From Basel to Zurich

‘It was an early morning. Our bags had to be in the hall before 7:00. Anything we needed after that had to be in a carry on. We had breakfast, made sure the room was empty of our things by 8:00, then went to the lounge for almost an hour. The crew has 4 hours to get ship ready for the next set of passengers.We boarded our busses according to color luggage tag we were given so we got on the green bus which actually had a green roof. We were driven through the town of Basel on our way to the cathedral. The guide was very proud the were the pharmaceutical capitol of the world. Now I can’t remember who is headquartered there, but there were several. Then we went to the main square where we met our guide. Since we’re in the leisure group, we walked at a slower pace than other groups, which was fine with me. We walked up a long hill to the cathedral, went into the cloister, then went to have a view of the Rhine. Then we worked our way back down to the plaza where the big Christmas Market was. We found a small restaurant and went inside. It was very small but they had a free table for us. Switzerland is a very expensive country. The Canadian dollar is almost half a Swiss Franc. Rudy was grousing at the cost so only ordered beer. Betty and Verna each ordered a Swiss pizza. I ordered a Raclette. Their pizzas came and were huge. The crust was very thin. My raclette was a layer of hash browns, a layer of ham, a layer of cheese with a fried egg on top. They were all about 34 Swiss Francs each-$40 US. Mine was delicious but big enough for 3 people. So I ate a third of it and passed it to Rudy. He couldn’t finish it either . I noticed in the hallway there were stacks and stacks of boxes labeled Gluwein. Seems they don’t brew their own. Now the just heat it up.. From lunch we went to the Christmas Market around an old monastery. It was nice but mostly the same as we’d seen before. Betty bought my mug since I bought hers yesterday. That was pretty much our only purchase. Verna bought a package of little cookies.
‘We went to catch the bus. We were there early. There were tons of people waiting on the narrow sidewalk. There were 3 buses of people who were just starting their cruise. They finally vacated and we could get on our buses. It was a 15 minute ride to the hotel. We got our keys and came to the room. After an hour Verna went on a walk with a guide to learn about the neighborhood and the tram system. I rested. When everyone was back we walked to a market that had prepared food we could eat there or bring back. It was closed. It was in an office building and closed at 6:00. So we walked down the street to a Coop. It was open and had fresh food as well as prepared food. So we all got sandwiches and came back to the hotel. We ate in the room. Verna had bought wine at our wine tasting-who remembers what dat that was! She doesn’t want to lug it home. We wee all exhausted, so Verna is being patient while I type this, then we will crash. We get to get up and do it all over again tomorrow. It’s our last official Viking activity. Then we’re on our own for 3 days.

Photos: the river shot is from behind the cathedral, there a picture of an old gate from the ancient wall the went into the city, a couple cathedral shots, and market photos. These booths were more decorated than other towns. There was even one with talking moose heads over the door. The standing tables where people drink the wine are in the shape of Christmas trees. We went by an expensive neighborhood. Even there they have graffiti problems
‘Until tomorrow….