Okay Basel Switzerland , our first full day in Switzerland , we walked down the road to the tram stop . Had to go past this building that was a bit relevant to my working life .
We get out near the Rhine River and the Chapel Bridge , aptly named as it has a very small chapel in the middle on one side . So important , that I didn't include a photo till later . The Rhine River was flowing very quickly , probably had a top up from yesterdays rain . Buildings are right up to the rivers edge . While we were here , a couple of young men emerged from the water onto these steps , they had a dry bag with them and proceeded to dry off and get dressed again after their float down the river - it's done quite regularly , we saw about 20+ people floating down at different times of the day .
There's a lot of old buildings here , this one looking like it was a fort / castle .
Many different flags were flying on the bridge , including an Aussie one , apparently there's a Military Tattoo happening soon ??? Yes it is at the building in the above photo .
This boat caught my eye , looking like it was flying a kite , flags flying in the breeze as well .
This is the university buildings .
There's lot's of old buildings , but these new ones stood out - they are the Roche buildings .
Walking into the old town , following laneways and streets , seeing what turns up - The Rathaus - Town Hall , local government . It's an outrageous building , painted or coloured red with blue & gold trimming , as well as painted pictures .
There's also a market place outside , as well as an old water trough / fountain .
The detail is incredible , the excess extravagant .
Inside was a small courtyard with 3 men playing classical music . In one corner was a fountain with the best water spout .
Alleyways appeared and disappeared as we wandered around , interesting architecture , with many different styles on display .
We kept walking upwards to the top of town to this , Gate of Spalen . It was one of the gates into town , when the town was behind walls . It looks like the road , and trams drive straight through , but no , they curve around it to the right .
Here's another of the newer buildings in town , this time in the financial district .
We found this Neo Gothic Church to have a look at , it's the Offene Kirche Elisabethen .
Here's some photos from inside .
Definitely not as elaborate as some we've seen , but it's still up there .
The organ is up the back on the next level up .
The pulpit's are certainly a bit elaborate .
We found some where to have some lunch , where else would you go in Switzerland for lunch than a Mexican restaurant - see , we aren't your normal tourists 😆😂🤣
After lunch , we found a guy and his dog , well a sand sculpture of a dog anyway - we're a long way away from a beach though 🤔
People were everywhere , even some Islam information - no , we didn't take any .
We emerged from a square near another church building , to find ourselves looking out over the river again - right where this boat was going backward and forwards across the river . It was tethered to a cable so it doesn't get carried away in the current . It was doing a roaring trade doing the crossing every 5-10 mins with a full boat most times .
Here's a photo of Chapel Bridge , with the small chapel in the middle of the bridge .
On our way back down to the bridge these old houses stood out , all timber framed and hanging over the lower floor on each level .
After grabbing some shopping from a most bizarre supermarket - it had an upstairs section - we made our way home . We found a huge building clad in what looked like perforated steel , with smooth features and the occasional curves & bumps . The inside had a huge donut shape open to the weather that had a tram stop in it , it's Messe Basel - a performing arts centre .
That was our day here , an interesting walk around the old town . As we were walking down beside the river , we heard lots of motorbikes going across another bridge over the river - this went on for 25 or more minutes - thousands of motorbikes - apparently there was motorbike rally and music festival happening in Basel this weekend , we know when to come to town haha . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1Za0nyfXjHxW6Ph4TsXsG7h43PmZOgYU&usp=sharing
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