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Basel in 24 hrs - Part II (Switzerland)

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The first thing in the morning of Day 2 (check out Day 1 post here), I set out to Dreilandereck. Its located in the outskirts of Basel and as the name says (Tri-Land), its the merging point of Switzerland, France and Germany. In this below pic, all the 3 countries are visible - standing on Swiz; on the right of the curved bridge is Germany and left of it is France. 

Reaching the very endpoint is a bit confusing. After the very last stop by bus or tram, after about 1km along the river in a tiny lane, beside a dock, is the monument with 3 wings directing to the 3 countries. 

Also here is a bar called Sandoase aka Sand Oasis, where a beach like set-up is created which also has boards that show the distances of various cities in different directions.

From there my next stop was Spalentor. Basel had fortification walls built in 11th C CE and again another one covering larger area in 13th C CE. Today certain sections of the wall still stand. Spalentor is one of the still surviving 3 gates. The 3 sculptures on it were added in 15th C CE& represent Madonna & 2 prophets. Unfortunately climbing this isn't allowed. 

My next destination was Tinguely Fountain. This was created by Jean Tinguely, a Swiz artist who grew up in Basel, in 1977. He's known for his kinetic art where the engineering thought process goes into installations, making them an animated sculpture, called kinetic art or metamechanics!!! Tinguely Fountain is a complex set of 9 sculptures constantly moving to make it a very quirky fountain. There's another smaller fountain in front of the Tinguely Museum.

Next I visited St.Alban Tor which is another one of the 3 surviving gates. From there as I started walking along the picturesque river, I came across this rather interesting castle like wall. This is the Letzi Platz, a portion of the fortification walls of Basel.

Next was the waste of my time. But anyways, I'm sharing the info here, so you don't end up wasting your time. I walked upto the La Roche Tower which is the tallest building in Basel atop which is the Pebble Lounge, which was supposedly a must-visit to view Basel from up above and look at the gorgeous Rhine river! Unfortunately when I went there and enquired, I was informed that the lounge was open only for employees (and their friends) and there are certain days a week when its open for general public which also requires a pre-booking! Though I tried to contact them prior to my visit via Facebook, I didn't get response and couldn't find any details. That was a 'face-palm' moment. Anyways, so unless you have a confirmed prior booking, save yourself a trip.
As a part of the Basel Card, I was entitled for 1 ferry trip across the Rhine and I chose to take the Munsterfahre, so that I could get a glimpse of the Church from the river. The ferry ride itself was an interesting thing - it was neither manual, nor mechanical. You could call it manual but it didn't have an oar. All it has is a rudder! The boat is connected to a rope atop with a cable and when the rudder direction is changed and the boat is released from the dock, holding the rope atop, it moves with the current of the river!!! That's something that I've never seen before!!! 
Not only is there this ferry crossing, but Rhine is a centre of various activities incl kayaking, rowing and even swimming. The hotels & hostels rent out something called Wickelfisch which is an waterproof bag which can be used to store dry clothes, gadgets etc and serves as a flotation device as well. You can swim with it from one point to another point with it, get out of the water, change and get going!!! Its available to buy as well.
I reached the Cathedral on the other side and visited the Cathedral, coz the previous day on my walk, by the time I went, it was already closed. And with this my 24hrs in Basel wraps up!
A couple more posts in detail about some of the places are coming up soon. 

P.S: I was invited by Basel Tourism Dept - Basel Card to experience the city for review purposehowever the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

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