Author: kayrpea61

Retiree with interests in technology, travel, wine and gardening, not necessarily in that order.

Weekly Photo Challenge : Family

Today we discovered we have an extended family, about which we were previously unaware!  My wife wondered why our unused old watering can was rather heavy! It seems a possum has decided to make a home here rather than in the local bush.

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UPDATE – 21st January – With no trail of destruction, our possum has moved on. He/she must have found more suitable accommodation. As long as it isn’t in our roof, we can be quite relaxed.

Footnote : Although they create a nuisance in the garden with their passion for roses, possums are a protected species in New South Wales. You can read more about this nocturnal species here. We will not disturb this one as long as it wants to make its home here.

Basel : Gateway to the Rhine

In my series of posts last year, about our river cruise from Basel to Amsterdam, I neglected to include a chapter about the starting point, Basel. We had arrived in this lovely Swiss city 24 hours ahead of our cruise, so we had a little time to explore for ourselves. This was made easy by the civilised offer of free tram travel while staying at one of the city’s hotels.

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We left with several lasting images. Firstly, we awoke to find that it was Basel Marathon day, and our hotel was directly on the route. All traffic, except trams, was halted for the morning while the event was underway. We actually saw the race leader come by while we were enjoying our leisurely Sunday breakfast.  The Mini in the foreground must have ‘failed to proceed’ overnight and had become trapped for the duration of the race. We saw it towed away later in the day.

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The second aspect we found interesting was that there appeared to be a Moorish(?) influence on the architecture. The Town Hall (Rathaus), which dominates the Market Square, is a case in point.

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Town Hall, exterior (above) and (interior below)

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 Les Trois Rois (The Three Kings) adorning the hotel of that name (above), provide another illustration of this, as does the street monument (below).DSC03320PS

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One of the most important aspects of Basel is that it sits astride the Rhine, a major trade and tourist artery. Naturally, we gravitated towards the river and here we found a most interesting solution to a navigation issue. The Rhine is known to rise and fall significantly, and this ferry’s funnel has the perfect solution to cater for low clearance bridges when the water rises.

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After a lot of walking, we decided to take a ride on the green tram route. We had been advised that this did a circuit providing access to different highlights of the city. One thing we did not expect to encounter was this community garden within a few minutes of the city centre.

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As may be deduced, we enjoyed our visit to this city, especially coffee and cake at one highly recommended coffee house. The streets were clean and the transport efficient, as is to be expected of the Swiss.