"This is Basel" - part 2

Basel main artery is the river Rhine, where people - locals and visitors alike - gather at the Rheinbord (above), where festivals take place, and, where the most popular occupation in summer is "Rheinschwimmen". Down the river with a special waterproof bag in which clothes and valuables are packed before floating down on the gentle current through the picturesque Old Town. 

Basel is situated at a border triangle, the so-called "Dreiländereck" marked by a sculpture (below, left) and equipped with a beach bar on the rooftop of the nearby building. There are more "party boats" around. The point at which Germany, France and Switzerland converge and boats (cruise/freight) sail off towards the North Sea is also a transport hub for the supply of raw materials to Switzerland.

 

We enjoyed a great tour at the port, one of three in the area, in Kleinhüningen, got to know about the harbor operations in the past and nowadays (mostly containers - photo below shows the Hafenbecken 1). Also, we visited the Hafenmuseum with lots of interesting ship models, a reconstruction of the harbor, simulators, movies and many other interesting documents, photos and items.

Harbor of Basel - modell in the museum:

Simulator:

But, there are not just huge freighters and cruise ships on the Rhine. Unique are the four Rhine river ferries “Wild Maa”, “Leu”, “Vogel Gryff” and “Ueli”, which link Grossbasel to Kleinbasel. They are attached to a long wire cable and are driven purely by the current of the Rhine itself. For 1 Franken you'll get from Großbasel to Kleinbasel and vice versa.

Rural Basel - green excursions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bruderholz Wasserturm (above) - a water tower still in operation today - is especially known for its observation deck and its views. Another "first" for us, which we will certainly include in our book update. Far in the background are the two Roche towers to be seen.

Birsköpfli - at the confluence of the river Birs into the Rhine - is a popular beach (especially, for the locals and for families) with a Buvette (kiosk) called "Spatz". We've never been there before! From there it's been a nice walk along the Großbasel river bank towards the Muenster - especially at sunset!

Another excursion - besides Fondation Beyeler in Riehen (see blog post before) - brought us  to the Dreispitz Area in Brüglingen with the adjacent Merian Gärten. While the Dreispitz neighborhood (where we climbed the tower to get the overview shown on the photo on the left) is the probably most exciting city planning and architectural project in Basel right now, the gardens are pure delight for the soul.

 

 

The Merian Gardens are both: a botanical garden and a historic park. A unique variety of plants and impressive botanical collections like rhododendrons, clematis garden, irises, but also veggie gardens and fruit orchards are surrounding some historic buildings: There is the old Villa Merian (above, on top), built in 1711, and there is a renovated barn (third photo) with a restaurant and event space, historic green houses and a water mill and more. Originally, this was farmland, bought in 1824 by Christoph Merian and (as many other properties) given to the people of Basel by him or his wife. The Merians were one of the big patrons of the art in Basel and the name is omnipresent.

Back to Roman roots

Augusta Raurica, in Augst and Kaiseraugst, is easily to be reached by bus from Basel. It was the hub of a Roman settlement, officially founded in 44 b.c., in existence until about 280 a.d. Besides a museum and "Römerhaus" (with reconstructed scenes of Roman life), there is an impressive theater with 2000 seats, remains of an amphiteater, a Roman bath, the forum with curia and temple, a basilica, some commercial and private buildings and much more spread out along nice trails in the landscape of rural Basel-Land.

Farewell to Basel

Basel is also known for its flea markets, one on Barfi (left), the other, much larger one is a once monthly event on Petersplatz. On our departure day we, of course, had to check that out!

And, before we left, we spent another hour in the Botanical Garden at Spalentor, closeby our Hotel Spalentor, part of the university and one of the oldest ones in Europe, founded in 1589. Many rare plants, like this Franklin Tree (left) are to be found here.

"This is Basel" - part 1

,,, that's the slogan of Basel, the Swiss city located on the boards of the river Rhine, in a border triangle: Germany, France and Switzerland. Different mentalities, cultures, languages, people merge here. It's not too far away from Lake Constance, and, for us, it was a 6-hour train trip (one-way) to get there, but just because we used our cheap Germany train ticket and were only allowed to use slow trains. 

Anyway, it was an easy trip to get there to do research for another (the 9th!) update of our Basel CityTrip guidebook at Reise Know-How Verlag. We've been in Basel a dozen times, starting in 2007, a year before the European Soccer World Championships took place in Basel and other Swiss and Austrian cities. Soccer and the famous FCB are still a big deal in Basel.

This time we choose different angles and focused on different topics, assisted excellently, as always, by Basel Tourism. We had a full itinerary, and, walked an average of 12-15 km a day at 90+ deg F, plus many miles on streetcars. We enjoyed our stay thoroughly.

On our arrival day, in the late afternoon, after having checked into the comfortable, friendly Hotel Spalenberg, we first checked out historic old town and adjacent neighborhoods, with it's idyllic little pathways, fortification towers and fountains. Some impressions below:

 

Spalentor

Famous Red City Hall

Spalenvorstadt

St. Alban Vorstadt

Baslisk fountain

Fantastic beer and creative food  

In the evening we started with one of our main "topics" on this trip: beer in Basel. We had a beer tour after an early dinner at the Fischerstuben, one of the older, established restaurants in town. Also, this restaurant is the "homebase" of Ueli Beer, one of the pioneers in Switzerland in the 1970s, reintroducing more beer variety again. With our guide Beat and a small group of Swiss beer connaisseurs we explored four Basel breweries, partly walking, partly taking the streetcar, which is very punctual, clean, air-conditioned in Basel. Went from Ueli to BBB (Braubude Basel) - a "private club" brewing beer – to Matt & Elly (great IPAs!), and concluded our tasting and tour at Volta Bräu closeby the Novartis campus.

Matt & Elly

"The pioneer" in Basel's beer sceneVolt

Our knowledgeable beer tour guide Beat Aellen

Bar at Volta Bräu

Staying with beer: The next day we had a tour at "Unser Bier" (below), another fascinating concept: a corporation whose stocks are in high demand. Dividends are given in beer at a big annual party. Unfortunately, this brewery with its  pub is only open for stock holders and for groups, but we were fortunate and had a tour & tasting with the (Bavarian) brewmaster (photo below).

Evening: The 10th Basel Biermarkt (below) is an annual event with about 20 breweries from the region presenting their beers to the general public. You walk from booth to booth with your glass in hand and get samples for tokens you've bought before. Food is being served as well. Great beers, creative breweries! 

Beer is one thing Basel is excellent at, same for food. There are traditional regional and Swiss specialities, food from all over the world, and saisonal and locally produced ingredients are on almost every menu. Prices may be high, but quality is right! We had a couple of wonderful dinners in different restaurants - more local, down-to-earth at Fischerstuben, mediterranean at Le Rhin Bleu and fine dining at Taverne Johann.

Cheese platter at Fischerstuben

Truffle Ravioli at Taverne Johann

Venison bratwurst at Johann

Chicken with pancetta at Le Rhin Bleu

Art & Culture

Basel had a long tradition with art, architecture and museums. One example: the Kunstmuseum Basel (photo on the left) – where in 1967 the first Picasso was exhibited .  

Sculpture - like the famous "Hammering Man" - or architecture, like in the Dreispitz Areal, murals (below: Gerbergässlein) and a beautiful concert hall, the Stadt Casino, recently renovated and expanded (we had a tour there!) – Basel has it all!

 

Riehen, a suburb of Basel, is home to the famous Fondation Beyeler, a modern art museum, surrounded by a park (photos below). Across the street, in the Kuenstlerhaus, Claire Ochsner is exhibiting her colorful artwork (photo furthest below).

 

Stay tuned, please, for part 2 of our Basel experiences and more about the river Rhine, the important port of Basel and some excursions we made.