On our way out of the airplane, after Easy Jet Captain Grand Killer (seriously, that was his name!) landed us safely in Basel, I overheard the little girl in front of me ask her dad:
How do we call people from Basel, Baselians?
and smiled to myself; adults don’t have fun with things like that anymore..
Basel won the raffle as the first destination in 2017, and the trip was actually a gift for my husband’s birthday, since he’s wanted to go to Baselworld for some time now.
Yes, I’ll admit it: when it comes to travel, I can’t help being little bit selfish, so I wouldn’t pass on the opportunity to check Switzerland off my list.
So we went to see the watches.
Table of Contents
A Quick Weekend Getaway: Basel
But before that:
Did you notice the recent Destinations feature in Google Trip Planner? Just type a destination on Google (mobile) and this is what you’ll see:
Basel > Travel Guide > If you only have a day > and tadaaaam!
Here’s your pre-set walking itinerary, courtesy of Google.
Makes it pretty tempting to use right?
** That is, if you’re not freaking out about the already massive chunks of information you’re giving away about yourself , your preferences, your location…
Anyway, Basel is not that big, and we were looking for a chill weekend away, so we just decided we’ll wing it.
BaselWorld
BaselWorld was ..how should I put it: maybe a bit anticlimactic?
Admittedly, it’s an event originally designed for re-sellers and businesses, and only recently opened to the public.
Which means you’re free to look around, but you wont’ be getting any attention from the brand representatives, nor access the reseller lounges, where you can actually get to try on watches.
But going to an event like Baselworld definitely has a special kind of charm.
Splurge on some of the amazing timepieces below:
And the mise en scene was pretty creative too:
Blending in with the Baselians
After a good 4 hours of watching watches (wink) we decided to head into the city for some good ole visiting.
Basel gave me the distinct feeling I was in Bavaria, south of Germany:
Old German architecture and Gothic cathedrals, pretzels and of course, German spoken everywhere.
Only this one was a very expensive version of Germany, where it’s cheaper to get a beer than a bottle of water (seriously, 6€ for a 1/2 liter of water ?! )
So needless to say, we were a bit wary about where to eat, and settled for burgers, salads and and pizza.
Then we found it.
Luckily for us, a lot of bakeries were closed on Sunday, so we had to settle for brunch at Spiga, just next to the bridge.
The unexpectedly cozy restaurant cafe had a 7€ brunch, which was clearly the best price for value we’ve had in Basel!
Carnival After Party
Speaking with the barista, at Spiga, I learned we’d come to Basel on a rather special day, as the town was (quite literally) putting their music hats on for the famous Basel festival.
We’d missed the carnival, or Fasnacht, but were welcomed by the same kind of (musical) parade, save for the masks and costumes.
It seemed like everyone in the city was taking part in the festivities, either by playing the drums and flutes, or being walking supporters.
As for us, we were happy to be watching from the sidewalks with the rest of the crowds, while munching on bratwurst and pretzels.
I’ve got a feeling we’ll be hitting the road soon, for another weekend in Switzerland ..
Next stop: Bern and 10 reasons why it should be on your Switzerland itinerary
Oh! Remember our Pilot?
I later Google searched him because I was just too hooked by that name! And yes, I did find him – on LinkedIn!
Grand Killer is actually a homonym for his real name, Grant Keiller 😉
Thank you, Captain! for making me start my trip with a chuckle.
What’s your favorite memory up in the air?
Come on, help us chuckle more!
Happy wandering!
So, yes, Basel is expensive 🙂 I love the way you write about your experiences – it feels the passion, the love and the enthusiasm 🙂