This week I am inviting you to share a coffee with me in Basel, Switzerland’s third biggest city and home to its oldest university. For the last two years Covid stopped us travelling outside of the U.K. for pleasure. My husband Bill and I have been getting very itchy feet so when we saw an advert for a cruise down the Rhine with flights from Bristol we eagerly booked tickets.

Flights from Bristol airport have not completely returned to normal so instead of flying from Bristol to Cologne with Ryanair as expected we flew out to Dusseldorf via Frankfurt with Lufthansa and back from Dusseldorf to Bristol via Amsterdam with KLM. We had to wear masks flying out but not coming back.

After a taxi ride from Dusseldorf airport to Cologne we boarded our ship which was berthed on the Rhine within sight of the enormous Cologne Cathedral. The weather was warm and sunny and we were able to sit out on deck. I even got to practice my very rusty German as there were only six other English visitors. Cruising down the Rhine seems to be very popular with older German tourists and we passed lots of other cruise ships on the river. It was Bill’s 82 nd birthday while we were on board and we were touched when the crew left towel elephants and roses in the cabin.

The Rhine

The Rhine is one of the longest rivers in western Europe. It rises in the Swiss Alps and flows through Germany and the Netherlands and out into the North Sea at Rotterdam. For part of its course it forms the border between Austria and Switzerland and later France and Germany. It has been a major trade route since the Romans and the surrounding land has changed hands several times. This is reflected in the place names, the architecture and the cuisine.

Kaffee und Kuchen

For Natalie’s coffee weekend coffee share, I am inviting you to join me in Basel (Basle) just across the Swiss border from France and Germany. This was the highest point of our cruise where the boat turned round for the return journey. We reached it after passing through eight locks. As Basel is in the German part of Switzerland you will need to ask for Kaffee und Kuchen.

Basel old town

Switzerland is famous for its trams which are clean, frequent and inexpensive. We caught one to the centre of the old town and I thought you might like to see some photos. My favourite building was the red sandstone town hall which dates from the 16th century. We also visited the cathedral where Erasmus is buried. The river Rhine is very clean and in summer many swimmers float home down the river. The plastic bags they use to keep their clothes dry are known as fish and are a popular tourist souvenir.

Thursday doors

Thursday doors is a weekly feature where bloggers from around the world come together to share photos of doors and the stories behind them. I could not resist photographing a few Swiss doors for my entry this week. If you want to see what other bloggers found or create your own post for the challenge take a look here.

A couple of Basel fountains

Basel got a new landmark in 1977 when the Swiss artist Jean Tinguely placed some machines in a shallow pool of water close to the theatre. The nine robots move and interact with each other.