January 19, 2017, 5:56 am
As soon as I landed in the Basel Mulhouse airport, the first thing that totally took me aback was the exit of the airport. There were 2 exits - one for France & Germany and another for Switzerland. Actually, the Basel airport itself is in France and is called the EuroAirport that serves Switzerland, France & Germany. A shuttle (free if you've booked a hotel/hostel in Basel) takes you from the airport to Basel. Not only is this shuttle, so are all public transport, with what's called the Mobility Ticket which is handed over at the hotel/hostel when you check-in and that's valid for as long as you stay. I went in autumn season, so unlike the picture of typical Switzerland filled with snow, at that time Basel was as hot & humid as Chennai, hotter than London!!!!! The first thing I did was to go to Basel Zoo (another post coming up soon). From there I decided to go on a walk. The Old Town of Basel has 5 self guided, color coded walking tours. A Map of these walks is available free of cost at the Basel Tourism counters, where you can also get the Basel Card. All the tours begin at the Markt Platz. I decided to mix up Grey and Red esp coz both go along the river side and both overlap a lot. Apart from the grey, the rest all are easy walks and are wheelchair accessible as well. The grey route alone has a lot of ups and downs, slanted roads, steps etc.
Right at the Markt Platz is the City Hall. Locally called Rathaus, this is a govt building that houses the parliament. This was built in 1504-1514. In brick red it was one imposing facade. Inside where some frescoes and sculptures that were made in 17th C by Hans Bock. Some of the wooden sculptures there definitely looked ancient, which may be the original decor from 1514!From there the walk led to Mittlere Brucke. This is the oldest river crossing across Rhine built in 1226.From this point, the grey route started to have the ups & downs and it began with a street which is actually a staircase of 69 steps!!! Further ahead where some super slanted roads which pretty much reminded me of Edinburgh The Real Mary King's Close. Along such streets where buildings whose height was static but varied in their number of stories according to the elevation starting from 5-6 stories to just 2 at the highest point of elevation!!! Unlike Edinburgh, people still live in these houses and infact in one of the house a bunch of men were playing cards!At the end of the 69 steps is the MartinsKirche (St.Martin's Church) which was built in 1101-03 and is the oldest Parish Church in Basel. However it went to alternations throughout history till 1851. Later in 1922, murals were painted. Sadly it was closed when I ventured to here.Another best feature of Basel Town is that its filled with water fountains everywhere and its all drinkable!!! One such fountain is Augustiner Fountain built in 1468. However the present structure is from 1846. Ahead is the most important landmark of Basel - Munster which means Cathedral, which was built in 12th-15th C CE (I'll do a separate post on this Cathedral). Behind it is Pfalz, an observation platform with a spectacular view of Rhine.
Further ahead was the Labyrinthplatz, which is actually a labyrinth or a maze on the ground. This was designed by Agnes Barmettler in 2002. All these ups & downs reminded me of Kerala, also where the roads are like this! And further ahead up & down, several slopes and staircases, I reached the Markt Platz again and it was almost night! I retired for the day and the first thing next day morning was........... Wait & watch!
P.S: I was invited by Basel Tourism Dept - Basel Card to experience the city for review purpose, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.
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