The students have several "Open Weekends" where they are permitted to travel around Europe with at least one of their classmates. My colleague had a trip planned to Copenhagen and I was thouroughly exhausted so I stayed close to the Chateau with the remaining students and did a quick trip back to Basel Switerland. The public transportation system is fantastic in Europe and you can really get almost anywhere you need to go on it!
We visited Basel as a group early in the quarter and saw the Vitra Museum and then had a brief walk about town. Basel is the third largest city in Switerland and is about 37 kilometers but it has more than 40 museums! One of the AiP students, Kate Reynolds, travelled with me and we bought the "Basel Card" which gave us entry or discounts to numerous attractions.
It was rather cold during our visit but there were plenty of indoor activities to keep us busy. We did almost become popsicles on the city walking tour but we did enjoy it thouroughly.
The one thing that we did have trouble with in Basel was eating. Everything was outrageously expensive. The Swiss use the Swiss Franc and it was trading almost equal to the dollar. A bowl of soup was 10-12 CF (Swiss Franc), Pasta 15-20 CF, a "value meal" at a fast food chain 10-12 CF. Breakfast was unavailable to anyone who did not stay at a hotel that offered it for a mere 12-15 CF. I hate to admit it, but starving and cold, we ate at the Burger King : (
I really wanted to check out an excavated Roman village a bit outside of town called Austica Raurica. We took the bus and then walked up to the site. It was overcast and very cold, there seemed to be some sort of a race going on and thus we walked quickly around the outdoor parts and spent time in the museum which housed treasures found at the site. I would highly recommend a visit in the spring, summer, or early fall.
We visited Basel as a group early in the quarter and saw the Vitra Museum and then had a brief walk about town. Basel is the third largest city in Switerland and is about 37 kilometers but it has more than 40 museums! One of the AiP students, Kate Reynolds, travelled with me and we bought the "Basel Card" which gave us entry or discounts to numerous attractions.
It was rather cold during our visit but there were plenty of indoor activities to keep us busy. We did almost become popsicles on the city walking tour but we did enjoy it thouroughly.
The one thing that we did have trouble with in Basel was eating. Everything was outrageously expensive. The Swiss use the Swiss Franc and it was trading almost equal to the dollar. A bowl of soup was 10-12 CF (Swiss Franc), Pasta 15-20 CF, a "value meal" at a fast food chain 10-12 CF. Breakfast was unavailable to anyone who did not stay at a hotel that offered it for a mere 12-15 CF. I hate to admit it, but starving and cold, we ate at the Burger King : (
I really wanted to check out an excavated Roman village a bit outside of town called Austica Raurica. We took the bus and then walked up to the site. It was overcast and very cold, there seemed to be some sort of a race going on and thus we walked quickly around the outdoor parts and spent time in the museum which housed treasures found at the site. I would highly recommend a visit in the spring, summer, or early fall.
We took the bus back into town and then went to an incredible place in Basel that I am guessing a lot of tourists miss. Kate does graphic design, and I love etchings, engravings, and prints in general. In our museum guide of Basel we found a museum called Basler Papiermuhle. It is a restored medieval Gallician mill house dedicated to the history of paper, writing, and printing. We made paper, learned how letters for typesetting were made, typeset our names, printed them, had our names done in Chinese calligraphy, pressed a wax seal, and pressed an image from a stamp. It was very informative and interactive and I HIGHLY recommend a visit to anyone that has any interest in paper! Below are a few images of what we saw and did.
Other than eating, Basel was a Big Hit with us! I will definately do another day trip to Basel in that there are SEVERAL more musuems that I would really like to see. : )
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