We're Off to Switzerland!

We are headed out on our first international journey. We've been to Canada and Mexico but never across the ocean. We are so very excited. Another first is that we are taking a river cruise. I haven't had the desire to ever take a cruise until I came across this one. An ocean cruise is definitely not something that appeals to me but a much more intimate river cruise is something I don't mind trying.

We had an overnight flight which was terrible for trying to sleep. We paid extra to sit in better seats and it did not help. I don't think I would do that again. We had a layover in Munich and looked forward to going to their large brew pub but once we got there we were too tired to try. That's OK though, we are just starting our adventure so I'm looking forward to plenty of opportunities to enjoy German beer.

Once we got into Basel, Switzerland we were ready. We may have been tired but we were excited. We met our luggage in our stateroom on our ship where we unpacked and settled in for just a few minutes. Then it was off for a walking tour of Basel.

We went on the walking tour with a local guide. Our ship's program director suggested that we get some fresh air instead of doing what we really wanted to do - take a nap. He said it would help with the jet lag to just stay up until bedtime in order to have an easier time assimilating to the time change.

Basel is a city located where Switzerland, Germany ad France meet. The city is on the Rhine River and is at the furthest navigable point. There are many Gothic, Renaissance and baroque style buildings. The city is modern, just check out the transit system.

Here are some photos from the city tour:

We had some time to walk, shop and just meander on our own. Switzerland is a country where most people have much wealth. People who work here come over from France. Most of the stores were very high-end so it was fun to window shop. We don't need to overload our luggage with stuff we don't need anyway so that worked out well for us.

I fell in love with the doors on the buildings. Many of these were from the 1200's. Can you imagine?

What a city! So much wealth and so much history. I think I will be saying that a lot during this trip - ha!