A walk around rainy Basle/Basel/Bale

[auntieannie]

Near Basle's main (Swiss & French) Train Station (the German train station is elsewhere in town).

Fancy a flight?

[auntieannie]

Or hop onto a tramway car? (we had to take a pic of that one with the grass all around the tracks)

[auntieannie]

actually, the tram brings you almost anywhere in Basle. So easy to use!
This is just outside the City Centre, by the Spalen Tor... lovely old houses:

[auntieannie]

Spalen Tor



and detail


you can walk underneath it if you want to...


Although it looks less friendly from that angle

[imec]

Cool annie! But why a plane at the train station ?

[auntieannie]

Old Basle has kept some really beautiful and colourful buildings

[auntieannie]

imec, it was in front of that travel agency, half-way between the main train station and the Marktplatz (I had forgotten how compact basle city centre is).

[auntieannie]

The place is full of quirky details:

[auntieannie]

Talking about the Markt Platz (Market Square)



Unfortunately, its famous town hall was undergoing some construction works

[auntieannie]

More interesting facades (if that's a word in english):

[auntieannie]

It all gets much airier by the rhine river:






The Rhine is a busy working area, too!





Some peace and quiet in the middle of one of the bridges.


The Cathedral (Muenster) in all its splendour:

[auntieannie]

Nature is never far away

[auntieannie]

Or maybe you'd rather travel by Trojan Horse?

[auntieannie]

Basle is without contest one of my favourite Swiss cities.

We had less than 24 hours there and when we arrived, it was raining all it could.

Which was a tragedy for me as I feel this city is much better enjoyed on a sunny spring/summer day; When it turns into a place you'd imagine much further south, with people using the river banks a bit like the parisians on a summer day in Kerouac's pics.

Thankfully, the next morning, allowed us the few sunny pics you can see above.

[imec]

May 29, 2010 18:02:24 GMT auntieannie said:

The place is full of quirky details:

Indeed! Love the guy with the big package!

Sorry annie - this is really good - so many pics! Thanks!

[auntieannie]

hihi!

Somehow, I was sure someone was to comment on that... these are the Swiss for you... big packages and everything.

Not nearly enough pics... but thanks for the compliments, they are appreciated.

I chose to put the pics in random order, so hopefully you will get a sense of the place a tiny bit...

[bixaorellana]

Annie ~~ I'm blown away by this wonderful visit! I am so glad you all persevered and got out there in the rain to take pictures. Really, I love the soft light the weather imparted to your photos. Certainly some of your pics could never be bested by any taken on a sunny day. Your long view over the river, showing the bridge and the town beyond, is just perfect.

What an interesting city, with all those fairytale illustration touches to it. Your facades do a great job of showing how buildings have been added to the city throughout the centuries.

I've already enjoyed the show a couple of times, but want to go back and study it some more. It's full of all kinds of splendor.

[bixaorellana]

I hope everyone knows to click on the "Switzerland" board. Besides this wonderful visit to Basle/Basel/Bale, there are no fewer than five beautiful, very recent threads about different parts of Switzerland.

[lagatta]

Pffft, big package on Swiss guy is just a codpiece. Stuffing. More interested in the place well-upholstered guy is touting: Bier und Wein Stube Gifthüttli. "Gift" means poison in German though - a bad omen, or just their sense of humour? Aha, tis the latter: www.gifti.ch/en/ (Look for the Story of the Little Poison Hut - Gifthüttli). Suspect the place has become a bit of a tourist trap.

bixa, I have the great sin of looking at the Switzerland board threads but not leaving many comments as I've just been through Switzerland. I have friends in Basel and certainly hope to go there; it is a beautiful town. I've seen grassy-surround tramtracks in Brussels, and I think part of the Parisian tramline is or will be like that.

[hwinpp]

I only see the railway station enroute from Strasburg to Zurich, unfortunately. Next time I'm there I'll make a point of stopping over night.

[Deleted]

I'm glad they finally put the city back together. Basel is lovely, but every time I drove through it in recent years, it was a road construction nightmare.

Thanks for the report, Annie. I can't even see the rain.

[Deleted]

Annie,I can truly understand why your heart hangs on such a beautiful place. Even with the weather elements you describe,the fairytale atmosphere shines through. All the pics I've ever seen of Switzerland always have this element and someday will go and see for myself.
Thanks for sharing this.
P.S. the order of the pics doesn't seem to matter one bit.

[auntieannie]

Lagatta, I am quite glad we only took the pic of the building of the Gifthuettli... thanks for the info!

HW, we stayed in a hotel near the Spalentor and can recommend the area. Only a few minutes' walk from everything, really.


I must state that the City of Basel has always been relatively rich, and not only with beautiful architechture and history. It was bombarded during WWII a few times, but thankfully, whatever has been destroyed seems to have been beautifully rebuilt.

[Deleted]

Too close to the border! The thought of a Swiss city being bombed boggles the mind.

I know that another quirk of Basel is that it often votes the same way as French-speaking Switzerland and is sort of a renegade to the rest of German-speaking Switzerland.

[auntieannie]

Yes, K... Basel people are protestants, but "happy" protestants... They love to party. Which isn't very swiss-german (Or rather isn't thought as being swiss-german).

[Deleted]

Also, they are quite pro-EU, like most of French-speaking areas.

[bixaorellana]

Forgot to ask earlier ~~ the Spalen Tor originally would have been a defensible entry into the city, correct? Are there other intact gates and walls? Also, what does "spalen tor" mean? (I thought "tor" was mountain or peak) Thanks!

[auntieannie]

Bixabella, ein Tor in German is a gate.

very little info
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gate_of_Spalen

a bit more info
www.basel.com/en.cfm/sightseeing/offer-SightseeingAusfluegeBT-Sightseeing-154430.html

Couldn't find what Spalen refers to, although I thought it might be the name of a nearby area. either on Swiss territory or in what was Alsace before, but I couldn't find a reference on an online map.

googling it showed a dutch wikipedia page stating that the Spalen were nomad people, but I didn't read any further.

explanation for the german speakers:
www.altbasel.ch/fragen/spalen_spalentor.html

[gertie]

What lovely pictures, despite the rain. I love the decorative rooftops, but goodness the work! and also up so high while doing it just boggles the mind. Thank you!

[auntieannie]

you are most welcome, gertie!

Could it be that the land has always cost a lot so they would build tall houses? a bit like in Amsterdam? and anyway Basel always had commercial links to the Netherlands, via the Rhine.

Please do correct me if the above is only a flight of fancy.