Welcome to hilly Basel, Switzerland. This is where we start and where we meet up with our friends whom we have not seen or traveled with for two years. We are signed up for the Vermont Bicycle Tour (VBT) of The Black Forest and Alsace Wine Route.

For the next couple of days, however, we explore Basel and are housed at the Passage Hotel. It’s a small hotel but conveniently located and very comfortable and has one of Ross’ favorite things about Europe – the breakfasts!

The population of Basel is about 180,000 and seems fairly quiet but we aren’t here in the middle of tourist season. So we navigate through neighborhood streets which are nearly empty during the weekday. Our hotel must be located near the top of the city because it seems we are always walking downhill toward the Rhine River on our excursions. And then the return, is always a winding path back up.

So we start out the morning after arrival heading down to the marketplatz. Along the way we see beautiful flowers and the ubiquitous chocolate/bakery shops.

And this is a city of trams. Constantly coming and going. Plus bicycles. Be sure to look both ways before crossing the street.

Walking through the market we discover that white asparagus is in season and will show up frequently on restaurant menus.

As well as strawberries.

From the marketplatz we walk back up through the main shopping district for a peek into the Pandora shop, a lengthier stop at a North Face store, and a full stop at Starbucks. I needed an iced tea with real ice and Ross and nephew Tom needed coffee.

At a discussion later that night we deliberated on what constituted a “visit” to a country or city. We decided a layover at an airport didn’t count, but a stop in a Pandora store as well as a Starbuck’s earned the right to say “I’ve been there.”

We continue walking up to reach the Basler Münster or Basel Minster. It was built between 1019 and 1500 as a Roman Catholic Cathedral, destroyed by the Basel earthquake in 1356, and rebuilt in the Romanesque style by 1500. Today, it’s a Reformed Protestant church.

A view from the inside.

In each of the two towers, there are ancient steps to be climbed, actually 280, and part of our group makes it to the top for a view of the city. I elect to view this display of artistic hearts on the plaza by the church. This photo was taken from up in the tower.

I’m not sure why this display was on the plaza now but it was interesting.

Next we continue walking – this time the street goes down – and finally see the Rhine River. At 760 miles long, the Rhine flows from the Swiss Alps to the North Sea.

Time for a photo op.

Another view of the river.

We have lunch along the river and I ordered minestrone soup which was actually pieces of white asparagus in broth. Not my favorite lunch but the bread is always good. Another view of the city looking across the river.

Later that afternoon Ross is most impressed by the Basel Town Hall locally known as the Roothuus. It’s 500 years old and is still used for Cantonal government meetings.

Overall, it was a five-mile outing today with variable terrain. Dinner is back downhill to the Portofino Restaurant along the river.

It’s chilly and we eat inside.Dinner tonight is sea bass with spinach and boiled potatoes.

We take one photo of a steeple in the darkening sky on the way back up to our hotel.

The next day the rest of our group takes the train to Lucerne to check out the sights but we plan to spend two days there later and opt to remain in Basel. Our goal today is to purchase a couple of forgotten necessities such as hair conditioner, visit a museum, and check out a few shops. The museum we go to is the Kunstmuseum known for its collection of art.

The first item we see is a sculpture by Rodin, “The Burghers of Calais,”finished in 1889. This is one of the twelve original castings of the sculpture and depicts the surrender of Calais to England after an eleven-month siege during the Hundred Years War. King Edward III of England said he would spare the city if six of the city leaders would surrender themselves with ropes tied around their necks. Apparently, however, the Queen of England requested they be spared.

Inside the museum, we focus on the 18th century Impressionists although there are also works here by Rubens, Rembrandt, Picasso, Munch, and Chagall among many others. The museum is considered to contain the most important art in Switzerland. What we do see is “View from Montmartre” by Van Gogh,

and Claude Monet’s “Snow-Covered Boulevard de Pontoise in Argenteuil.”

A favorite was Camille Pissarro’s “Apple Trees in Eragny, Sunny Morning.”

We also saw works by Renoir, Cezanne, Sisley, Degas, and Gauguin. The rest of the day is spent wandering around and shopping. The city is full today; it’s a Saturday and also the start of the Eurovision Song Contest, this year in Basel. Some preliminary activities were on stage this evening.

Dinner tonight was at the Walliserkanne Restaurant with, according to Ross, the best Wiener schnitzel ever. Tomorrow we leave Basel and start bicycling.