Plenty of culture and energy in Basel
Basel is the third most populated city in all of Switzerland. It’s an industrial center that is also full of culture. Some of the best chocolate is made and sold in Basel (I know, I was lucky enough to taste it!). The city has some of the warmest weather and the least amount of fog and rain in all of Switzerland. Basel’s history goes back as far as 500 BC and is quite extensive. The city is without a doubt one of Switzerland’s most important and robust.
As you can see, I love taking photographs (especially of beautiful cities) and I have a hard time picking out which ones to share. I’ve been to Basel three times. Once within the first few days of my arrival in Switzerland, the second time to visit a family friend and take a closer look at the city, and the last time I was able to visit the famous Christmas market which I wrote about here. Weather makes it or breaks it when it comes to how you see a city (at least for me) so the first time I wasn’t too impressed, but my last couple of visits turned my view of Basel into a very pleasant one. The city always feels busy and crowded, but not so much that I felt overwhelmed. It’s full of interesting buildings and I love the market that’s always smack dab in the middle of everything!
I took a photo of this billboard from the train. I’m in no way promoting that you go and eat this at McDonald’s, but I’d never seen cupcakes at McDonald’s and I just had to document this image.
This beautiful red building is the Rathaus or Town Hall.
I absolutely loved all of the details. The paintings on the walls, the lights, the doors, etc. were all so magnificent!
This is my favorite picture of Basel. It reminds me of a Playmobile toy I used to have with a market theme.
These ducks have quite an interesting story. Here you see the mother, her babies… and that’s not their father. This male duck was competing with the father for the mother duck. Not only did I witness a duck fight, but the mother tried and tried again to get away and back to her ducklings. I can only hope the father won the battle and that it wasn’t too gruesome!
I loved the “I love U” tram!
The Basel Münster or cathedral.
A bronze display of flowers and vegetables. Amazing craftsmanship!
The biggest issue with visiting a big city: something is always under construction.
I hope you enjoyed my photos of Basel! If you haven’t seen my Christmas Market in Basel, Bern, or Zürich photos yet, I think you’ll like those, too!
5 March 2011 / Travel
Tags: basel, photography, switzerland
Comments
5 March 2011 - 3:36 pm
What beautiful photos of the city I cant believe mcdonalds has cupcakes there haha they look delicious though 🙂
6 March 2011 - 5:20 am
I love these travel features. Really makes me just want to hop on a plane and fly somewhere. If only it were that simple!
6 March 2011 - 3:26 pm
Eva! Thank you for finding me. I have never been to Basel but now it is on the list for sure. It even sounds like a city I would consider living in. Such a cute place you have here. I’ll be back soon!
6 March 2011 - 7:32 pm
you have such good pics! the few times i’ve been in basel i’ve really liked it!! and also…cupcakes at mcdonalds? idk.
6 March 2011 - 11:00 pm
Gorgeous pictures!! Love looking at these. Make sure to eat some chocolate for me 🙂
10 March 2011 - 12:34 am
Hi, Eva!
I found your blog a couple of weeks ago and started following it right away (though this is the first opportunity I’ve had to leave you a comment!) I still have a LOT of exploring to do, but so far your Switzerland photos are my favorite posts. It’s a country I’ve always wanted to visit and your stunning photographs make me feel like I’m there.
I’ve long been in love with winsome gates, unusual doors, and casement windows decorated with flowers and since you’ve got three consecutive rows of photos of each of those things on this page, it goes without saying that they’re among my favorites of the bunch! I also especially love the bookstore and wish I could walk into that picture and start browsing. 🙂 And while all the architecture is absolutely lovely, it’s that remarkable, colorful roof that charms me the most! It’s just beautiful!
Thank you so much for sharing your Swiss adventure through your gorgeous photos!
10 March 2011 - 2:07 pm
Thank you all so much for your fantastic responses; I’m so glad you like my Basel photos!
Laloofah – Thank you for commenting so that I know you’re here! : ) I’m so glad you said these were your favorite posts. My travel photos weren’t getting a lot of comments and they take a lot of work to edit to the right size and such. I absolutely love sharing them and posting them, though, and I have SO many more places to share with all of you yet!
I felt the same way about that store/library, although I’m sure they’re all in German which I only know a few words of, unfortunately. I love that you made comments on individual photos. Thank YOU, your comments today have made my day!
10 March 2011 - 4:09 pm
Hi, Eva!
I’m glad I finally made time to comment too! I’d be doing a lot more of it but am chin-deep in projects right now and don’t have nearly enough time to play online. But I’ll be returning when I can, I promise! I love your blog. 🙂
I know how much time and effort it takes to take, sort, edit, choose and post photos – it took me a couple of months to do that with a 10-day vacation last summer! Your efforts are not in vain and not unappreciated, believe me. For everyone who gets around to telling you how much they enjoy your photos you can bet there are probably a dozen more who enjoy them without comment. I look forward to all your future photos, as well as having time to romp through your archives!
I’d be lost in the bookstore too, only know a few words in German. But just the sight and smell of books is enough to lure me in! 🙂
I must dash (schnell, schnell! There, that’s about 20% of my German vocabulary on display, lol!) as today’s to-do list would reach from Wyoming to Zurich. But I will be back in touch soon! 🙂
11 March 2011 - 5:29 pm
Wow, these are amazing photos. This really makes me want to visit Switzerland!! (Not like I didn’t want to visit there anyway, just makes me want to that much more!) You take amazing photos!! I love the buildings there! I wish Columbus had buildings as beautiful as these!
I noticed a lot of people ride bikes. That is so cool! I’m thinking of starting to ride my bike more when it gets warm out. Especially when I go to work. I’m going to attempt it atleast once, just to see if it is doable (with traffic and whatnot). That would be a great form of exercise too!!
I loved the bookstore photo! I would go nuts in there!! I can’t wait to finish this semester to start reading again. After I finish my pile of 20 books (haha) do you have any suggestions on what to read?
14 March 2011 - 12:14 am
Laloofah – Thank you so much! All of your kind words are so encouraging and I really appreciate that you took the time to let me know that you love my photos!
I know what you mean about the books… they’re like candy for me! Not too long ago, I had a dream about going into a bookstore full of huge and absolutely beautiful books… one of the best dreams I’ve ever had!
I’m glad you realize how long photos take to get ready for blogs and have the same dilemma. Recently I’ve been having issues uploading too so it take so much longer than it should, gosh!
I hope you had a wonderful weekend! I must check back to your blog soon, too!
Misty – I know… living here makes me want to get a bike and just ride around the beautiful cities and country sides all day long! Except, the country side, at least where I live is FULL of hills. I’m no pro at going up them yet, ha! You’ll have to let me know how biking to Lowe’s goes! That sounds like an awesome idea! I wish you and I had gone on bike rides when I still lived in Indiana!
And to think… I almost didn’t put the bookstore/library photos in! Everyone seems to love those! Misty, dear… I don’t think I need to add any more to your recommended book list, ha! I’ve not read anything since Little Women either so nothing new on my part. What about you? Anything you’d recommend for me to read?
14 March 2011 - 3:51 pm
Other than everything I have already reccommended for you lol I haven’t touched a book since the summer probably. Too much school work and actually work right now to be trying to read somethign 🙁 It makes me sad. But atleast I know I have all summer to catch up on the books that I do have to read 🙂
5 March 2011 - 4:22 am
Another wonderfully charming European city! I need to get out of the US and explore a bit. And these photos just make my wanderlust even worse.