Sunday, February 6th, 2005

Let’s keep with the Swiss talk, shall we? Ok then. Let’s see… the next topic is… Basel!

Basel is a beautiful city, and a place I could definitely make my home. I read somewhere that it is the third largest city in Switzerland, but don’t let that scare you. In a country of 7 million people you don’t have to worry about humungous cities. I felt Basel was very manageable. I did a lot of exploring (aka wondering around completely lost) and always figured things out with little problem.

The city is located in the “Three Countries Corner”, the place where Switzerland, Germany and France all share a border. The Rhine runs through Basel, and as a result it’s an important transportation and trade hub, as well as just being a pretty river town. Here’s a photo of what I believe is the first Rhine bridge of Basel, built in the 13th century. Please correct me if I’m wrong, Anja and Andi.

Anja and I did some walking around one day, and I also went out and explored the city on my own. I went out looking for the zoo on two separate occasions and never found it, but no matter. I had a lot of fun seeing the city! One thing I really enjoyed was the cathedral. This ancient building was located high atop a bank of the Rhine and was quite beautiful. There were many wonderful gargoyles adorning the walls, and also a great statue of Saint George killing the dragon! The thing is, look at that dragon. It’s the most piddly dragon this world has ever seen. If this is really how it was, England did not need to bother with Saint George. Hell, my old dog Cheerios could have taken out that dragon, and she was basically just a small barrel with legs. But I digress…

We also hiked around a visited the gate that marks the entrance to Old Basel. I snapped a shot here through the gate that gives a glimpse of some of the houses. I should have taken more shots showing the architecture, but you know how I am with the camera. Anyway, the center of the city is Greater Basel, with the outside bits being, ummm, Lesser Basel? On the gate (and I should have taken a picture of this) there were two little guys marching around, one going one way and the other in the opposite direction. Anja told me that they symoblized Greater Basel and Lesser Basel... you know, being the same but also different. Hmmm... I should have taken a photo.

Did I mention that you can walk around everywhere with little problem? Well you can. And you stumble upon all sorts of interesting things. Here’s a picture of a neat little whatnot I found while being lost one day. Many of the streets and courtyards are cobbled with stones. While walking I noticed the sun reflecting from something, and bent down to find this little guy! Unfortunately, it’s not really ancient or anything, but it has been around as long as I’ve been in this world! Notice the date: March 9th, 1981. I was born five days later! Bonus points for anyone who leaves a comment and gives me the exact translation of what this stone is commemorating.

Anja also showed me this shop, which has the funniest sign in all of Greater Basel! I quickly ran inside to discover the veritable horde of birth control I expected to be there… but alas. There were no condoms to be found. I have no idea how they settled upon their name, but boy do I like it. I just wish they had some merchandise to back it up!

Well, I’m tired so I’ll stop. On Monday I will highlight our trip to the mountains, and talk about all the beer I drank while in Switzerland. And then, my friends, you will be completely caught up with what I’ve been doing over here! Well, at least for a week or so anyway. I’m bound to get lazy again before you know it.