Day 8: on the rails
So, this should be much shorter than of late - a relief! It’s been a day mostly in transit. I got up early after a bad night, had breakfast, walked across the road to the main station in Bologna, was *still* ridiculously early for my train, got my train and, well trained. First to Milan, where we were a bit late. Not late enough that I thought I would miss my connection, but late enough I wasn’t sure I’d get a chance to buy lunch. Maybe not a priority to 10am? It is when you’re going from Italy to Switzerland…
But I managed to buy a tomato and mozzarella sandwich and get onto my train without running around too much. Phew. It worked out quite nicely, in fact. Milano Centrale isn’t a great place to kill time, so having some of my buffer actually used was cool. The train goes from Milan to Basel in 4.5 hours, which is much slower than it really need be for the distance. It’s quite a nice leisurely and scenic trip, up beside Lake Como (and out of Italy much sooner than I expect - quite different to going to Geneva), through the mountains and lakes Lugano to Lucerne, and then onto the nice green plains towards Basel. I listened to the whole of the Butterfly Effect podcast (interesting, but not sure why it’s so well known. It seems a bit woolly to me), and looked out the window while it was spectacular. Then dozed successfully after Lucerne, which I definitely needed. We got to Basel right on time at 3pm, and my hotel (I’ve been here before) is right outside the main station, so it’s very easy.
This is a cheap hotel bolted onto the back of a posher old-school hotel, which I like as you can use the post bits when it suits (I’ll probably get a breakfast there at least once). The thing I really like is Swiss hotels seem to take it for granted that you’ll need free travel and whatnot. I’ve had a free tram pass before, this time I got a full Basel Card for three days, which is free transport plus half price museums and all kinds of things. Very handy just to have this given you at reception. It makes visiting the city so easy even if you arrive mid-afternoon.
I had a real feeling of déjà vu as I took the tram into the old city, walked down to the old Rhine bridge, looked at the lovely view of the Muenster, and went up to try to see it… but unlike my last visit (spring 2017) it was open, and I can finally cross it off my list. It’s a great Romanesque sandstone pile with some nice twiddly Gothic additions, plus plenty of tombs inside. I was glad to see the very Latin, gilded tablet for Erasmus, something so out of step with how the Reformation was already going at his death. And a portal that was under restoration last year is visible, a very early one. So, a good thing. And it’s a lovely square, with trees just turning brown and golden sun on the cathedral buildings, trees, a stunning view of the Rhine when you walk to the edge… I sat in the shade having an Apfelschorle, trying to get my German brain on, pondering that I’ve definitively crossed the watershed - the Rhine is flowing to the north sea, unlike to Po going to the Adriatic.
I have a day here tomorrow, where I will visit the art gallery and likely another museum. Not sure otherwise. There’s a bus tour and a walking tour, and I might do one of those. Or just take it easy for one last day. My Swiss cash is limited and costs are ridic, of course, so I may spend more time mooching than anything else.
This entry was originally posted at https://bruttimabuoni.dreamwidth.org/913949.html. You can comment here or there as you please!
But I managed to buy a tomato and mozzarella sandwich and get onto my train without running around too much. Phew. It worked out quite nicely, in fact. Milano Centrale isn’t a great place to kill time, so having some of my buffer actually used was cool. The train goes from Milan to Basel in 4.5 hours, which is much slower than it really need be for the distance. It’s quite a nice leisurely and scenic trip, up beside Lake Como (and out of Italy much sooner than I expect - quite different to going to Geneva), through the mountains and lakes Lugano to Lucerne, and then onto the nice green plains towards Basel. I listened to the whole of the Butterfly Effect podcast (interesting, but not sure why it’s so well known. It seems a bit woolly to me), and looked out the window while it was spectacular. Then dozed successfully after Lucerne, which I definitely needed. We got to Basel right on time at 3pm, and my hotel (I’ve been here before) is right outside the main station, so it’s very easy.
This is a cheap hotel bolted onto the back of a posher old-school hotel, which I like as you can use the post bits when it suits (I’ll probably get a breakfast there at least once). The thing I really like is Swiss hotels seem to take it for granted that you’ll need free travel and whatnot. I’ve had a free tram pass before, this time I got a full Basel Card for three days, which is free transport plus half price museums and all kinds of things. Very handy just to have this given you at reception. It makes visiting the city so easy even if you arrive mid-afternoon.
I had a real feeling of déjà vu as I took the tram into the old city, walked down to the old Rhine bridge, looked at the lovely view of the Muenster, and went up to try to see it… but unlike my last visit (spring 2017) it was open, and I can finally cross it off my list. It’s a great Romanesque sandstone pile with some nice twiddly Gothic additions, plus plenty of tombs inside. I was glad to see the very Latin, gilded tablet for Erasmus, something so out of step with how the Reformation was already going at his death. And a portal that was under restoration last year is visible, a very early one. So, a good thing. And it’s a lovely square, with trees just turning brown and golden sun on the cathedral buildings, trees, a stunning view of the Rhine when you walk to the edge… I sat in the shade having an Apfelschorle, trying to get my German brain on, pondering that I’ve definitively crossed the watershed - the Rhine is flowing to the north sea, unlike to Po going to the Adriatic.
I have a day here tomorrow, where I will visit the art gallery and likely another museum. Not sure otherwise. There’s a bus tour and a walking tour, and I might do one of those. Or just take it easy for one last day. My Swiss cash is limited and costs are ridic, of course, so I may spend more time mooching than anything else.
This entry was originally posted at https://bruttimabuoni.dreamwidth.org/913949.html. You can comment here or there as you please!