Bâle

January 18th 2015

FIRST DAY TRIP WOOT!

So six of us went to Basel last Sunday for a day trip. Why only one day, you ask. Well, small cities in Europe do not have much to offer in terms of tourism for more than a day's worth (for students with attention deficiency like us). Basel is a small city in Switzerland near the border of France,

It was my first time on the European trains. I like that we got to choose our seats and we were lucky to find adjacent benches that seated 4 face to face. The train ride was something like 1 1/2 long, so we played "Who Am I?" I had the hardest time guessing "Le Petit Prince" which seems to really be an international hit. I feel like I need to read it again, now that I can understand abstract ideas and metaphors.

 Say hello to my friends! (left to right) Chris, Michelle ;), Lisa

Kathy, Michi, Ralph

These people are hilarious and English isn't even their first language ;P

We were lucky, in Basel, the skies were clear and the sun was warm, but we were still pretty cold. I think it was 4 degrees Celsius. We started by walking to the marketplace. The city was pretty dead on a Sunday (rest day). All the shops were closed except the restaurants the train station's businesses. It was nice and calm. We observed the inside of the marketplace. I found the sculptures and art had a very Roman style and it confused me, but then I realized that Switzerland borders Italy and Italian is one of their national languages, so naturally their might have been Roman influences. Anybody, feel free to enlighten me on this subject! I feel like I could appreciate European architecture and churches if I had a stronger background in history, art, and religion.

The Marketplace

Looking up, haha 

 "Is this a dungeon?"... nope just a closed door that leads to another messier room

Michi was our designated guide for the day! Thank god for her research, or else we really would have been just roaming the streets. She found a tour that a tourist suggested.

Frolicking with my girlfriend (jokes jokes)

The tour continued to the river. Basel is separated by the Rhine River. The view on the bridge was very scenic, very pretty!

 Oh hey, aren't these some good looking people ;)

The tour also included a little boat ride to cross back through the river. We were nice and warm in the sunlight and comfortable on our little cushions. The boat driver was nice enough to take our picture :)

Such tourists -.-'

Boats Boats Boats!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htNI6BKjLlc

On the other side, where we originally came from, we visited the cathedral. Lesson in German of the day: when the plaza is called Münsterplatz, it is not Monster Place/Plaza... but indeed Cathedral Place/Plaza (because that makes soooo much more sense) -__-

Ralph teaching us something about the cathedral (in gibberish) haha

The not so monster Münsterplatz

Afterwards, we walked down the streets skirted by old traditional buildings (at least I think). It felt like we went back in time. 

Oh yes! Canada represent! (you become way more nationalist the moment you step out of your country)

After the long walk started the hunt for food.

The issue is that the recent change in exchange rates between the Swiss Franc and the Euro equates the two. Even when the exchange rate favoured the Euro before, I heard, the food was pretty expensive but, now, it was exorbitantly expensive to eat a meal. After a long search (making our walk longer haha) we found an" Asian Cooking" restaurant (whatever that means) which was affordable. The restaurant really tried to encompass all Asian cultures by putting up pictures and symbols that ranged from Indian to Laotian to Singaporean to Chinese to everything basically, but really the cuisine was Americanized Chinese Food. The workers were Asian (Vietnamese, I think). I chose a stir-fry (hefty portion, but very salty) which made me a little home sick for Mom's cooking, which is waaaaay better. We decided to stay in the restaurant for as long as possible because we were cold. 

Here we are making "origami" (yay Boats Boats Boats!)

I also took advantage of the free chopsticks for when I make ramen and stir fry in my dorm. For some reason, I haven't been able to find chopsticks in any stores :S

Once we finally decided to get off our bottoms to finish touring, I was in full dessert-seeking mode. My nose sniffed out this beauty: A crepe-like dessert from a store named Chocolate Kebab (because they shave the hazelnut chocolate from a turning support like one would meat in a Lebanese restaurant) http://www.shortlist.com/cool-stuff/the-chocolate-kebab

 I look almost too happy 

om nom nom nom!

We had Swiss Francs left before our departure back home and what better way to spend them then on SWISS CHOCOLATE!? This was "surprisingly" the cheapest food item in Switzerland. The prices were all around 2 Swiss Francs per bar which means we got FIVE chocolate bars (droooool)! Clearly sweets are all I really get excited about.

Our train had many delays, so the chocolate helped hold us over.

Oh chocolate.. you give me such joy

ALL PHOTO CREDITS TO KATHY! Thanks for taking pictures :)