Basel

Another Swiss city, another highly efficient tram system and lots of museums!

We visited the Basel Historical Museum (Historisches Museum Basel), a few tram stops from our hotel. The trip there was free thanks to the complimentary tram passes the hotels give to visitors. Perhaps Melbourne should get an idea from that!

They had yet another system for informing you about the exhibits, one which I didn’t photograph. It was a Samsung tablet, similar to an iPad, into which you type the reference number for the item you’re looking at and information would be displayed on the screen in your chosen language.

As usual with these European cities they all have some claim to historical fame. In the past it was part of the Roman Empire, and more recently it was the home place of Roger Federer.

Located on the Rhine where it becomes navigable, it is Switzerland’s only port.

A selection of the things we viewed is underneath.

A working, detailed, 3-D model showing how horses were used to drive piles into the river for the construction of one of the bridges.

Below is a depiction of a mural which was painted ca. 1440 and which survives in part today. It depicts Death dancing with everybody, from the highest in the land (the Pope), to the lowliest peasant.

To be honest, I thought Death looked remarkably lively, however the intention was to show you, in case you didn’t realise it already, that everyone died.

This will be our last blog post from Switzerland. We are catching the train tomorrow back to Zürich, and thence on a lengthy flight to Melbourne.

Helen thinks I’ve become a bit of a tram fanatic after visiting Switzerland, however I have been impressed by the efficiency and frequency of their public transport system.

The tram stop, if that is the word, outside the railway station here resembles in complexity Richmond station in Melbourne. There are multiple platforms, they are all long, there is an efficient signing system which tells you about the next eight or so trams, how long to wait for them to arrive, and where they’re going. There are also vending machines on the platform to sell you tickets if you need them.

It makes our public transport system in Melbourne look like it was last updated 50 years ago.

The photo below illustrates the idea, buses, trams, bikes, people, and very few cars.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed reading about our travels in Switzerland.