Cruise Report - Landing Day and Embarkation

I planned to start the series yesterday but was attacked by a nap; I thought I'd lie down for an hour or so before a radio series' weekly programme, and was awakened four hours later when my mother called because my parents were concerned at not hearing from me all day.  At least I seem to be mostly over the jet lag and lack of sleep from the series of different beds.

I was able to capture some nice photos of clouds.

I arrived in Basel without issues other than tiredness from the overnight flight and connexion through Frankfurt.  Luckily I left time to get between the gates (I had a longish layover and spent part of it in a courtesy club) because there was passport control to navigate.  I'd told my travel agent that I wanted to stay in a property from one of my hotel memberships, and it turns out to be a ways out of town.  However, they gave me a free transit pass that I could use on the trains and trams and buses, and they had a room available, so I dropped off my bags, locked up the computer, washed my face and hands, did a quick clothing change, and headed out to explore Basel.

It was hot enough that I regretted packing jeans, but I wanted the different pockets to hold things so they are what I had.  Definitely handy to keep the map and transit pass in a pocket together, some loose change in another pocket, and so on.

After a false start I found the train station and caught the correct one to the town center.  I was glad of the transit pass as several official-looking persons entered the carriage and asked for proof of tickets; mine passed.  I decanted into the main railway station and oriented myself, then headed out to explore some historic locations.  Many buses and trams stop at the station, but I could walk and it took less brain power than sorting which vehicle to enter to go where I wanted.

Inside the Elisabethkirsche; I missed the midday
concert but enjoyed a cool look at the interior.

There were a number of these seats on the steps near Elisabethkirsche, marked for "Flaneurs".

In the area are a number of kaleidoscopes on poles that you can use to look at the surroundings:

And this kinetic water sculpture which was much enjoyed; I believe it's by Jean Tinguely:

I posted a few outside photos last week, and two of the history museum's main room.  It had many side rooms for various things, some religious, some about the guilds, and a few reconstructed rooms.

Then to the Rathaus, or town hall, and Marketplatz:

Eventually I ran out of energy and headed back to the hotel.  I stopped at a shop in the train station for a sandwich, bottle of herbal tea, and ice-cream, the last of which I ate before heading on the short walk from station to hotel as I expected it to melt quickly in the heat.

The next day was rainy in the morning, following storms overnight, so I lazed a bit and then took my luggage to the dock.  I was able to leave the luggage and do pre-check on the boat/ship, and having notice a tram stop just up the hill I caught one into town to explore a bit more.  This is when I learned that on Wednesdays there are pop-up markets - food stalls and farmers on the Marketplatz, flea market type in front of the history museum.

My goal for this day was to find the other historical museum that I'd missed the day before, and I accomplished this.  So I spent several hours wandering about looking at restored rooms (the family's private areas had transitioned almost intact; many of the public spaces had been repurposed) before catching the return tram to the dock and boarding ship.

A tiny musical instrument in one of the private sitting rooms.

The first dollhouse I saw.  There were many more.

Once I hit the toys, I took a lot of photos - these are a very few showing the range of items:

Tiny knitted stockings in a dollhouse chest.

Not a dollhouse item, but a huge, human-sized house organ, with history of being played:

Finally in midafternoon I headed back to the dock for official boarding, and unpacking in the room that would be my home for the next week:

Just left is a small desk and television and the 
cupboard/closet; to the bottom right corner is
the bathroom with shower and nice amenities.

This report is long enough, so I'll continue in another one.  We cruised overnight from Switzerland to France, and the cruise director made much of how easy it is now that they don't have border controls as in several points part of the ship is in one country and part in another.