Basel is university town full of youthful energy. Today is Labor Day throughout most of Europe and Basel had their own celebrations. The main effect on us was a slight diversion in our route to our cruise ship. We arrived about noon and were able to immediately embark although our staterooms were not quite ready. We had a fabulous buffet lunch on the ship and all four of us opted for the open faced bagel with cream cheese topped with smoked salmon, cucumbers and sprouts.
At 1:30 Bonnie, Robin and I boarded a bus with our tour guide Consuela from El Salvador. She has lived in Basel for 10 years. She speaks English perfectly and is still learning the Swiss version of German. The people of Basel also have a local dialect that makes it difficult for her to understand a conversation between two locals.
Our bus had only 10 tourists and our guide. The driver took us on a loop across the Rhine River and back again into the old town and dropped us by the Kunstmuseum Basel. This is the premier museum of Switzerland and it is not far from the Münster Cathedral where we were yesterday. It was great to get her perspective on the old houses on the Rittergasse which date to the 1300s and 1400s. Most of the houses are adorned with the name of the original family and the date of construction.
Arrival at the Viking Eir:
Our tour with Consuela:
And the walk continued:
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