The local church bells woke us at 7 AM again. I timed it, this morning; it goes on for a full 4 minutes.
I also shot some video (well, audio really) from bed, so you can get the full experience. We had all of the windows open slightly, but Susan said hers were closed and it didn't make any difference.
The three academics left for their conference. I went back to bed. The bells play an encore at 9 AM, but only for about 2 minutes.
I eventually walked back up to Neuweilerplatz, and tried the other cafe (Café Bar Mélange).
I ended up staying there for almost two hours, finishing last night's blog post and catching up on news, etc. Also had a panini after finishing my coffee, and then had to go find an ATM because they have a 20 CHF minimum for credit cards.
While scrolling around Google Maps, I noticed some sort of walking path just down Neubadstrasse from Neuweilerplatz, so when I finally settled my tab at the cafe, I sauntered over for a look.
Having no particular destination in mind, and a rough plan to meet Sabrina somewhere in an hour or two, I walked along Dorenbach-Promenade to see where it would take me.
Initially, it was a wide, flat trail behind a row of houses at the edge of the city.
It quickly turned into a tree-lined path behind some back yards, with little bridges over the adjacent brook (Dorenbach), leading to sheltered gardens and patios.
Then, a surprise duck pond (maybe "Allschwiler Weiher"?), complete with floating bird habitats.
It looks like I had left the Promenade at this point (as I started in the middle) and unknowingly transitioned to a hiking trail ("Wanderweg" on the map).
In keeping with the Swiss/Basel style, all of the hedges were meticulously manicured.
I thought this abandoned building might have been a church, from a distance. The grounds were recently trimmed, whatever it was.
All I could see on the map was that I was headed towards Wolfswiese ("Wolf's meadow"?), and the only information I had about it was that Google categorized it as "tourist attraction".
It was still a lovely, shaded path, and I was committed to finding out what Wolfswiese was by that point.
I'm not exactly sure where the transition to dirt paths, woods, and horse manure happened, but there was probably a literal sign.
The trails criss-crossed the hillside. There were people jogging, camping, biking, and walking dogs.
I wandered somewhat aimlessly, and ended up on some sort of nature trail, complete with info stations only in German.
After climbing a steep hill in flip flops, I came upon something resembling a dirt road behind a field. I could see and hear horses running in the distance. There were also a few horses in the little huts behind this building.
I'm still not quite clear on what Wolfswiese is, but I followed the dirt road back to civilization.
I was now on the street uphill from the trail, just under a mile (in a straight line) from the apartment, but clearly outside city limits.
By then, Sabrina was on her way back to the apartment to jettison some conference accoutrements, so I headed for the end of the tram line.
Along the way, I finally got a photo of the elusive mail carrier. These electric tricycles are surprisingly spry. I thought the color-coordinated trailer and helmet were nice touches.
I found the end of the tram line, and was surprised to see that the track loops around. Admittedly, I hadn't given it much thought, but those trams can turn quite a tight radius. (That's a green train behind the hedges.)
I returned to the apartment just after 2:30 PM to meet Sabrina, and then we ventured forth to see a few things that I had added to the itinerary over coffee this morning.
We strolled down towards old town, looking for Spalentor. Sabrina had walked by it on the way to the conference, without knowing what it was.
Spalen's Gate is one of 3 remaining tower gates in the city (from an original 7), built in the 15th century.
I didn't see a way to get up into the tower, so we sauntered down Spalenvorstadt towards the heart of old town.
The cafes and restaurants were all bustling. It was a beautiful Tuesday afternoon, and everyone was out enjoying a drink or some shopping.
Many of the busy areas are pedestrian only, or only allow bicycles and scooters. This doesn't seem to stop the occasional car from slowly easing through.
The other point of interest for today was the Tinguely Fountain (AKA Carnival Fountain). We had glimpsed it from a nearby tram, but somehow hadn't walked by it yet. All of the fountain sculptures are kinetic, splashing and squirting water at each other.
It was approaching 4:30 PM, and it was rather hot and sunny, so we stopped for an adult beverage in the restaurant garden next to the fountain.
Susan happened to be finishing with some conference activities around the same time, and we were only a 10-minute walk from the university, so she joined us for some relaxation.
She was even kind enough to take our photo in front of the Carnival Fountain.
We had planned to have an early-ish dinner, and it was approaching 6 o'clock when we left, so we found a nearby Swiss restaurant (Walliser Kanne) and wandered in that direction.
This was the first place I'd been that had something other than lager on the beer menu, so I had to try the dunkel.
I went with the Welsh Rarebit and opted for the ham and egg addition.
Susan and Sabrina decided to sample the fondue, for the authentic Swiss experience.
Some friends of ours, who were also in Basel for the conference, were staying just around the corner. They joined us for a beer as we were finishing dinner, and then we walked with them for a bit on the way back to the apartment.
It was approaching 8 PM, and suddenly the city was empty.
After that light meal, we decided to walk all the way back to the Airbnb, arriving just before sunset.
Something one doesn't necessarily consider, when choosing accommodations, is that "convenient to the tram" can also mean "you will hear/feel the trams all night".
As we were guaranteed to be up at 7 AM with the church bells, we made it an early night.
Tomorrow, we're taking the train to Interlaken.
No comments:
Post a Comment