Today after a lovely, non-alarmed wake up, we went walkabout in Basel.
First up Rathaus, Basel’s Town Hall, located in Marktplatz, a 500 year old, beautiful building
Its beautiful tower in some more detail
The following are just some photographs I took of buildings and streetscapes as we walked
The windows of a very interesting book shop. It being Sunday, almost everything was closed. Note the quills in the centre window.
The fountains, (and there were many), contained potable water
Quoting Basel’s own website Together with the Mittlere Brücke, the Cathedral is the most famous landmark of Basel. With its red sandstone walls, colourful roof tiles and twin towers, no other building adorns the cityscape of Basel like the Cathedral.
I loved its sundials on the two faces
The sundial and clock and Apple were all in agreement – allowing for the hour change
Walking around inside the cathedral
Apparently the cathedral was originally Catholic but is now Reformed Protestant. There was a service taking place as we visited and we could hear some beautiful choral singing.
Another modern exhibit outside
Münsterplatz where the cathedral is located
Wettsteinbrücke (bridge) with the Roche Tower, headquarters of the pharmaceutical company, Hoffmann-La Roche, behind it. At 178 metres, it’s the highest building in Switzerland.
This is another shot of it to give a better idea of its shape.
The view down river to Mittlere Brücke (bridge) where construction is going on. The white is a cover over the construction site on the bridge. There is a walkway still open to the side to allow pedestrians cross the bridge.
An unusual ferry crossing the river via a zipline
Fun fountains… unusual machines, one was a sieve picking up coins
What a cool place for kids to paddle in the playground
Basel seems like a lovely city, hilly which I think adds a lot of charm to any city. It has many old, very interesting buildings. Last night the city centre was humming with many busy restaurants and bars.
A second, good night Basel!