Day 3 Transport and towers

 Basel is a city of about 300,000 people on the Swiss side of the borders of France and Germany. It is an old trading city located on the majestic Rhine River. Like many European cities it has a quaint medieval Old Town, a bustling business district and a city skyline that is dominated by shingled roofs rather than steel and glass. In spite of the grey skies the city revealed to us the ancient glory of a town originally founded by the Romans mixed with a modern 
cosmopolitan city that has something we don’t seem to be able to achieve in Australia, an effective and efficient public transport network of buses and trams. A simple electronic sign in a bus indicating name of the next stop, a ticketing system that allows you to combine a bus and tram journey in one direction and a ticketing system for locals that includes reasonably priced yearly tickets makes public transport attractive 

and effective. Huge barges carry containers, produce, oil and lumber up and down the wide and fast flowing river as they have no doubt done for hundreds of years. In the midst of modern public transport system is a mode of transport that has not changed for several hundred years; a ferry, called a Fähri, transports passengers across the river, powered only by the river itself. The fast flowing tide allows the boat, which is attached to a cable, to sail across the river. What is really impressive about the city of Basel, is that it has created a transport system that works - something we can only hope that Australian politicians might consider and adopt.

Speaking of transport, climbing the bell tower at the Basel Munster became the highlight of a wonderful day. 220 tiny, steel, wooden and stone spiral steps, which at times were covered in ice, in a stairwell that was so tiny that you literally had to scrape your way through, allowed us to climb up the bell tower to the huge bell, and then to continue up into the spire of this beautiful red sandstone cathedral. The view was of course spectacular but the idea that for over 700 years people have used only their legs to climb these steps to view this city, was awesome. 

Basel is a city of about 300,000 people on the Swiss side of the borders of France and Germany. It is an old trading city located on the majestic Rhine River. Like many European cities it has a quaint medieval Old Town, a bustling business district and a city skyline that is dominated by shingled roofs rather than steel and glass. In spite of the grey skies the city revealed to us the ancient glory of a town originally founded by the Romans mixed with a modern cosmopolitan city that has something we don’t seem to be able to achieve in Australia, an effective and efficient public transport network of buses and trams. A simple electronic sign in a bus indicating name of the next stop, a ticketing system that allows you to combine a bus and tram journey in one direction and a ticketing system for locals that includes reasonably priced yearly tickets makes public transport attractive and effective. Huge barges carry containers, produce, oil and lumber up and down the wide and fast flowing river as they have no doubt done for hundreds of years. In the midst of modern public transport system is a mode of transport that has not changed for several hundred years; a ferry, called a Fähri, transports passengers across the river, powered only by the river itself. The fast flowing tide allows the boat, which is attached to a cable, to sail across the river. What is really impressive about the city of Basel, is that it has created a transport system that works - something we can only hope that Australian politicians might consider and adopt.

Speaking of transport, climbing the bell tower at the Basel Munster became the highlight of a wonderful day. 220 tiny, steel, wooden and stone spiral steps, which at times were covered in ice, in a stairwell that was so tiny that you literally had to scrape your way through, allowed us to climb up the bell tower to the huge bell, and then to continue up into the spire of this beautiful red sandstone cathedral. The view was of course spectacular but the idea that for over 700 years people have used only their legs to climb these steps to view this city, was awesome.

In the evening we dined with our hosts and their pastor and his wife who live 20 minutes away from their church in Basel, across the border in Germany.  Pastoring an Anglican, English-speaking church in Basel, when you live in Germany is unusual,  but even this is not beyond the public transport system as the Basel transport network spreads out its efficient reach to the near by towns in both Germany and France, encouraging daily commuters from other countries. Amazing!