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If Basel doesn't mean
beautiful in Switzerland, it certainly should. I must admit that
when I departed Montreux on a rainy morning a few days ago, I had very
little expectations for this city. In preparation for my trip, I had
read that Basel was an industrial city (which it is by the way) and in
comparison to the other cities in Switzerland, had very little to offer a
tourist like myself. Now, two days later as I sit amongst rolling
vineyards just kilometers away from Lake Garda in northern Italy, I have
nothing but the fondest memories of this city which I will want to revisit
again and again...
This time, I was sure
I was on the right train. I had been told to get off the train from
Montreux in Lausanne and switch to the one that would take me direct to
Basel. As I walked down the aisle in the first class section
of the train, cabins were on my left and the windows of the train on the
right. I passed several compartments (cabins) before I found one
with a guy counting change. He looked like he worked for the train
and after having sat down and said hello, I learned that in fact he did
work for the train. He was the guy who would peddle astronomical
refreshments on the train. He was traveling to Zurich to begin his
shift. I told him I was going to Basel, and in so many words, he
said not on this train. I couldn't believe it I thought, how could I
of been misinformed back in Lausanne? Fortunate for me, he was a
really nice guy and he got up to get some information for me about
transferring trains. He came back and had a revised itinerary for
me. I had to make one switch, otherwise I'd be in Basel the same
time as if I had caught the correct train. I smiled and said thank
you to him. I then began to write some of my journal accompanied by
the sound of David Gray playing on my computer. In just a short
time, the station where I was to transfer came. I said goodbye and
was on my way. The next train I caught was right where it should be
and no having to run to catch it. I had bought a cigar for the
couple hour ride and enjoyed it as the Swiss countryside passed by.
Then, right on time, I arrived in Basel.
I quickly got off the
train and found my way to the street. I had written down the name of
the hotel and found the first nice looking person I found who might
be able to give me directions. A young school girl became my target
and sure enough, she was able to tell me to take either the 11 or 8 tram.
I took the 11. Once one the tram, the same girl was on as well.
She told me I would need to get off in 5 stops, and the hotel would be
very nearby. So there I sat on the tram, catching the occasional
glance of the locals as my luggage was occupying more than my fair share
of space on the crowed tram.
 I didn't care. Finally, the 5th
stop arrived and I stepped out into a busy street. For some reason
though, I was expecting the size of Brussels, which I had visited a couple
of weeks ago. Within a minute though, I had rounded a corner and
there it stood, as it has for over a 1,000 years - the Hotel Drei Könige
am Rhein. (view
web site) It looked magnificent. I must have forgotten, but as
I entered the front doors with the doorman carrying my bags behind me, I
noticed it was a 5-Star hotel. Had I not noticed this fact though,
the
 hotel lobby would of given it away. I
was greeted by an extremely attractive blonde haired girl with the nicest
of smiles. I asked for a Ms. Laroche whom I had initially contacted
regarding a complimentary night. To my dismay, I was told she had
recently moved on to another career pursuit. None the less, they
were expecting me and quite friendly. I signed the obligatory
paperwork and then was told that the manager,
 a Mr. Dino
Morando, would be with me in a moment. Having come from the busy
Montreux Palace, another 5-Star hotel, I expected a very brief greeting
from Mr. Morando and a wish to enjoy my visit before he rushed off to
other pressing matters. Instead though, he arrived and wished to
show me the hotel. Simply marvelous I couldn't help but to think as
we went from floor to floor. The hotel had three floors I believe,
and with the exception of the first floor, the 2nd and 3rd had a walkway
around three sides, and an open area
 where you could look down to the
first floor. On the wall which lacked the walkway, there was a
beautiful mural which had been wallpapered many, many years ago. As
we walked, Mr. Morando told me the story of how the hotel had gotten its
name, Drei Könige am Rhein.
(meaning "Three Kings on the Rhein") Unlike what most would think,
its derivation is not of biblical significance though. Rather, the
hotel is where in 1032, the King of Burgundy, whom had no heir to the
throne, to the German Emperor Conrad II and his son, who would become
Henrich III. It was at this time, that the possession of the whole
of Switzerland transferred to the Holy Empire and the hotel was renamed
because of it.
Finally, we arrived at my
room and the view out the window gave me my first view of the Rhein since
a week ago, further down the river at Stein am Rhein. (remember
seeing me jumping off the bridge?) After a short exchange of
pleasantries, Mr. Morando left me to my business as my bags had been
delivered and he must of known I'd want to settle in. I wish I could
of relaxed, but I had a pressing matter to tend to, otherwise known as a
CD Burner to buy. Mine had crapped out in Montreux, perhaps leading
to the onset of loneliness I was feeling having been on the road for so
long now.
It was only a matter of
minutes before I was back out the front door in search of a CD Burner.
InterDiscount is where the concierge
had suggested I try, right around the corner. I found my way there,
walking past the main square and it's beautifully decorated red city hall
building. When I walked into the store, they were quite busy.
I found a guy to help me locate a burner of some unknown brand, but
when I tried to get him to confirm that if I took it back to hotel and it
didn't work, I would be able to bring it back. Somehow in the
translation, I heard him say no. A really nice guy from Bangladesh
was there who spoke both German (the dialect in Basel) and English.
He suggested another place near the main station and out the door I
went. The guy from Bangladesh followed me to the tram stop and must
of spent 10 minutes explaining how to get where I needed to go and how the
tram system works. Then, once again, I was off on a tram. I got the
main train station and couldn't find the place I had been told would have
a better selection of computer accessories. I did find a computer
repair shop though and was told of yet another shop, called "The Portable
Shop" down the road away. I was able to find it with little problem,
and when I walked inside, I was hoping I would not have a repeat of the
Intercity store scenario. Not a chance, I was greeted by a nice and
helpful guy whose name was Reza Shahabi Meier. He found one for me
built by Sony and it was 199 Euros. Great I thought as I walked out
the door with my new CD Burner in tow, knowing I could return it if I had
a problem. I found my way back to the hotel easily enough, having
been approached by what I can only imagine was a young "gay" American who
was trying to earn some money from me for some favors. After
entertaining him for a couple of blocks by answering his plethora of
questions, I said to him that I had been in a lot of cities on my trip,
and I was amazed at how many beauties were walking around Basel. I
think that pretty much got the message to him, loud and clear. He
lingered with me for a while long and then said goodbye, rather quickly.
(By the way, in all my travels to date on this trip, I have not seen as
many beautiful ladies as I did in Basel)
I got back to the hotel and
went right to work with the panoramas. I stated with the terrace
over the river, and then the lobby. When finished with those, I sat
down in the lobby to work on them. It was then that something quite
funny happened. The manager, Mr. Morando joined me to watch the
process. I think he was sincerely interested in what it was that I
was doing and appreciated it. Within a few minutes, a man from the
front desk interrupted us to tell me I had a phone call. A phone
call I thought? It had to be the Montreux Palace asking me to come
back to sell them the panoramas I told Mr. Morando. God did I feel
important! Then, after having had the phone brought to me in the
lobby with Mr. Morando at my side, I heard a rather sweet voice say, "Are
you busy?" You guessed it, Amanda from Scotland. I had to keep
from both laughing and not sounding as if I wasn't glad to hear from her.
I told her that yes, as a matter of fact, I was very busy and would
try to phone her later. My opportunity to share my computer
abilities with Mr. Morando continued for several minutes thereafter until
he had to excuse himself to take care of other business. I returned
to my room which by now had become quite cluttered with my unpacked
luggage and equipment.
After getting organized in my
room, I went back down to the lobby to begin my photo shoot in earnest.
The concierge, Eric, assisted me for awhile and then I was on my own.
Eric had told me if I wanted to have something ironed for later in the
evening, they'd be happy to do it for me, free of charge. What
service I thought. The photo shoot was difficult as I found the best
way to do the panoramas was by doing only a 180 view, ( View 180 Degree Panorama ) as the second and
third floors had an open floor in the center. All things considered,
everything went quite well. When finished, my clothes were ready and
I took a great shower in the rooms bathroom. Exquisite I thought as
the hot water poured over my body.
I got dressed and went to the
restaurant and ordered only a salad and some soup. My table was on
the terrace overlooking the Rhein, quite spectacular indeed. After
dinner, I realized I wasn't quite happy with the panoramas and decided to
shoot four of them again. By now it was past 10:00 PM but I wanted
to get the perfect. A hotel employee had been turning off the lights
and I needed to have him turn them back on. I find that when I do
these photo shoots, I just need to take control, within reason of course.
This seems to work quite well. The two of us then moved tables and
heavy flower vases so I could get the best shot.
Now with my photos complete,
I decided to head down the main street in Basel which is lined with pubs,
shops and discos. The street was filled as it was a Thursday night.
I'd say most of the people were locals with a scattering of tourist like
myself. What a city I thought to myself. It had a large city
reputation perhaps, but definitely a small town feeling. After
walking past all the people sitting and having fun, I became a little bit
lonely and decided to return to the spot across the Rhein from the hotel.
Mr. Morando had told me it could be dangerous at night, but I went none
the less. I took my mini-disc player and a couple of bottles of
scotch from the hotel mini-bar. Oh, and of course my cigar.
When I arrived at the spot along the river where I would sit for the next
hour, a group of young adults were hanging out. They were smoking
pot and relaxing, just as I. We had a good attempt at a
conversation, but more often than not it was futile. Many of them
were Italians, which surprised me. I guess many of them had
immigrated here for work, or there parents had. One young man seemed
fixated on the Summer of Love in California and kept signing various songs
from the era for me. It was amusing. I said goodbye and found
a quiet spot right near the bridge, and there I sat looking at the
majestic Hotel Drei Könige
am Rhein! Wow a thought, only hours ago there I was photographing a
bedroom that Napoleon had slept in. The cigar and scotch ended and
with it, so did my only night in Basel Switzerland.
The next morning arrived and
I went downstairs at about 8:30. I had a full slate today which
would end with another train ride, this time to Geneva. Mr. Morando
and I reviewed the panoramas and I told him he could have any two he
wanted. After looking at them, he had selected 5 in total, leaving
some of the better ones I thought. By now it was nearly 10 and I was
supposed to call the Palace in Montreux to see if they wanted me to
return, thus cutting my Basel visit short. I did and they didn't.
So, my next task was to go back to The Portable Shop and return my CD
burner. I got there with no problem, and was incredibly surprised at
how helpful they were. I left nearly an hour later with a CD burner
that was perfect, and had been installed and tested. What a relief I
thought to myself on the tram back to the hotel. Now I could enjoy
the rest of the afternoon.
My whirlwind tour of Basel
began where the previous night had ended. I started on the river
across from the hotel and took some pictures as I walked down the river
bank toward the cathedral, towering on the other side of the shore.
Once I had walked a bit, I did something that is quite famous in Basel.
On various points of the river, there are cables stretched across.
Their sole purpose is to support small gondola style boats which
themselves run a cable to the main cable. Using only the rivers
current, they traverse from one side to the other in a matter of minutes.
I boarded one with some other tourist and found a spot on the crowded
boat. An interesting man collected the man. He was the
operator of the vessel as a matter of fact. He seemed quite angry,
but measured by the children's laughter, I guess he was amusing them as he
collected the fares. So across the river we went, using the current
against the rudder to carry us on our way. Once across, I departed
the boat as other people waited for their turn to go back across the
river. I understand these boats can be hired for a personal venue
such as a candle light dinner.
Once on the other shore of
the Rhein, I knew my time was limited. So, the main thing I wanted
to do was see the Cathedral which is usually inspirational in any town I
visit - and it was. There were hardly any people inside its
magnificent stone walls and I was able to do a wonderful panorama near the
altar. (with the exception of a couple who just wouldn't budge)
I exited the cathedral and to be quite honest, I can't exactly remember
how I found my way back to the hotel, either by foot or tram... Once
there, it was a matter of gathering my bags and heading out for the nearby
tram station to take me to the train station (the largest in Switzerland I
understand) for a 4:19 PM train to Geneva. Mr. Morando was there to
see me off, and as we said our farewells, he told me that when I get to
Italy, be sure to relax. Really relax he said. It was perhaps
during this farewell that I think I got a really good read of Mr. Morando.
What a nice man I thought as I headed out the door to the tram. Like
myself, I think he is able not only to recognize what is important and
beautiful in life, but he is able to truly enjoy and appreciate the same.
Thank you sir!
In finally closing this
journal entry, let me once again tell you how forever fond of Basel
Switzerland I will be. Only certain cities during my travels really
win over my heart, such as Harlingen in The Netherlands, Lerwick in the
Scottish Shetland Islands, Brugges in Belgium, Baden-Baden in Germany,
Budapest in Hungary (oh Budapest, how my heart yearns for you. Only
two more weeks...), and now added to the list - Basel Switzerland!
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