June 10: Basel
Dear All,
I am not hearing much from anyone, but suppose you are getting these missives. As I will be flying back to the United States tomorrow, I will stop the blog until June 14-16, when I will be writing you from New Orleans, where I am traveling with colleague Donna Knox. Donna, are you out there and ready to go?
Last night I slept horribly, as we had a kind of porthole window that didn’t admit much air. Conditions were humid, and even an oscillating fan made no difference. This morning, before we went on our sightseeing for the day, I requested another room, which came about easily, so that when we got back a few minutes ago we moved things one floor below and now have a very large window. It is still humid, but perhaps will cool off this evening, when we have our farewell dinner.
This morning, before breakfast, Cathy and went to St. Anton Catholic Church for Mass, which was held in a little side chapel. All in German, which she did not understand, but still worth experiencing. The church was very modern, and its starkness reminded me of a Protestant Church in Darmstadt that Oma and I attended every Sunday, and which was built in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Again, the chapel was humid, and I felt a little woozy, not having slept all night and with nothing for breakfast in my stomach (we attended 7:15 service). When we got out of that stuffy chapel, conditions were better, and we both had breakfast when we got back to the hotel. Bircher muesli again was offered—this time a superior version to the one I had tried in Chur. It is definitely better if it is more liquidy than porridge-like. Today’s version, with fruit, was very fine.
There was a lecture and question and answer time, called “Switzerland Today,” but the birds were singing, there was not a cloud in the sky, and the church bells were rung for services all around the city, so I decided to skip the lecture and decided instead to read “Heidi” in the garden, thoroughly enjoying every page of it. At 10:30, then, all of us met for a visit to the Old Town of Basel by public transport and on foot. Our guide was Irina Roos, the same lady who had lectured yesterday. We explored well-preserved medieval Old Town—the Tinguely Fountain, the cathedral, the Münsterplatz, the town council hall, and went through winding streets and alleyways. Basel is situated on the Rhein exactly where Switzerland, Germany, and France touch. Its historic center is dominated by the soaring Münster. With a long history of banking excellence and being a major port on the Rhein, it is Switzerland’s only outlet to the sea and the research headquarters of several pharmaceutical firms. It has the reputation of being one of Switzerland’s wealthiest cities.
In the 1st c. BC a Celtic town stood on the hill now occupied by Basel’s cathedral. The city is dated to 44 BC. By 374 AD, Basilia was the seat of a bishopric. In 1460, Pope Pius II founded Basel’s university, Switzerland’s oldest and a major center of humanism. The university was home to Erasmus of Rotterdam, one of the Reformers. Then, during the following century, Protestant refugees settled in Basel and expanded Basel’s industries.
The focus of the town is Barfüsserplatz, where we went to see Tanguely’s “Carnival Fountain, where the spinning sculptures were created from parts of the city’s old theater. We also toured the cathedral, or Münster, built in the 13th century of red sandstone with a patterned roof and rebuilt after an earthquake in 1356. Inside, the N aisle holds the tomb of the Renaissance Humanist Erasmus. And one of the highlights was to wander through the memorably atmospheric cloisters adjoining the cathedral to the south, filled with timeworn tombs. You emerge onto the Pfalz, an open, tree-lined terrace bastion behind the cathedral choir that overlooks the Rhein. The other main square of Basel is Marktplatz, and it is there that we saw the restored Rathaus or city hall, exquisitely painted with narratives concerning the the canton itself. From there, our guide bid us goodbye and directed the members of the group to various sites they wanted to see.
Cathy and I decided to go to the Kunstmuseum, or Art Museum, housed in three different buildings, depending on whether you wanted to see medieval to early 20th century art, modern art, or contemporary art. First, we had lunch at the museum Bistro, where we had a bowl of gazpacho (a perfectly wonderful cold soup on a hot day), and an apple tart with vanilla ice cream. I desperately wanted to see Böcklin’s “Isle of the Dead,” one of my favorite paintings. However, it has just returned from an exhibition and was not evident! But it was worth going to see a poignant painting by Hans Holbein der Jüngere, a painter whose “Deposition of Christ” showing Christ lying in a tomb was utterly heart wrenching and unforgettable.
Then we backtracked to the Spielzeugmuseum (Toy Museum), which opened in 1998. With over 6,000 teddy bears, dolls, carousels, doll houses, miniatures, and exquisite costumes of Venetian Mardi Gras balls, it made a grand statement. The Mardi Gras in Venice lasts 11 days and has come to be one of the most famous celebrations in the world. The costumes for this special exhibit are from a private collection and were custom-made by the best craftsmen and women in the industry. As far as toys were concerned, I saw two bears in the collection that were definite Steiffs and which closely resembled my bears, one of which, Gaga, I still own. He currently resides on his own wooden byplane—as peripatetic as I!!!
And now we are about to meet for our final, farewell dinner together at 6:30. Sorry to see it all end, especially since it was, once again, very special. God be thanked for it!! As ever, Sylvia
I am not hearing much from anyone, but suppose you are getting these missives. As I will be flying back to the United States tomorrow, I will stop the blog until June 14-16, when I will be writing you from New Orleans, where I am traveling with colleague Donna Knox. Donna, are you out there and ready to go?
Last night I slept horribly, as we had a kind of porthole window that didn’t admit much air. Conditions were humid, and even an oscillating fan made no difference. This morning, before we went on our sightseeing for the day, I requested another room, which came about easily, so that when we got back a few minutes ago we moved things one floor below and now have a very large window. It is still humid, but perhaps will cool off this evening, when we have our farewell dinner.
This morning, before breakfast, Cathy and went to St. Anton Catholic Church for Mass, which was held in a little side chapel. All in German, which she did not understand, but still worth experiencing. The church was very modern, and its starkness reminded me of a Protestant Church in Darmstadt that Oma and I attended every Sunday, and which was built in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Again, the chapel was humid, and I felt a little woozy, not having slept all night and with nothing for breakfast in my stomach (we attended 7:15 service). When we got out of that stuffy chapel, conditions were better, and we both had breakfast when we got back to the hotel. Bircher muesli again was offered—this time a superior version to the one I had tried in Chur. It is definitely better if it is more liquidy than porridge-like. Today’s version, with fruit, was very fine.
There was a lecture and question and answer time, called “Switzerland Today,” but the birds were singing, there was not a cloud in the sky, and the church bells were rung for services all around the city, so I decided to skip the lecture and decided instead to read “Heidi” in the garden, thoroughly enjoying every page of it. At 10:30, then, all of us met for a visit to the Old Town of Basel by public transport and on foot. Our guide was Irina Roos, the same lady who had lectured yesterday. We explored well-preserved medieval Old Town—the Tinguely Fountain, the cathedral, the Münsterplatz, the town council hall, and went through winding streets and alleyways. Basel is situated on the Rhein exactly where Switzerland, Germany, and France touch. Its historic center is dominated by the soaring Münster. With a long history of banking excellence and being a major port on the Rhein, it is Switzerland’s only outlet to the sea and the research headquarters of several pharmaceutical firms. It has the reputation of being one of Switzerland’s wealthiest cities.
In the 1st c. BC a Celtic town stood on the hill now occupied by Basel’s cathedral. The city is dated to 44 BC. By 374 AD, Basilia was the seat of a bishopric. In 1460, Pope Pius II founded Basel’s university, Switzerland’s oldest and a major center of humanism. The university was home to Erasmus of Rotterdam, one of the Reformers. Then, during the following century, Protestant refugees settled in Basel and expanded Basel’s industries.
The focus of the town is Barfüsserplatz, where we went to see Tanguely’s “Carnival Fountain, where the spinning sculptures were created from parts of the city’s old theater. We also toured the cathedral, or Münster, built in the 13th century of red sandstone with a patterned roof and rebuilt after an earthquake in 1356. Inside, the N aisle holds the tomb of the Renaissance Humanist Erasmus. And one of the highlights was to wander through the memorably atmospheric cloisters adjoining the cathedral to the south, filled with timeworn tombs. You emerge onto the Pfalz, an open, tree-lined terrace bastion behind the cathedral choir that overlooks the Rhein. The other main square of Basel is Marktplatz, and it is there that we saw the restored Rathaus or city hall, exquisitely painted with narratives concerning the the canton itself. From there, our guide bid us goodbye and directed the members of the group to various sites they wanted to see.
Cathy and I decided to go to the Kunstmuseum, or Art Museum, housed in three different buildings, depending on whether you wanted to see medieval to early 20th century art, modern art, or contemporary art. First, we had lunch at the museum Bistro, where we had a bowl of gazpacho (a perfectly wonderful cold soup on a hot day), and an apple tart with vanilla ice cream. I desperately wanted to see Böcklin’s “Isle of the Dead,” one of my favorite paintings. However, it has just returned from an exhibition and was not evident! But it was worth going to see a poignant painting by Hans Holbein der Jüngere, a painter whose “Deposition of Christ” showing Christ lying in a tomb was utterly heart wrenching and unforgettable.
Then we backtracked to the Spielzeugmuseum (Toy Museum), which opened in 1998. With over 6,000 teddy bears, dolls, carousels, doll houses, miniatures, and exquisite costumes of Venetian Mardi Gras balls, it made a grand statement. The Mardi Gras in Venice lasts 11 days and has come to be one of the most famous celebrations in the world. The costumes for this special exhibit are from a private collection and were custom-made by the best craftsmen and women in the industry. As far as toys were concerned, I saw two bears in the collection that were definite Steiffs and which closely resembled my bears, one of which, Gaga, I still own. He currently resides on his own wooden byplane—as peripatetic as I!!!
And now we are about to meet for our final, farewell dinner together at 6:30. Sorry to see it all end, especially since it was, once again, very special. God be thanked for it!! As ever, Sylvia
Hope to see all your pictures when we get together soon in Sedona! Glad this has been such a great experience. It’s been fun following along with you on the blog. Have safe travels back!
ReplyDelete