7/4, Monday. Took the train from Piacenza, Italy to Milan where we hopped on another train to Basel. Thankfully it was an easy change since we were at the end of the line which is where all the trains were heading back out. Good thing because even though we packed light, we still had to shlep bags which to me is the worst part of any trip. The train ride gave us the most gorgeous scenery. Unfortunately it was raining and we even went through a hail storm.

We arrived in Basel mid-afternoon and checked into our hotel which happened to have been a prison long ago. Hmmm, was the universe trying to tell me something? It was cute and had a lot of history. In the photo below, the door is left of the violin symbol. This place may have been a prison but now it is part of a group of buildings that comprise a music school and music museum. There is also the physical structure of a church in which concerts are performed periodically.

Take a look at that bright, clean and very green trolley in the center. These trolleys are quiet, efficient, convenient and on time. Plus, some of the trolleys are painted in cool paint schemes, as if Basel needs any more artistic exposure!

After checking in, we decided to walk around the town and see what it was like. We very quickly learned that Switzerland is anything but inexpensive! We were surprised at the cost of everything and I figured I was absolutely not shopping here. Jim on the other hand, found some shirts he thinks he really needs! For me, it was going to be food and nothing else. I guess after Italy this was a shock. Jim and I talked about all this. The fact that sales taxes here are called value added taxes and that the taxes begin being charged at manufacture of a product and are added on at each stage of processing, like warehouse to retail store. The 7, 8 or 10% we often see added on at home are already built into the prices of these items and services here. Additionally, we have yet to see any products made in China or Bangladesh. So, while things appear more costly here, it is really difficult to compare. Plus, coming here from Italy probably affects our thinking. Yet it has to be expensive to keep up with the maintenance and appearance of a beautiful old world city like this. Still, it’s tough to pay over two times as much for an Aperol Spritz here than in Italy when you want an afternoon aperitif!

Back to the walk-about.

We decided to have dinner at the hotel and boy was it ever delicious! The restaurant was very nice and is always filled. You might recall from the first photo of our hotel, all the outside tables with diners. Lunch and dinner – like the central dining place for the Basel crowd. They do a very nice business there and the tables are spaced so there is no problem with illnesses or crashing into another guest.

Next – chocolate! Yep, I told you I’d spend on food, and chocolate is food and here, it is a little piece of heaven. I am not one who has to have chocolate every day and I don’t crave it but here – well let’s just say it has become a staple! We saw a store today that had more chocolate than I’ve ever seen in my life! It was amazing! We won’t be able to bring any home; with the heat it would be one giant mess so we are happy to just enjoy it while we are here.

As we walked around, we noticed the beauty of the architecture here and how totally different the houses are from Italy. Both beautiful in their own way. And all have history! Below is a section of the old town wall around Basel. Looks like a good, strong medieval wall but in fact, the wall and the gates you’ll see in a moment, were built to control access to the city — the merchants and products of the city that is. The gates were closed at night to keep the thieves and other less-than-honorables out!

On the other side of the city wall where I was standing in the photo is the Basel Paper Mill and Museum, along with its operating water wheel. There is also a restaurant there as well!

There is one similarity between the countries and that is everyone loves to sit outside while having drinks and something to eat. They say food brings people together and that does seem to be the case everywhere. As there was a nice little park with tables and chairs between the paper mill and the river, complete with an Italian food truck parked at the curb, we thought we’d join the lunch crowd. Two of the guys were Italian so I could practice the one foreign language I just might learn one of these days. I decided in one day here that German or German Swiss is just too difficult.

Either this day or the next, we set out to find the pier from which we would begin our river cruise. It’s located at a nice park next to another of the city gates, St Johanns. There is a trolley stop at that park and gate as well so it was an easy decision to go searching. First though, we have to mention the cross-river ferries. There are four total “lines” (literally as well companies) where one can take a ferry to cross the Rhine. Below is one of those ferries. It’s hooked to a little motor on a cable stretched across the river and that is how it is pulled across. Look hard and you can see the shadow of the motor in the water below the last flags on the cable connected to the ferry!

Most everyone here speaks English and that is good because I am totally lost with their language, beautiful as it sounds. I keep trying to answer with Italian, oh dear me I’m getting so confused! I figure by the time we get back home, I will be bilingual in some really good gibberish! Half English with a toss of Italian.

Jim and I really enjoy riding the trolleys here. When you check in to a hotel, you are issued a Basel Card – a little card with a scan on it. You ride for free on trolleys and busses and can go anywhere in the city so we have been all over the city and it’s really fun. We’ve even been into Germany and France on the trolley! So I asked Jim how the trolley could be free and he said “well, I don’t really think it’s free Fran! The cost is probably added into the cost of the hotel room for us visitors. And we’ve both seen the locals sally up to a ticket dispenser on the sidewalk to buy tickets.” By the way, we are convinced the trolleys return to the garage at least once a day where they are washed and cleaned up. No rain spots on the windows, no trash on the floors. They make for perfect vehicles to tour an historic and beautiful city such as Basel.

On the other hand, wherever possible, we take advantage of “Hop On, Hop Off” busses or the equivalent. Normally these open air busses, sort of like the London double-deckers, provide about a two hour tour of whichever city you are visiting but the ticket lasts 24 or more hours. You can jump on or off at a variety of stops. We usually complete the first circuit, making notes on where we want to come back to and spend time. The one in Basel was worth the $12 each. A couple of photos, and others in this blog may have been taken during the bus “orientation.”

Jim and I wanted to spend some time in Basel before getting on the boat for our cruise on Saturday. Well things started getting a little interesting here for us. On Thursday I wasn’t feeling so great so we went to a clinic where I gave them my information and was told to return in an hour because they were crowded. Ok, so we did. I no sooner sat down and was called back immediately. The PA was very nice, checked everything because I had quite the cough and all the signs of my allergies! He gave me a script for cough medicine and said everything was clear so I could leave. He talked about covid and said you have vaccinations so he did not test. His eyes told me a very different story, which I chose to ignore. On Friday I decided to self test – BAM! DAMN! Covid, are you kidding me? So we went to a test place just to make sure and yep, the nurse didn’t even have to wait 15 minutes for the results! UGH! Jim was negative so now to keep him safe! He was already coughing and figured it was his allergies! Seriously! He self tested and was clear for three days but then, BAM! DAMN, he got nailed! Covid strikes again! So we notify our cruise director and of course we cannot board the ship and are now hoping to catch up to them when we both test negative! Am I mad? No, of course not – how about fuming! Jim keeps reminding me, hey look, we’ve been here 3 months already and have been very fortunate, this shouldn’t surprise you. Yeah, but the timing really sucks! So Saturday we moved to a different hotel because ours was booked, no problem. It’s larger with more room and windows so we can air out and fans and an a/c so we are ok. Thankfully we are through the worst of it and just waiting for the little self test to behave so we can go down for our test from the medical center and get the paperwork showing negative tests! They say God has a sense of humor – you bet He does! Trying to keep a positive attitude for a negative test!

Believe it or not we are allowed to go outside so at least we can get fresh air. We just walk around staying away from folks which isn’t too difficult right now and we mask! Now for the craziest part. My sister is in NC visiting a friend and my sister tested positive the same day as I did. Now seriously, that’s just bizarre. Yes, we usually do a lot of things together but this was never in the plan. We laughed over it but were annoyed that now two vacations hit a bump in the road.

Talk about old world. Our second hotel was even more historic and old tradition than the first. The place has three or four restaurants, art school/museum, a theater for live shows and in the basement, an archaeological museum of what old Basel was like. We felt like we might have come across the Atlantic on the Queen Mary or perhaps flown aboard a Pan Am Clipper. What charm, and the staff was equally wonderful.

Oh well, things will work out and we will continue our journey soon.