Two other students and I decided to take a spontaneous journey this past weekend -- we had absolutely no destination in mind, only that our tickets there should be no more than 60 euros, round-trip. So, we showed up at the train station around three o'clock with our bags packed, aiming to leave as soon as possible. At the ticket stand, the woman took our only criterion with a queer look on her face ("Um... okay."), and after a few options that were too expensive or not very interesting, she offered us a round-trip ticket to Basel for less than 20 euros. "To Switzerland!" we cried, and promptly purchased the tickets.
Roughly two hours later, and we were in Switzerland. We stumbled through the practically deserted douane (in fact, our entrance into the country was only marked by a man on the train asking us where we lived and how long we would be in Switzerland), but we insisted at one office that they stamp our passports -- which they rarely do now unless you search them out. In fact, the two officers working seemed to find it amusing, and asked for money (first) and then a kiss (second). Creepy, right? But we eventually got our Schweiz stamps!
Switzerland in Basel is a curious mélange of Swiss German, French and English (the further south you go, the appearance of Italian crops up, and the further north -- German), which can be a bit head-spinning, especially since you don't know which language to try first. We opted for French, and went to the tourist office to try to find a hostel to stay at, since we didn't fancy sleeping on park benches. It was promptly settled, with a hostel open and with room for 20 euros a night, breakfast included. We hopped over there, deposited our bags, and decided on an evening walk through Basel (apparently pronounced to rhyme with "nozzle" though I quite often still pronounce it like the herb).
First I must mention however, another difficulty -- that of currency. Due to our spontaneity, we did not think about currency exchanges. While euros are accepted, it is usually at a terrible exchange rate to the Swiss franc. At dinner Friday night, for example, we settled our 55 franc bill with two 1-franc coins (we had received them as change at our hostel) and an attempted guess at how many euros were equal. We then quickly left in case it was not sufficient, though I tend to think we over-payed. We decided we needed to get some Swiss francs the next day.
The next morning, after a lovely breakfast (and after stealing bread and cheese for lunch), we checked out and began hauling our backpacks and ourselves throughout the city, this time in daylight. We took the tram up the hill to the University -- Erasmus and Nietzsche both graduated from the university. That means that it is certainly most likely that at least the latter walked on the same streets as I did -- including most certainly the 775+ year old bridge gracing the Rhine river. Unfortunately, I found no markers regarding Nietzsche's presence in the city. We then stumbled across the university botanical gardens and decided to take a walk through it. (As an aside, Harry Potter-like artifacts abound in Basel! I found the trunk of the whomping willow in the gardens, Kira was eaten by dragonsnare, street sweepers use brooms that look like Cleansweep 7's, the town's crest includes a basilisk (more on this to come), and there's a town further south in Switzerland called Grindelwald. You can imagine my excitement.)
We then walked up yet another hill (there are a lot in Switzerland) to the cathedral, which provides a spectacular view over the Rhine. And there we found the epitaph of Erasmus inside.
Anyway, one of the greatest things I learned about Basel was from my guide book, which said that Basel was the first and only city to have a public trial and execution of a chicken: "In 1474, a hen allegedly laid an egg on a dung heap under a full moon, an action sure to hatch the horrible creature [the basilisk]. The bird was tried, found guilty, and beheaded, and the egg was ceremonially burnt." Some food for thought.
I was also successful in eating Swiss cheese, as we stopped by a market in Marktplatz and were heralded by a stall owner to try some cheese. Who am I to refuse free offerings? And then after sitting by a fountain and munching on cookies, we headed to the train station (more hills), where we found out that tickets to Zurich were 40 euros round-trip. This was a bit pricey, but considering that between the two trains we were spot-on our budget (60 euros round-trip), we decided to take it. We hopped on a train ten minutes later, on our way to a new city in Switzerland. But my tales of Zurich will wait for another time. I have class soon, and I'm rather ill, so I shall conserve my strength.Regards,
Alison
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