Boarding the ship, and a walk around Basel

Tuesday, November 19, we boarded our ship, the Viking Sigyn, docked in Basel, Switzerland.

These long ships are long ... when standing on shore beside it, it took two photos to capture most of it:

After having lunch on the ship, we headed out for a walk around Basel.  There was actually a guided tour of Basel from the ship that afternoon, but we didn't know about it, but our own walk was pretty nice!

Here is our ship, as we crossed a bridge over to the eastern side of the river:

Looking north on the Rhine from the bridge, the Sigyn is on the left:

Houses along the eastern bank of the river:

Looking at the west bank of the river:

At the bridge where we crossed back over to the western bank, there was a park with this strange sculpture:

Next 3 were taken from the bridge.  The cathedral towers are visible in the first:

Looking south on the Rhine from the bridge:

Construction site on the eastern bank, not sure what they are building but that's a lot of cranes:

We next visited what remains on the southern end of the old town of the old wall of the city:

This is the inner side of the wall:

This is the outer side:

This is a canal that in the old days powered a paper mill:

An old church near the paper mill:

Grave stones in the yard of the church:

Streets as we started heading back towards the centre of town:

Basel has lots of old fountains in the many town squares:

Coming up next, we climb the tower at the Munster (cathedral).

Lucerne, Switzerland

On Monday, November 18 we took the train to Lucerne, Switzerland, to spend the day.

I tried to take photos from the train but it was moving too fast for the most part - it was a high speed train.  Here is one though, of a farm as we zip along between Basel and Lucerne:

This was our first view of Lucerne, after we came out of the station:

The photo below shows the eastern end of the Kapelbrucke, or Chapel Bridge, an old wooden covered bridge that dates back to the 1365, although it partially burned in 1993.  The roof had to be reconstructed after that.

The western end of the bridge:

The tower pre-dates the rest of the bridge by 30 years, and has been used as a prison and a treasury over the centuries, among other uses:

The paintings under the roof of the bridge date back to the 1600's, although many were destroyed in the fire.  Some have been recreated, and others restored.

We walked briefly in the old town.  Here's a restaurant with an interesting mural:

Our main activity was taking a cruise on Lake Lucerne.  Here is the southeast arm of the town as we cruise southwards:

Looking back at Lucerne:

There were some palaces on hills along the shoreline:

This is on the western side of the lake:

As it was mostly cloudy that day, we didn't get great views of the Alps, although they did peek through now and then, but not in a way that my phone camera could easily capture, but enough that we could tell they were there.  Below is a bit of mountain briefly exposing itself:

After the cruise, we walked to the old wall of the city, and walked around what remained of it.

Here's a view to the north from outside of the wall:

Next, we walked across the other covered bridge in Lucerne, the Spreuerbrucke from 1408, which is very much like the other one.  It also features a series of triangular paintings from the 1600's:

This little chapel is located on the bridge:

A couple more photos of the buildings along the river, and then it was back to Basel on the train.

Next up, tomorrow we board the river ship for the cruise down the Rhine.

Basel, Switzerland

For our big holiday this year we decided to splurge on a river cruise down the Rhine.  To stretch it out and get the most out of our flights, we spent 3 days in Basel, Switzerland before the cruise, and then 3 days in Amsterdam at the end of it.

We arrived in Basel on Saturday, November 16, after an overnight flight.  Our hotel room was not yet ready, so we headed out to see some of the town.

These first few photos are from the short flight from Frankfurt to Basel, around 9 am:

You can see a bit of what I assume are the edge of the Alps in the background of this one:

Descending into Basel, these must be the suburbs, or an adjoining town:

I love narrow European old-town streets:

The main town square.  Since it was the weekend there was a market on, and we had a quick lunch of grilled sausage and rye bread here:

Street near the church square:

The Basel Munster, or cathedral:

One of the stained glass windows:

The Munster square:

An old timber-frame house:

More old houses, off a street from the Munster square:

Shopping street in Basel:

The Rhine:

This is a passenger ferry over the Rhine:

This tower was the main gate to the town when the wall was still standing, I think it dates back to the 1400's:

Part of an outdoor mural featuring prominent musicians of the past several decades:

... and that was it for our first day, we were pretty tired by the end of it as we hadn't slept on the plane.

The following day, Sunday November 17, it rained all day, so we spent it in museums, specifically the 3 buildings of the Historisches Museum Basel.  The first one is located in an old church, and has the history and artifacts of Basel, which goes back 2000  years.  One building is an old mansion, and also features exhibits of clocks, watches, and toys, as well as rooms decorated as they might have looked in the 1700's and 1800's.  The third pavillion is in an old jail, and is a large collection of musical instruments.  We ate supper at the Cafe Barfi (which is one of the few somewhat more affordable restaurants in Basel, and even then was hugely overpriced).  I took no photos in the rain.

Next up:  A high-speed train ride to Lucerne on the Monday.