Basel

Basel, Switzerland. We were only spending a night, and we wanted to make it relaxing. We decided to stay in a very unusual Hotel, DerTeufelhof Basel.

From Basel

It is an 'artist' hotel, where the owners asked artists to decorate rooms, and hallways. We decided to save a little money, and stayed in one of the standard rooms, which were clean and to the point, but still had some nice charm. There was an artist's creation of an old photo album. In the hallways were some travelers who were trying to get to work, but got stuck in the walls. The hotel had a fantastic breakfast, and wonderfully staffed with helpful friendly people. The place had a youthful energy.

From Basel

We walked through a hopp'n Old Town, down to the Rhine. A ship passed in the night.

From Basel

Basel is a very old city. It was first settled by Celts in the first century BC, had a Roman city nearby in 44 BC, and by 374 Basilia was a fort. The Huns sacked the town in 917. But the worse spell was from 1349, when 14,000 people were killed by the plague, to 1356, when a major earthquake and fire razed most of the town. Still, as we walked the town at night, we would occasionally see a home that had painted over the doorway a sign saying that it dated from the 1300's. Walking through the old, narrow streets at night was mystical. We walked to one of the most beautiful medieval gates, Spalentor, that was an entrance to the city starting in 1400, when the last wall was built. Nothing is left of the wall. The gate was wild at night, with the ghosts of medieval Knights and tradesman blowing in the wind.

From Basel

Trisha walked under the Portcullis, lost in thought.

From Basel

The thought being "Where are we going to eat?"
Well we ate at a delightful organic buffet place. Basel was expensive, so once we couldn't get a seat in the Fondue restaurant, we decided to slum it. Fun. They had a movie theatre showing movies in English, so we sat in our assigned seat and cried as we watched 'Benjamin Buttons'.
If we ever come back we would come for Carnival (Fasnacht) and have some great fun. Basel has the largest carnival in Switzerland, and they were making preparations while we were there. We saw some great masks in the windows, but I do not have a picture. Sorry.