Basel is an amazing little gem of a city, one of Europe’s best kept secrets, tucked away where the Swiss, the German and the French borders meet. It has everything. To me, it’s the medieval, the grand and the futuristic. It also means culture and arts, services and industry, traditions, beauty and fun. And, one of the best things is, the centre is small enough to discover on foot. This winter I have managed to carve out some time for myself to start exploring, so here you go.
Medieval times
Basel has a good long history, its medieval heyday dating back to the early 16th century. Its heraldic animal is the basilisk, most widely known from Harry Potter, but the local stories are much older. Something about an old rooster (yep) laying an egg, hatched by a reptile of some kind, et voilá, you have a basilisk, its lair under one of the city’s fountains. Probably a memory of a good old witch hunt, made into a children’s story. I included a photo of the only remaining large basilisk statue I ran across in June when visiting for a couple of hours. If you want to know, it’s just at the Southern foot of Wettstein Bridge, close to the Kunstmuseum. However, it’s easy to run into its smaller brothers – the city is full of basilisk fountains.
Speaking of which, doesn’t it strike you how the name Basel, and the words basilica and basilisk seem to have grown from the same roots – or grown together, who knows. Yes, over 500 years ago the place became a Catholic religious centre, which might have had some connection to the name. But could the mythical animal somehow have lent its name to the city or was it the other way round? The rooster or the egg? 🙂
Classic grandeur
This winter, again, I had little time to explore Basel but I could use it well. Meaning, trotting around, riding the trams, taking in as much as I could, and walking the whole way back to skyscraper-land. Luckily, the central parts of the city are packed close together so if you know where you’re going it takes no time at all. What I really missed, though, was a day or two of strolling around to discover the coolest nooks and crannies of Old Town. Anyway, I managed to capture a few flavours. So, besides the medieval feel, the city has a lot of old school modern era grandeur, with its imposing facades, cafés, central townhouses I thought was a thing of big capital cities only.
Futurism
After visiting two skyscrapers here, I decided I liked sky bars after all – some pressure to add to the collection. By the way, Roche Tower, also called Building One, is the highest building in Switzerland. And it only has 38 floors.
The only great thing I can say about the minimal Messeturm building is its Bar Rouge at the top, the sparkly-chic kind. ( I pasted in another photo from June so you get the picture). I bravely visited one of the bathrooms with floor-to-ceiling windows but I’m not sure I would do that again. While the building feels sort of wrong and flimsy, it offers amazing views of the Roche Tower. As you can see I’ve spent some time playing the impressionist here and no wonder.
Building One is literally breathtaking, though, inside and out. It’s solid, well-designed, it has the right look and feel. Pebbles Lounge at the top is the coolest thing ever. It’s pure retro sci-fi with white designer furniture, a lot of white offset by black floors and ceiling. I loved the silver and rustic wooden details. I didn’t have a lot of time but I can say the cappuccino is amazing, and so are the views, even though it was winter.
Next on my to-do list
- Criss-cross Old Town at least twice at a leisurely pace.
- See all the Old Town gate towers.
- Try the local pastry called ‘leckerli’.
- Walk along the river Rhine.
- Visit the cathedral area and check out the photo spot nearby for some river city views (those are the best in Budapest too).
- And yes, hunt down more basilisks and tell you where to find them.
Basel, you pretty thing, I can’t wait to see you again.
Velvet blazer: Zara
Kiss band t-shirt: F&F
Jeans: Zara
Ankle boots: Zara