I didn’t know what to expect in Basel, Switzerland and therefore didn’t really have any expectations.  But after spending all day yesterday exploring the Old Town, the magnificent Münster Cathedral, the street market, the art museum, supper at a sidewalk cafe and a walk back to the hotel in a gentle rain, well, it’s very simple.  We all love Basel.

I wouldn’t say Basel is clean.  One big surprise is the amount of graffiti everywhere.  But it’s a city where you feel safe walking around in the evening because everyone seems to be out walking around in the evening.  There’s a very active night life in Basel on a Saturday evening with couples and groups of friends enjoying a beer and conversation at the many sidewalk cafes.

The city has a rich cultural history and presence.  The art museum has one of the oldest collections if not the oldest collection of 16th century paintings in all of Europe.  And entering the museum you are greeted by a copy of Rodin’s “Burgers of Calais.”  What a fantastic start.  One of the free wings has an amazing collection of ‘modern classics’ that include Picasso, Braque, Miro, Matisse, Klee, Mondrian and more.

The Münster Cathedral was under restoration so the exterior photographs show a huge scaffolding on one of the towers.  But it is still magnificent.

So, enough talk.  Here are the photographs in no particular order.

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The thunderstorms predicted for last night didn’t quite materialize.  Instead we had to retreat from our sidewalk table to inside the cafe last night as a gentle rain started to fall.  And we had the pleasure of walking back to our hotel in the same gentle rain.  It was really very nice.

Today we’re going to catch a few more sites in Basel and then we board the ship this afternoon.  The weather forecast is for temperatures in the high 80s with a 50% chance of precipitation.  The weather is like the Midwest as the humidity  is also quite high.  But no one is complaining.  We’re loving it here.