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February 13, 2006
I *heart* Basel, but not as much as Berlin
I'm back in Budapest, as least for the night. Tomorrow I'll hop back on a plane, take a quick stopover in Munich, and then be back in D.C. by dinnertime. Whew...I'm tired out from all that travel. And possibly from the late night partying I've been doing in Berlin.
Upon leaving Lucerne (henceforth referred to as a Total Waste of Time), I took the train to Basel. Next to Graz, Basel is the city in Europe I would most like to live in. Even in bleakest February the place is humming with activity. The Old Town area is spectacular and if all the cars disappeared you might actually believe for a second that you were back in the 16th century.
There are gads of cafes and boutiques, and a surprising number of vegetarian and organic food and healthcare shops. The tram runs hither and yon, and people laugh on the streetcorners and kiss goodbye.
Highlights of the 2 days include:
-- The absence of nausea on the train from Basel to Lucerne, unlike the VERY unfortunate ride from Riva to Lucerne. Oh the agony.
-- Accidentally knocking (ok, pounding) on the door to a church residence, thinking it was the hostel. Only upon realizing the little sign indicating that "George Christ" lived there did I furtively grab my suitcase and slink off.
-- The Kunstmuseum, one of the best smaller collections (at least in comparison to the Smithsonian--my primary art reference) I've ever seen. Each (or almost each) painting or sculpture is a gem. I'm especially fond of the second floor with the 20th century artists. As the website says, "In the field of 20th-century art, the accent is on Cubism (Picasso, Braque, Léger), German Expressionism, Abstract Expressionism and American art since 1950." The rooms crammed with works by Picasso, Klee, Rothko, Modigliani, and others moved me in a way I am rarely moved by art. At one point, there was a moment when I thought that a full figure statue by Rodin was going to come alive--I was a little freaked out thinking that the man's body was trapped, condemned to wear that same searching expresssion in perpetuity.
-- The "body wash" that turned out to be "body oil", leaving me with a not-so-clean feeling until I could locate and purchase another $10 travel-size bottle of soap. (Actually, the whole showering experience, along with the overall prices in Switzerland were more of a "lowlight".)
-- The realization (after lugging my suitcase up and down and up and down and up and then up some more flights of stairs) that I packed poorly. Next time, I will strive to bring fewer sweaters, fewer pairs of socks, another pair of shoes, and more personal care products.
-- The Bird's Eye Jazz Club, a local hangout that I visited with two girls from the hostel. The club itself is quite small, and we were able to move to one of the front tables for the second set of music, courtesy of the Andy Scherrer Trio.
In short, I had a great time, and wished I had skipped Lucerne altogether to spend another couple of days in Basel. As Carmen points out in a previous comment, the city has a Carnival festival that is a must-see. Unfortunately, the tickets for the pre-Carnival musical/folk/circus extravaganza were sold out for the night I was there, or I would have extracted the ATM card from the bowels of my bag and paid the exhorbitant price with a smile.
Nonetheless, I have to admit that my time in Basel was nothing compared to my time in Berlin...
Comments
Georg Christ, not George, let's be precise here
Posted by: Georg Christ at December 22, 2006 04:05 PM
