It’s a wash and repeat of yesterday, except this time we’ll be walk all over Basel center – as opposed to the Klein Basel neighborhood yesterday. Up at seven, breakfast in the bakery at the mall, hop on the tram and start walking at nine. First we explore the area around the Bahnhoff SBB, which serves the Swiss train network. We have a look at the station itself, it opened in 1854 but was completely rebuilt in 1907 in neo-baroque. According to Wikipedia, it’s Europe’s busiest international border station. Looking at the departures board, I can believe it. It’s pleasantly busy, not too loud, beautifully decorated with murals of Swiss landscapes. We pop out again and start our anti-clockwise tour. We keep being amazed by how many big, prestigious buildings they’ve added here in the last 25 years. If you’re into this kind of thing (and we are), it’s very nice city to walk around in. If you’re not into it, you’ll want to skip the slideshow below.
Burckhardt+Partner, Bank for International Settlements, 1976 
on the right: Diener & Diener Architekten, New Apartment Tower, 2012 in the middle: Markthalle built by Gönner & Ryhiner in 1929 and remodelled by Blaser Architekten in 2012 
Richard Meier & Partners Architects, Euregio office building, 1998 
Silvia Gmür Reto Gmür Architekten, Müller Residence, 2006 
Crus y Ortiz Arquitectos / Giraudi Wettstein Architetti, Footbridge at Swiss Railway Station SBB, 2003 
Schwarz und Gutmann, Schauspielhaus, 2002 
Vischer Architekten, Vera Öri Library, 2009 
Hans Pösinger and Rolf d’Aujourd’hui, Uncovering of Archeological cellar and city walls, 1988-1989/1995-1997 
Roland Rohn, Kollegienhaus of University of Basel, 1939 
Herzog & De Meuron, Elsässertor II, 2005 
Herzog & De Meuron, Südpark service and office building / retirement home, 2012 
Herzog & De Meuron, Meret Oppenhim High-Rise, 2019 
We take a break for lunch and enjoy the cool atmosphere (both literally and figuratively) of a hotel lobby. I have a club sandwich and half a liter of water and enjoy the view over the Rhine. The boat racers are going at it again, only this time they seem to be in uniform, we still don’t know what’s going on there..
We decide to tackle the botanical garden first, but we skip the sunny half and investigate what plants they have growing in shadow here. The moss house is also very interesting, though I suppose hard to do at home, what with the requirements for humidity.. Though we’re pretty tired, we decide to push on to the hospital neighborhood, where we see some more large modern buildings. You can tell this is a rich country: the streets are clean, the infrastructure is new or renovated, public transport is abundant and well organized. The tram network seems quite dense for a city of 171.000 people – though the metro area has about 500.000. Right as we turn to make our way back to the center, we encounter one of the museums that was on our tentative list. Turns out it’s free of charge, so we decide to have a quick look. The exposition Experimental Ecology (see website here) shows collaborations between artists and scientist, for example a dress made of agar and a small garden to show how forest floor is affected by climate change.
Aside from all the modern stuff, we encounter green and shaded squares, low-traffic residential streets and beautiful old houses, some dating back as far as the 14th C. We walk back to the tram by way of the Rhine bridge, where I ask a young man what’s going on with all the boats, and learn that this weekend is the official competition for all swiss teams in Paarwettfahren, meaning they’re two to a boat and race against time. The whole quay is cheering for them, there is beer, food and excited commentary over loudspeakers. As we’re waiting for the tram to arrive, we hear the fanfare starting up.
Febe writes 