gabrieltraian

For a few days during our holiday in Germany this summer, we stayed in Schliengen, a village in the South of Black Forest, between Freiburg and Basel, close to the Rhine.

Since it was so near to France, one day we took a day trip to Colmar, which we liked very much. The trip report for that day is here

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...2&tid=34859250

Because Switzerland was also very near, we took advantage of this fact, and on two other occasions we went on day-trips to Lucerne and Basel, respectively.

This is the trip report for the two day-trips to Switzerland.

The trip report for my holiday in Germany will come soon, on another thread.

During these two "toppings", I took lots of pictures, of which I selected some to share with you.

The photos for Lucerne are here

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...1AaNGzly4ZsX3A

The photos for Basel are here

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...1AaNGzly4ZsX7w

To be continued...

gabrieltraian

Day trip to Lucerne

On Tuesday 11th July we woke up early in the morning to catch the 7.32 train, and left for Lucerne. We arrived in the beautiful city on the shores of the lake at 10.15.

Nothing prepared us for the views that we had when we came out of the station. We were amazed at the beauty that was offered to our eyes.

I took out my camera and armed it ready to shoot... However, I had a problem: where to shoot first!

The views over the lake to the right were stunning, the old town to the left was picturesque, the bridges, the architecture, again the lake, the boats scattered all over the surface of the water, happy white sails, cruise boats, splendid views over to the other side of town on the hills, mountains in the distance...

We didn't know where and how to look first. We were overwhelmed. It was too big a portion of beauty to take in all of a sudden.

We were unprepared for this. We knew that Lucerne was beautiful, but not at such a scale. We were confused...

Where to start? How to begin? It was so beautiful.

Then I noticed the impressive arch in the middle of the square in front of the station and took a picture.

We knew that we didn't have much time and in this instance we ruled out any visit to museums. The city was too beautiful to spend indoors the little and too precious time that we had.

We went to the boat pier and inquired about a cruise, how long would it take, when would we be back in town.

Found out that for a meaningful trip on the lake and return back to town to see something of the city we wouldn't have enough time.

To go on a cruise we had to stop and see some place along the itinerary and that required more time than we had.

So we gave up the cruise on the lake and chose to explore the city streets. Later this would prove to have been a wise decision, as time ran out fast in the end.

So we went towards the Chapel Bridge, not far to the left. We passed the main transportation bridge over the lake, a little to the left of the station, then we saw the swans and wild ducks floating happily on the lake, close to the shore.

Some of the swans, elegant as they were, were picking through their smooth, delicate snow white plumage, while some were sticking their heads and long necks deep in the water, taking a vertical and very funny position with their bottoms vertically up.

We stopped for a few photos with them, then other photos with views over the lake. Fascinating!

We walked on the beautiful Chapel Bridge, built at the beginning of the 1300s, superb with so many colourful flowers adorning it, and we took more pictures.

We went on the bridge and now we had other beautiful views, this time over the lake to the cafés on the shore at the end of the bridge.

We noticed the interesting scenes of local and Swiss history, depicted in the triangular 17th century paintings, framed by the ceiling inside the bridge.

We crossed to the other side and pondered which side of the town to go first: the old town, near where we were, or to start on the other side, towards the main part of the lake, where we could have more mountain views.

We decided to start in the old part of the town, near us, and go to the other side in the afternoon.

So we walked and walked, taking picture after picture, admiring the architecture, the paintings on the buildings, noticing the narrow streets to the left or right, leading to some cafés, residences, giving us the occasional glimpse to the lake between a row of buildings, or connecting with another street.

We liked the squares and the fountains, and went on every street we could, stopping here and there at a shop that looked different, checked for souvenirs, perhaps a beautiful doll in traditional Swiss costume, tried some ice creams and they were so good...

It was hot outside and this took a toll on our fitness. We were looking for shaded areas, but the sun kept shining on the length of the streets, it didn't want to hide behind a building or a clock tower.

We had water with us and when we finished it, we bought more from a supermarket that we found on our way.

But we always had the ice cream shops option, and we tried many. Then we reached the Musegg Wall... and we saw those stairs! So many and so high!

But we had to climb them. We just had to, even though the heat was so much on.

So we climbed the stairs and were rewarded with splendid views over Lucerne, to the other side of town, where the main part of the lake was, and the twin towers of the Hof Church looked so beautiful springing up above the rest of the houses...

It was beautiful, indeed! We saw its pointed twin towers from almost anywhere in the city, like a symbol.

To be continued...

gabrieltraian

So we decided to walk to the other side of town. We found a place for lunch and that was a good stop to refresh ourselves.

I think we were a bit tired, however, from walking all those streets, but more because of the hard-to-bear-heat and sun aiming straight at us.

We crossed to the other side of town and went a bit uphill inside the city. We passed by the Bourbaki Panorama, but we didn't want to visit.

It may be a good piece of art, but we were just not in the mood for it. We saw the signs towards the Lion Monument, but not knowing how far it was, we decided to skip it.

We saw the alley leading to the Hof Church and went that way, up a hill, quite a steep climb and tiring for that kind of weather.

Unfortunately the church was closed (forgot the reason), but we took a picture or two of the surroundings.

We liked the church entrance and the twin towers, the architecture and the whitish colour of the building.

Hof Kirche is the main cathedral in Lucerne and the most important Renaissance church in Switzerland. Then we went down to the shores of the lake and walked alongside it till we reached Palace Hotel.

We had splendid views over the lake, the mountains looked magnificent in the foggy distance. Swans were there as well.

Somewhere along those shores was a place set up for bathing in the sun and lake. Many people were there to take advantage of the sunny hot weather.

On that side of the lake were several parallel paths with trees and benches, so we sat a few times to rest in the shade.

Then I remembered that we had not seen the Spreuer Bridge, another historic bridge over the lake. We returned to the main bridge in front of the railway station, bought some more ice cream from a street vendor (the ice creams were so good everywhere!) and asked about the bridge.

Found out that it was just a little farther away from the Chapel Bridge. This time we chose a different path to go to it, and walked alongside the lake, by the cafés and restaurants on the shore.

We passed by the beautifully painted Pfistern Guildhall and the Town Hall, built in 1606 in the Italian Renaissance style.

There were many cafés and vendors selling fruits and fresh fruit juices under the open arcades, facing the river Reuss. We liked the atmosphere, it was charming.

River Reuss flows out of Lake Lucerne just a few metres from the Spreuer Bridge, where the Water Spikes are.

We walked on the bridge and again we noticed the triangular paintings framed by the bridge ceiling, same like on the Chapel Bridge, this time depicting scenes of death.

In fact this series of 67 paintings is called just like that, the Dance of Death. Then it was time to go towards the railway station.

We went through the old town and admired once more the historical buildings clad in frescos, that border the old city on the right bank of the River Reuss, and the picturesque squares.

The sight of Weinmarkt, Hirschenplatz and the Kornmarkt squares, delighted us.

We returned to the railway station, walked around it, had more stunning views over the lake and towards the mountains in the distance and looked at the ships setting out on cruises.

Then we walked up in the Convention Centre to have more views over the city. The Art Museum was there, but we had no time for it.

No museums this time, as we preferred to absorb the beauty of Lucerne.
We walked this city till we dropped, but we couldn't give up.

Lucerne is so beautiful. We had something to eat and with sore soles went to the station to catch our evening train back to Schliengen.

We were tired that evening, but happy to have seen a charming city.

I think that in order to see and visit Lucerne properly, the minimum one needs is two days for museums and city walking, one day for a lake cruise and exploration of one or two villages alongside the lake, and one or two days for trips to the mountains around.

To be continued...

ronkala

Great pictures, thankyou. I now know that two of the three unplanned days of our two week trip next May/June will be in Basel and Lucerne.

Basel was always in the back of my mind to visit as I have a photo taken in the 1930s at a photo shop in Basel. Not that I expect the shop to still be there, but I'm curious to see what is there now. The photo is of Albert Buchi, a relative or friend of the family, who was in several bicycle races in Switzerland and France. He sits proudly posed with his medals.

FainaAgain

This is the sweetest name of all Fodor's reports!

gabrieltraian

ronkala,

Thank you for your appreciation.

Basel and Lucerne are very good destinations, that could easily keep one busy for a few days, if not more.

FainaAgain,

Thank you for putting a big smile on my face. I like the pun.

skatedancer

Ronkala, if you have enough time when you go to Lucerne, please try to get out on the lake in the boat. It is simply unbelievable. We stayed in Vitznau, and it was so gorgeous, every bit as memorable as our trip to the Alps.

ronkala

skatedancer, we definately will. I just made a note of it. Thankyou

gabrieltraian

Day trip to Basel

On Wednesday 12th July we left early again, with the same train like the day before. It was around 8.30 when we reached Basel.

Our plan was to walk the streets, see a few interesting spots, then visit a few museums. We had a schedule with us with directions, locations and opening times.

For the rest, we let the city discover itself onto us. We walked for a while until an impressive church tower drew our attention to the left, so we went there.

It was St. Elizabeth Church. Unfortunately it was closed, so we took a picture or two and kept walking.

After a short while we found ourselves in Barfusserplatz, a big open market where people were selling all kinds of used and old stuff. We were in a hilly area of Basel and the town looked nice to the other side.

We went on a street up hill, and the hot sun striking at us was wearing us down. It was difficult to find a shaded place, but the narrow streets bending to the left or right were intriguing and curiosity always won.

We kept going to see what was there more beyond that corner? Or what was there more after we climbed those stairs turning to the right?

And so, we kept climbing and descending streets and stairs among beautiful old houses, camera on continuous clicking mode, not even realizing how tired we got.

We were on a horizontal street in town when I noticed a gallery to our left, inside a building. Curiosity said “Come on, let’s see what it is!”, and we listened.

We were anxious to find out what secret place lay behind it. To our pleasant surprise, we found an inner court of an old beautiful building with a café and terrace.

A beautiful café in a nice setting! We were at Café Schmiedenhof.

We immediately decided that that was the place for us to have our morning coffee.

On the cobbled pavement were tables in the shade of the surrounding building walls, with many red geraniums at every window.

At other tables were only locals, pensioners talking to each other over a coffee and croissant, others reading the local newspaper, birds were chirruping in the big tree that covered most of the terrace, providing much comfort against the sun and heat.

Some sparrows even came at the tables to pick up bits of crumbled leftovers... What an atmosphere!

We energized ourselves and carried on with our Basel exploration. We went down a street admiring more beautiful architecture, and then we found ourselves in a big opening with a stunning, eye-catching red building to our right.

That was the Town Hall, built in 1514, and we were in the Marktplatz, one of the old town’s main squares. In the square was a market where vendors were selling fruits and vegetables.

We took a few pictures of the town hall building, with the splendid green balconies on the left side, the superb clock above the arcades, and the majestic tower.

We went through the arcades in the courtyard. It was amazing! More red walls, big paintings on them, a staircase leading somewhere at the first floor, and a beautiful coloured statue of the founder of the roman city of Augusta Raurica.

We found more colourful decorations around the courtyard and took a few photos. There was also an interesting fountain by a door.

I placed my camera on the saddle of a bike (lots of bikes inside at the Town Hall) and took a picture of both of us.

We came out again in the market square. Took a picture of some nice surrounding buildings and continued our walk.

We followed the signs towards Spalentor gate. We walked again up the hills, narrow streets cutting through the houses, flights of stairs between rows of houses calling us to climb them up, to see what awaited us at the top, round the corner.

Wherever we found a bench in the shade, we stopped for a few minutes' rest. The sun was striking us and it was incredibly hot.

But we followed the call of the stairs and found more beautiful houses hidden behind those corners at the top.

Then again we descended the hill and went to the next. We passed by the University of Basel, dating from 1460 and being the oldest in Switzerland, then we were on a street with tram tracks.

OK, there are many such streets in Basel, but this one was different. The tram tracks led straight to one of the most beautiful old town gates that we had seen: the 14th century Spalentor Gate.

Before we went to it, a nice coloured fountain drew our attention. It was in front of a hotel that was named after it.

We took the required photos and soon we were at the old city gate. Two fortress-like round towers were guarding an arched entrance in a thick brick wall, a triangular cap in chequered shades of green and beige on top of the wall, between the two towers.

The clock under the cap, at the top of the wall, showed ten minutes to eleven. We still had enough time to walk around and visit some museums: Fine Arts, Ethnology, the cathedral and Beyeler Foundation.

To be continued...

gabrieltraian

We turned right and there was what looked like a nice park. We hurried there to find a bench and enjoy some shade.

At the entrance we read that it was the Botanical Garden of the University. Even better!

So we made a round tour, saw the plants and did sit on a bench after all, to cool down from the heat and sun.

We continued our walk on the streets, this time descending the hill. We were coming towards a beautiful building, and even though we were on the same side of the street, I could realize that there was something special about it.

At the entrance was a luxury limousine, then I noticed some lamps above and they were not just ordinary ones...

I thought that that would be a posh hotel, so I crossed the street to have a better view of the building. Oh yes, it was beautiful all right.

That was Hotel “Les Trois Rois” and on the centre of the hotel were the beautiful coloured statues of the three kings. Took pictures, of course.

We finally reached the Rhine and walked alongside. We climbed up another hill and then had beautiful views over the mighty river and passed by a few bridges.

We saw cruise ships sailing by, and from where we were above, it was a splendid view. The street took us between rows of houses, and again we saw some narrow streets cutting to the right, flights of stairs climbing yet another hill, but this time we didn’t follow them.

We were going to the Museum of Ethnology, which was nearby. Unfortunately, just at that time it was partly under renovation, and while we saw the sections covering Bali, Oceania, Tibet and an exhibition about Swiss masks, we couldn’t see the African section.

Even so, we liked this museum very much. And then it was the Munster, Basel’s 13th century cathedral. To the left of the entrance was a beautiful work of art showing St. George slaying the dragon.

This was for the first time that I saw the two characters split and not part of the same block. St. George was on a horse to the left, his spear pointing in front at some distance along the empty wall of the cathedral, and then the dragon, as a separate piece.

I liked this presentation. There were some renovation works being carried on, but it was open for visits, so we went in.

The painted windows drew our attention immediately. They were beautiful. We knew that the great philosopher Erasmus of Rotterdam is buried in this cathedral, so we looked for his tomb.

We made one or two rounds inside and didn’t see it. Then we asked someone at the gift shop who told us to go to the last column on the left and look behind it.

Well, that was one place we had missed. We went there, looked around again, didn’t see it, and then I had a closer look at some writings.

There were writings in old characters, thus difficult to read or understand, but there it was. A bit faded by the passage of the centuries, we were able to read all that was written on Erasmus’ tomb.

We were glad we found it, especially my wife, who graduated Philosophy, her passion.

In the Munsterplatz, the wide square by the cathedral, was a park and an ice cream vendor in the shade of some trees. We bought our share of scoops in various flavours and went to the walled terrace behind the cathedral, overlooking the Rhine.

We had superb views again over the river and its bridges. Found a place to sit down in the shade, among so many other people already there. Took some pictures as well.

Next was the Fine Arts Museum, not far from there. This museum was also partly under renovation and unfortunately we couldn’t see any of Holbein’s paintings. Too bad.

We had something to eat somewhere, took tram no. 6 over the Rhine, and off to Foundation Beyeler, on the outskirts of Basel.

This collection is one of the best we have ever seen. We were amazed and happy at the number of well-known artists present there in their works: Monet (we liked his wall-long water lilies, so peaceful and soothing), Cezanne, Van Gogh, Picasso, etc.

To top it all, there was also a temporary exhibition displaying works by Matisse. In fact, that exhibition was due to be over one week before our visit, but it had been extended. What a treat we had!

On the way to Foundation Beyeler, we had noticed that the tram passed by Basel Bad station, from where we had direct trains back to Schliengen. So we didn’t have to return so far back to the main station in Basel and also change the tram on the way.

However tired we may have been after a long hot sunny day of walking, we were happy for the sights we had seen and the museums we visited. Basel has its own charm too.

End of report.

jmw44

Gabriel, yours is the first report of Basel that makes me visualize it as a place to wander among charming tucked away corners. It's always seemed to be a place "with a destination" like "I want to visit the Beyeler." But now you've got me thinking that it might be more my kind of city after all. Thanks so much, and I'm off to find your pictures. J.

gabrieltraian

J, I'm glad I could convey the fact that there is more to Basel than just Beyeler.

However, sadly enough (from a certain point of view) the only crowds of tourists throughout the city were at Beyeler, and some behind the cathedral, on the terrace overlooking the Rhine.

The streets outside the centre were deserted, very few people wandering about. We liked it that we were alone and undisturbed in our exploration, and we found some value in walking the side streets of Basel.

jmw44

I always thought of Basel as a big business city, mostly modern. You know what I wish? I wish you could scan a map of the streets you wandered and load it as a photography with the rest of your terrific pictures. Or alternatively, can you narrow down the area of Basel where you walked? The streets you discovered are lovely. I just don't have any confidence that I'd be lucky enough to stumble upon them. J.

jmw44

Make that 'load as a photograph', sil vous plait. J.

Phil

OK, I'll help. The streets and squares Gabriel's photos were taken on are (numbering according to the slide show):

Barfüsserplatz 1
Leonhardsberg 2, 6
Centralbahnplatz 3
Elisabethenstrasse 4, 67
Leonhardskirchplatz 5, 7
Gerbergasse passage to Schmiedenhof 8, 9
Gerbergasse 10
Hutgasse 11
Marktplatz and in the City Hall's court 12 to 26
Peterskirchplatz 27
Petersgasse 28, 29, 30
Petersgraben 31
Spalenvorstadt 32 to 37
Blumenrain 38, 39, 41, 42, 44
Spalengraben 40
Schifflände 43
Mittlere Brücke 45
Rheinsprung 46, 48
Elftausendjungferngässlein 47
Martinsgasse 49, 53
Museum der Kulturen on Augustinergasse 50, 52
Pfalz 51, 65
Münsterplatz 54, 55, 56, 63, 64, 66, 68
inside the Münster 57 to 62

Picture 67, incidentally, shows St. Elisabethen, not the Münster.

Ther is an on line map of Basel with a search tool (easily managed inspite of being in German only at:

http://www.geo-bs.ch/stadtplan_stadtplan_karte.cfm

Enjoy.

Phil.

gabrieltraian

Well, J, I don't have a map of Basel, but I'll try to help you anyway I can.

First, here's a link that takes you to a Basel tourism page.

http://www.basel.ch/en/tourism_leisure/highlights

On the left you will see "Highlights" in bright green. Under it in gray colour are listed several options of which you can choose what to see. Click on each of them and you'll get the details.

There's also a webcam showing Barfusserplatz. You will find a virtual tour as well. I only found this website after we returned from Basel, so imagine how much more we could have benefitted from it.

So you can take advantage of it and plan a good trip.

Somewhere on that page are five walks around the town. We didn't take them each in part, due to time limits.

However, we pretty much covered those old areas of Basel. If you have the time take those walks.

Read what they say on the page and see what you want to do.

Roughly, we went straight ahead from the station, then somewhere we turned slightly left. There are signs in the city showing directions to interesting sights.

I think that we saw the tower of the St. Elizabeth Church at our left and went there. Then somewhere behind it we found Barfusserplatz. Crossed it and went up hill, which was in front.

We came back down and then somewhere to the left from Barfusserplatz (or right as you look from St. Elizabeth Church), there's a street that takes you to the beautiful red building of the town hall.

I think that on that street we found that gallery with the Schmiedenhof Cafe, on the left side.

At the town hall is the Marktplatz and there are signs to follow for other sights as well. Like the Spalentor city gate, University and Botanical Garden.

Anyway, look at this page I gave you above, see what you can find and let me know.

Gabriel

gabrieltraian

Wow, Phil, thank you for your help!

It was my first time that I posted photos online and I didn't know that "Shutterfly" would arrange the photos at random.

Anyway, thank you for the Munster - St. Elisabethen correction. Taking so many pictures meant too much time (I only put a selection online) spent on writing them down.

I thought that I would figure them out at home, with the internet and other materials that I had.

It confused me the fact that that picture was taken right after the Munster, not realizing that it was more than 1 hour difference between them.

So that's the itinerary I did in Basel! Wow! Thank you! You helped me as well!

jmw44

Thank you both! Phil, that list is amazing! (You are undoubtedly Ingo and S's friend, yes?) And thanks for the link, Gabriel. Much appreciated. Now that I'm back to teaching, I'm suffering from a bit of Swiss-withdrawal. I even visit the Hotel Panorama's webcam to see what I'm missing, especially at around sunset their time. Ah well, you two have brightened my weekend! J.

jmw44

Whoa, Gabriel! Just five minutes into the Basel website you linked, and I'm deep in the virtual tour. What a kick! I'm sort of bumping into walls and floundering, but such fun! Now, if I could just align the virtual tour options with Phil's list and your narrative. I foresee a very unproductive but most enjoyable Labor Day! Love you guys. J.

Phil

jmw:
a) yes
b) try the link I posted. It will help.