October 20 Basel

I felt like a Basler today. For Sunday morning we slept in, in the loveliest bed. I had muesli and coffee with hot milk for a leisurely breakfast.

We visited the Kunstmuseum near the Rhine. This is a modern building displaying an extensive modern collection. The spacious galleries were almost empty, so we could linger, even on a comfy leather bench if we wanted to. We couldn’t take it all in so we worked backwards from Picasso. Imagine turning a corner and encountering this:

Or this:

I loved this portrait by Cezanne.

But most thrilling of all, I looked really closely (without my glasses) at Vincent’s brush strokes in this self portrait on wood.

After restorative kaffee mit milch and chocolate cake we went through a very old factory housing the “Paper Museum,” an interactive history of books and writing. Dozens of children were interacting with artisans and docents, making paper, writing with quills and setting type. I paused to think about the genius of the Sumerians’ invention of the sound to symbol relationship. It changed everything.

We joined the Baslers in their Sunday strolls along the Rhine on a sunny, touch of fall in the air, afternoon. We bought hot roasted chestnuts from a street vendor. They came in a clever two sided bag, the second side for the shells. People seemed relaxed and happy, whiling away the time. We stopped for a beer at a sidewalk cafe. We noticed parents on bicycles with large baby carriages built in, and young people taking in the sun down the steps by the water. A boat, hooked in by a cable device, ferried people across the fast flowing Rhine.

We ended the day with a Swiss dinner, raclette for me and venison with spaetzl for Mike. I can’t imagine a more satisfying or lovely day.