Basel

I wanted to like Basel more than I did. Perhaps it was the weather that dampened the soul of the city. If that is true than my account of this city shouldn’t put any weight upon your mind because I did not visit Basel, but rather a watered down version of it. I don’t think the weather was the factor however. It was warm on my first full day there, not a cloud blocked the sun’s rays. Perhaps, it was the museums and their inability to inspire. That couldn’t be further from the truth however. Every museum I visited displayed what every museum aught to: art, culture, information and creativity. The museums I visited are not to blame. Those I could not however, may be. I find it, frankly, concerning that all three of the historical museums in Basel were closed throughout the duration of my stay. I find this concerning because it can mean one or both of two things: people don’t care about history anymore and therefore the museums can’t open five days a week or Basel’s history is so boring that no one, even if they are interested in history, cares to go to these museums. I find the latter to be improbable. I won’t dwell on the importance of history because that’s not what this post is about, but I will leave you with the fact that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it and are in general the portion of a population most ignorant to their own disaster. Back to Basel. In parallel with the museums, or lack there of, Basel I found paled in comparison to many of my previous visits. Sure it housed Cathedrals and Churches, but none as grand as those in Strasbourg or Brussels. Sure it had wonderful art to behold, but not as majestic as Amsterdams’ or Rotterdam’s. It was simply a city. It was beautiful, mind you, and there was nothing wrong with it. It just lacked that spark of life and distinction that make cities remembered.

Museums/Landmarks:

Basel Minster

Basel Minster is at the center of Basel, standing high on a hill. Surrounded by a makeshift market this structure has been around for about as long as the city itself has. What you see in the photo below however, is just part of the structure. It also has a courtyard in which people are buried and has a wonderful view of the Rhine.

Hauptbau Museum

I would regard this museum as the second best art museum in Basel, behind Neubau. Hauptbau has a large variety of paintings, drawings, and a few sculptures mixed in on each floor. It houses a lot of older works, many of which are wonderfully crafted.

Gate of Spalen

Like most cities in Europe, Basel was surrounded by a wall and parts of this wall still remain to this day. The Gate of Spalen is one of three gateways still remaining from this ancient period,

Gegenwart

The Gegenwart museum was intriguing, in a good way. It harnessed forms of poetry and film to display art. Moreover, this museum focused a lot on African’s lives throughout the world: their cultures and rituals, as well as segregation and hardships.

Middle Bridge

The middle bridge is exactly that, of the three bridges in Basel this one lies in the middle of the other two. It is the oldest bridge in Basel and provides a wonderful view of the city from either side. Moreover, in the center of the bridge lies a house where people, like smaller bridges in Europe, lock small padlocks to signify their love.

Neubau

This museum was my favorite out of the three art museums I visited and was one of the gems of the city. It is directly connected to the Hauptbau museum and yet outlines a completely different area of the artistic world. Boasting more modern forms of art, note that it is not all modern art, this museum connects poetry to painting and gives the history of the beginning of cubism in the world… i.e. Picasso’s claim to fame. I would have loved this museum even more if there hadn’t been a film crew in there filming one dude walk through the museum…

Town Hall

This colorful building was and still is the cities town hall. The inside was unfortunately closed off to the public when I was in Basel, but it is truly a stunning piece of art that is distinct in a rather bland city when it comes to architecture… that seems harsh. Wouldn’t this be such a cool place to work though?!

Food!

Shnäggli

So this is what the bakery I got this at called it. It seemed to be a pretzel with sweet coconut inside of it, but to be honest I’m not sure. The point is it was delicious, but the internet has no idea what Shnäggli is so I’m at a loss.