is part of our experiment this trip: two weeks in each of three new-to-us-places, exploring, finding places less-visited by our ilk, and “living local.” Basel is in a unique international position, a notch of Switzerland that juts into France and Germany and shares the Rhine River with both. This is a strategic shipping hub for Switzerland and the Dreiländereck, where the countries officially meet, is a mere half-hour’s walk from our apartment. Of course, since it is Switzerland, walking there is quite simple.

Our border crossing experience was not as straightforward. Ignoring spits of rain, we traveled by tram (so convenient!) to suburban Riehen to take the Rehberger-Weg, an artistically inspired walk between the Fondation Beyeler Museum and the Vitra Campus (a furniture company and design museum). Finding the start of the path was our first adventure as a construction project forced a detour. The track seemed obvious from there, but as we searched for the first piece of art we found we were off piste. Huh. Luckily, as paths cross-cross this country like plaid in a tartan, we were able to re-route ourselves with only a half mile walk for our trouble.

Top left and center, our inadvertent detour was at least well-trod and scenic; Top right, a vineyard; Bottom a distant view of Basel.

In my defense, I was guiding us with a very stylized map created by the artist. You can see it for yourself using the link above and clicking on Walking Map. Once I decoded what actually constituted art and which landmarks on the map corresponded, the going was simple enough and the views to Basel remarkable. We passed through small vineyards and past garden allotments, encountered little traffic and even fewer people. The art is, to me, obscure. They are (mostly) three-dimensional, brightly colored objects that allude to real things: a birdhouse, a streetlamp, a tree. We had fun making fun of them.


Top Row: Lookout, big enough for a human to climb into; Streetlamp; Signs. Bottom Row: Drinking Fountain (yes, it works!); Tree

The possibility of rain evaporated and we arrived at the Vitra Campus just in time for our Noon lunch reservation. Lunch in Germany, priced in Euros, was a treat both gastronomically and economically. A bus directly to our neighborhood left from Vitra every half-hour made our return uncomplicated.

Top Row: Vegan quiche and organic salad at VitraHaus Cafe; A Vitra-designed chair for €429 which doesn’t seem bad until you realize it is a miniature like those in the case in the bottom row; A bit of elephant whimsy. They are for sale.

The path was envisioned as a 10-year project in 2015, and it officially ends this month. Presumably, the art along the route will go away…at least in time. We were lucky to have it as a guide.


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Dash across Germany

16 Sep
16 September 2017.
Relatively speaking, that is, we dashed across Germany. Eight-and-a-half hours by train from Amsterdam to München. Seems long, but it is not much slower than flying when you consider time to-and-from airports, security, waiting time, etc. And it is far more relaxing. I’ll take a train over a plane any day. We read, napped, chatted, and snacked. The only challenge was the six-minute change of trains. Six minutes! We had to go from the end of one very long train, down from the platform through the very busy Hannover station, up to another platform, and run several car lengths. We made it about 60 seconds before they closed the doors. Note to self: never let Trainline.eu schedule our connections. Should’ve bought directly from Deutsche Bahn. The price was great, though.

This passed for a snack in first class on our second DB train. Expected beer and pretzels.

Germany wasn’t really in our plan, but we needed to get from Amsterdam to Ortisei and it was not feasible to do in a day by train. I last visited München in 1972, a few weeks before the ill-fated Olympics. Ric had never been. In order to make the most of our time there, we hooked up with Taff Simon (not yet born in 1972, he observed) of Dark History Tours. Taff is an archeologist and life-long student of history. He shared with us not only the highlights of München (Marianplatz, Frauenkirche, Hofbrauhaus, and so on) but afforded us an insider’s view taking us into places big groups would never go. For example, the big meeting room on the top of the Hofbrauhaus where in February 1920 Adolf Hitler and the National Socialists held their first meeting. Taff led us through historic sites related to the rise of the Nazi party and Hitler’s activities in München prior to WWII, and we were also privy to his insights on the culture, the Bavarian royal family (think of the “Kings Ludwig”), and of course beer.
Click on any photo for a larger view and caption.

Augustiner-Keller our first night in München. Good beer, heavy food.
These Japanese were not enjoying the beer hall cuisine, preferring to drink beer and let the pork knuckles and dumplings sit.
Taff Simon of Dark Tours did a great job. Highly recommend.
Sometimes looking up yields a fun shot.
Even on a cold, gray day, the Müncheners gathered in a biergarten. Oktoberfest is a couple of days away.
One part of our delightful Lebanese meal at Baalbek. This is kafta served like we’ve never seen it before with potatoes on the side. But then this is Germany.

We visited a bierkeller our first night, but the stand-out meal we enjoyed in München was Lebanese at Baalbek. What a delightful change from pork, red cabbage, and dumplings! Served with fine Lebanese red wine, we could not have been happier. We are also happy to be back in the habit of walking everywhere. A 20-minute walk before and after a dinner like that is so preferable to dropping into a car and carrying your new fat right to bed.
We are now in Ortisei and delighted to be back in Italia. It feels like coming home. Had great weather Friday morning, if cold (32 F/0 C), so we got in a great hike. We had to go buy fleeces: Didn’t pack them as we had not expected such cold to hit already.

 

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