Heading Over to Basel

We catch a train from Lucerne to Basel, on the Rhine and from where our river cruise will depart, heading up the Rhine through Germany and then on to Amsterdam.  Basel is the third largest city in Switzerland and the chemical and pharmaceutical companies located in the city provide 20% of Swiss annual exports.

We walk out of our hotel and find a great market in Marktplatz at the front of the Rathaus (city hall) with goods and food for sale.  We look for something that appeals to us and find lunch at a food truck in the market, piadines (piadina):  mortadella, coppa, and caprese.

 Marktplatz Square

 Market stalls

 Lunch at the piadina truck

Just outside the square is a grocery store and we enter to admire.  It would seem that the food in Basel is very diverse and delicious looking!

 Grocery store

It's a few blocks to the Rhine (Rhein) and we get our first views of this great river that starts in the Swiss Alps and flows northerly through Germany and The Netherlands to the North Sea.

 Views up and down the Rhine

We see a lot of ships on the river and a few brave swimmers who move very fast as long as they swim with the swift current.

 River traffic

 And, we find two Viking ships docked at the location where we will find our ship tomorrow.

Viking river ships

Leaving the river, we wander back through the city, travelling over the small streets and the great squares, ending at the Basel Munster (Cathedral) in Münsterplatz.  And, we find some great street art along the way.

Basel streets

 Basel Cathedral in Münsterplatz

 Street art

We filled a fun and interesting afternoon in Basel and are starting to think about our departure on the cruise down the Rhine starting in the morning.