And we depart....

We finally got underway about 10 pm -- delay was due to some airline issues for six of our fellow passengers.  We went under the bridge seen below, the river level is down so we aren't really sure how they navigate this when the river level is up!

We were scheduled to go through four locks overnight. Due to our still trying to acclimate to the time zone situation, we did manage to see our journey through two of the locks.

Our home......

For the next week, we'll happily let someone else cook and clean......

Seriously, a kilt?

I think we are still in Switzerland :)

    But walking back to the hotel, we find this......seriously, a kilt?

Basel Minster

High on the banks of the Rhine is the Basel Minster, sometimes called the Basel Muenster or even the Basel Münster. This was a short walk from our hotel and well worth the walk. The architecture is amazing, particularly the roof tile. Conveniently, it was also adjacent to one of the city's Rheinefahre routes!

We still aren't sure if the clock was accurate -- it appeared to be about 40 minutes off.  Not sure how you re-set a sun dial!

The Rheinfahre

We had time today to do a small bit of exploring before we boarded our boat.  According to the "Top 10 Things to Do in Basel", the Rheinfahre is something to experience.

This little boat uses no form of "power" to ferry folks across the Rhine river, instead it uses an attached cable and the river current.  It was fascinating to watch....so of course, we had to ride it!  Total cost round trip per person was only 3.20 CHK, which with current exchange rates, was only about $3.25 USD.

Views from our crossing.....

Basel, Switzerland.....

The flight to Amsterdam went well, we both cat napped, but at least enjoyed the food and dessert! We had a long enough layover so that we didn't get stressed out (and also, more importantly, our luggage made it on the same plane that we did!)

Arriving in Basel was interesting as I had forgotten that Basel actually sits at the intersection of three countries (Germany, France and Switzerland).  Apparently, at the airport, you have to remember to go out the correct door -- one leads to taxis going to Switzerland and one takes you to France.   Even though travel books assure you that it is cheap and easy to just hop the bus into Basel, we elected to take the taxi, and are thankful that we could get dropped right at the Radisson Blu.  This is a complicated town to navigate.

Some interesting discoveries in our first few hours:

Mini Taxi -- no, thanks!  Cute, but don't think we would fit, much less our luggage!  We will be mindful of this when we call for a taxi to take us to the boat tomorrow!

We took a short walk and found the way to France.... I think we'll let the boat take us...

And we had a cool surprise waiting on us when we returned to our room!  I highly recommend the chocolate!

Anxious to board tomorrow and set "sail"!

at the gate!

We are at the gate, waiting to board.  First stop is Amsterdam, then hop a KLM flight to Basel..l hope we can get some sleep, but am not betting the farm!