A stop in Basel, Switzerland

For the past four days I’ve been lucky enough to be in the Swiss Alps; my Dad is currently visiting from Australia and wanted to take Brendan and I to his favourite place on earth, a place I haven’t been to since I was 16: Mürren. We flew out of London on Saturday morning to Basel, where a friend of ours lives and works as a pilot, so we stopped for a few hours to say hello and to see the town that straddles the border of Switzerland, Germany and France.

the main square in Basel

Basel town hall

Basel coat of arms

After a quick tour of the main sights of the city, we strolled around the small farmers’ market in the shadow of the town hall (or Rathaus, as it’s called in German) and admired the fresh fare, stopping for a wurst (more detail on the delicious food we ate in a later post) before moving on to see the Rhine.

Autumnal offerings

fresh figs

As we walked across the Mittlere Brücke, the first bridge ever built across the Rhine River in 1226, I noticed some yarn bombing on each lamp post we walked past. I’ve read about this phenomenon before but haven’t yet seen any live examples; I love the concept of street art without damaging public property – it’s so creative and, let’s face it, what part of a knitted cozy on a lamp post doesn’t make you smile?!

yarn bombing

Mittlere Brücke spanning the Rhine

Wanting to arrive in Mürren before sundown, we didn’t have much time to stay in Basel so we made our way back to the car, said goodbye to our friend and hit the road. I was not expecting much from a city I’d never heard of, and was just intending to pass through, but I found myself loving the quaint, quiet, pretty and funky town. I hope to come back someday soon and explore it for more than just a few hours.

rose petal shoes in a store window

more street art in Basel

Check back this week for more posts on the beautiful Swiss alps, and some pictures of me doing some extreme sports! Like the [a bird in the hand] facebook page to receive regular updates, or follow me on twitter.