It was day six of our trip in Switzerland and things were to an end. Sadly, it was time to head home. Unfortunately for us, Lucerne is about a seven hour drive from where were live in France, which is a lot of time to be spending on the road.
Contemplating the drive and not looking forward to being in a car that long, we made a last minute decision to see one more city on the way and decided that that city would be the border town of Basel.
Basel was only like an hour or so away from Lucerne so it didn't really break up the drive for us but it was a good opportunity to see one more city along the way.
I hadn't done much research on Basel prior to going there and I originally thought that it was only a small town. But as we pulled off the main highway and up to the location I realized that its actually a large sprawling city with a population of over 170 thousand people.
Anyway, we parked the car and immediately went and sat down at a small cafe for breakfast. There I had avocado on toast and learned that avocados and strawberries make an excellent combination.
Small sparrows hovered around the tables waiting patiently for people to finish up their early morning meal. When they left the sparrows would quickly swoop in and feast on the small scraps of food left behind. We got a kick out of watching them eat bits of seeds from the plates and were surprised to see that they tended to favor the jam left on the plate over the small scraps of bread crumbs.
Along our walk to the main city center I spotted this mural on the outside of a small pub. Two shadowed figures having an conversation, or maybe its an argument - who knows?
Drama in Market Square
Making or way to the main plaza square we noticed a stopped tram and a large gathering of people. It seemed that a driver in a small red car had pulled out in front of the tram and had caused an accident.
A large patch of tire tracks indicated that the car had been dragged (or pushed rather) by the tram for some distance before it finally came to a stop. The car was still drivable though despite a large dent and scratch up the the entire length of the passenger side.
This was the second time in the country that we had witnessed a bit of drama involving a city tram. In Bern a young woman was biking down a city street when a tram came up behind her and blasted the horn for her to get out of the way. Surprisingly, the young woman held her ground and refused to move over for the tram. Instead she turned on her bike and shook her fist at the driver while yelling obscenities in his general direction. That was followed by more horn blasts from the tram and more yelling from the woman. I was actually a bit nervous for her as the tram didn't appear to be slowing down and it came dangerously close to her back wheel.
City Hall Building
Rathaus (aka city hall) is located in the main market square of Basel and is one of the most iconic and readily visited buildings in the entire city.
The building is large and red and nearly impossible to miss upon entering the area.
Construction of Rathaus began in 1504-1514. It is built using red sandstone and the structure is over 500 years old. The small main courtyard is open to the public and with its lavish paintings and ornate decorations, it is quite a site to see.
Large murals are painted on each of the four walls. They were commissioned in 1521 by the artist Hans Holbein, who later went on to become the "Kings Painter" in England during the reign of Henry VIII. A statue of Lucius Munatius Plancus, founder of the city of Lyon France and the Roman City of Augusta Raurica, can also bee seen.
The building has been added to over the years with several large additions including several administrative buildings, an assembly hall and a large attached tower.
Fittingly, most of the paintings inside and out relate to law, order and justice. The Roman goddess Justitia appears over the front chambers.
The building is still used today as a chancellery as well as the main department building for Presidential Affairs.
After our brief stop over in Basel we headed back to our car to make the long journey back home. Thanks for following along. Until next time.
If you are interested in seeing more of the beautiful country of Switzerland then check out my previous post by clicking the link below.