Recipe for a great day out

Ingredients:

• 2 day passes for the entire Swiss train system
• 1 good friend
• Sun from one end of the country to the other

Set the alarm for an earlier time than usual (the hardest part)

Repeat: “it will be a wonderful day” until awake

Dress for all types of weather

Wear comfortable shoes

Actually get to the station at the pre-arranged time

Grab a sandwich and coffee up on the track

Find seats together in the train for which we had planned

Smooth trip through ever-changing and beautiful landscapes

Arrive on time in Basel

From the train along the road

Head straight for the cathedral, which I had missed the last trip

Discover that the largest ethnological museum in Switzerland is just feet from the cathedral

Museum der Kulturen, Basel

Coffee (or rather tea) in the nearest tearoom

Enjoy the current special exhibitions: From Patchwork to Illumination (Buddhist monk’s clothing) and Straw Gold – Cultural transformations rendered visible

One of the several "Kesa"s exhibited

The inside stairwell

The exhibit partitions were all made from PET bottles - great!

Enjoy lunch in the Museum’s restaurant

Take in the view overlooking the Rhine

View from the cathedral overlooking the Rhine

Visit the Munster Cathedral – built of red sandstone, there has been a church on the site since Celtic times, however, the original church built to replace former smaller edifices was mostly destroyed during the 1356 earthquake and the structure as it currently stands was finished in the 1500s. As in the case of Geneva’s cathedral, the Münster was taken from the Catholics by the Reformers and is, since 1529, a protestant church.

As seen from the South side

Roof details

South side with the David's star

One of the side "crosses"

The organ: the shutters are from Hans Holbein Jr.

One of the windows

Take a tram across town and over the border into German for a spot of shopping

Tired but happy head back to the train station

A glass of sparkling wine, a platter of cheese and the ride back to Geneva was accomplished in style

Once the day was done – off to dreamland to repeat the highlights

A great recipe for a fun and instructive day: one that I can highly recommend.

One of the "public" sculptures

another - one that makes one happy just seeing it

First leaf along the wall