Sojourn in Germany: Day trip to Basel

Deutsch Bahn has a special fare that is perfect for day-trips. A day-pass that is valid for a group of up to 5 family members traveling within the issuing state (in our case, Baden-Württemburg) can be purchased for 27€. The B-W pass even includes Basel, Switzerland as a destination, and the transfer from Basel Bad. train station (the arrival station) to Basel SBB train station (where most of the museums and tourist attractions are) is also included. Off we went to Basel, the third largest city in Switzerland, yesterday!

The train ride took about 3 hours as we had to take the regional train (and not the direct InterCity Express...remember, the total ticket cost was only 27€ for our family of 4!). The train stopped at most stations and there was a train transfer. We got to Basel just before lunch, and Gabriel and Jocelyn were eager to take a picture outside Basel SBB.

Our first destination after lunch was the Puppenhausmuseum (Doll's House Museum), where there was a huge collection of dolls, teddy bears and other toys. The kids really enjoyed it.

We then headed to the world-famous art museum Kunstmuseum Basel. Its permanent collection is impressive, and the paintings (even those from the 1500s) have been well preserved. The collection features quite a few by Picasso, Rousseau, and the impressionists such as van Gogh, Cézanne and others. Several Picasso pieces were donated by the artist himself. The museum has a good collection of Giacometti's work, but they are too surreal for me.

The kids wanted a drink after strolling through the museum. We thought the price of CHF 4 (US$3.60) for a shot of expresso at the museum cafe was too high; so we went to a local Starbucks instead. Well, it was not cheaper. A tall (small in Starbucks lingo) cup of drip coffee was CHF 4,90 (US$ 4.40)! At the Starbucks in Karlsruhe, a small drip is only 1,90€ (US$ 2.70,a price that is still substantially higher than the US, but inlcuded 19% of value added tax). Our two cups of coffee and bottled juices for the kids came to over CHF 20.

We then headed to the Münster (the cathedral in Basel). It is quite an impressive building on the bank of the Rhine. Behind the cathedral is a path down to the river bank. Here is a picture of Glenda and the kids by the bank.

We just strolled around Marktplatz for the remainder of the day. The Rathaus (town hall) is stunningly beautiful. We found a chocolatier across from the Rathaus. The chocolate selection was huge, and we bought (perhaps) too much chocolate. Jocelyn was enjoying one on the train on the way back.