Monday, July 14
We had our last breakfast on Viking Hild and we waited in the lounge until the bus was ready to take us for the walking tour of Basel. Basel is a cultural city where three nations converge; Switzerland, France and Germany.
After a glorious sunny day yesterday, the rain was back. Viking runs their tours rain or shine so off we went to explore Basel.
We had an outside visit of the 13th-century Romanesque Basel Münster and tucked into the exterior courtyard waiting for the rain to let up. Its unusually red sandstone was quarried from the nearby Vosges Mountains in neighboring France.
The south transept of Basel Münster contains a Star of David window formed by two equilateral triangles and Gothic arches. This window also features a stained-glass image of Christ the Redeemer. Here it is called the Basel Rose.
After a while we went up to a view point of the city. It was beautiful despite the dreary weather. We continued on to the Marktplatz. (Market Square) where the Rathaus, or Town Hall dominated. There were food trucks and an open air market in the square. (decent choice for lunch but we didn't end here)
From here we passed by the Wall of Fame mural in Gerbergässlein Alley. It's was a narrow street so getting photos of this huge masterpiece wasn't easy!
While these may change due to periodic updates or restorations, you might see legends like Jimi Hendrix, Freddie Mercury (Queen), David Bowie, The Beatles, ABBA or Janis Joplin gracing this wall amongst others. I noticed Billie Eilish had been added.
The tour ended in a different square and they gave us a couple of options to check out for lunch.
After lunch we went back to Market Plaza and then worked our way back to the church to check out the interior. We went down to the crypt and was in the middle of taking photos when all the lights went out and we were in pitch darkness. Suddenly, a "show" started where they highlighted areas and then the room would go dark and they would move on to the next. We didn't have time to see it at that pace so we left during a "light" moment.
We met up with the group waiting to board the bus and made the drive to Zurich.
We got checked into the Renaissance Zurich Tower Hotel. Cute rooms that some dubbed "peeping Tom" rooms because of funky artwork. Much better hotel than where we were in Paris with Viking.
They gave a walking tour of the area which turned out to be a 20 minute talk on which bus to take to get into town. Due to roadwork instead of the 1 you now had to take the 2 (a block away) or you could take the 1 the short block and then transfer to the 2. Seemed simple enough but not for this group who had a million questions. (and don't you know they complained to the guide the next day that they were told to take the wrong bus) They did walk us around the block to show us the local grocery store, Coop Supermarket where we could buy chocolates or even supplies for meals for those that didn't want to spend a ton of money eating out. Switzerland is stupidly expensive. (people said a hamburger was $30)
We went in search of the restaurants that were walking distance from the hotel and only found 1 of them. It was Middle Eastern food so we went in and ordered and sat in their indoor patio as it was still kind of raining.
We stopped at Coop on the way back to the hotel and got some chocolates and a couple of pastries for dessert.
Tomorrow, we have a walking tour of Zurich and a lake cruise.
Most hotels give you free travel cards to use on public
transport in the city of Zurich. You don’t have to show the card but you need
to produce it if anyone checks to see if you have one. So, we could freely use
the buses and trams.
Basel to Zurich https://photos.app.goo.gl/642UHE8TMsxVZuSx7
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