After a couple of days with our friends in Mannheim, we trailed our cases to the nearby tramstop and headed off to the railway station in town.
Before we got on the train to Basel, we had a good look round the famous water tower in the centre of Mannheim. There are some lovely varying fountains at the foot of the tower. It was a beautiful park.
Nearby the water tower we were amused to see a sculpture on a nearby building at roof level, portraying a man walking along a spike sticking out over the roadway. It looked very realistic!
The high-speed ICE train to Basel was as quick and efficient as the others we had been on and we soon arrived with our friends in Switzerland. It was very refreshing to cross all these country borders without any of the formalities we have to endure when entering and leaving the UK.
We arrived in the late afternoon before the Swiss National Day. The celebrations would start in the evening, so once we had got settled into our friends' flat, we headed into the town to enjoy the party!
A local running club was offering food and drink under one of the main crossings of the Rhine. We enjoyed our food in the open air and watched some of the party-goers indulging in the local sport of swimming down the river under the bridge. The river flows so quickly that it would be impossible to swim upstream, and most folk didn't bother to put any effort into their swimming - just drifting along on the current.
Finally it got dark, and to giant barges moved into place between the three main bridge crossings. All three bridges were closed to the traffic so that people could stand across the whole road to watch the fireworks.
I've never seen such splendid fireworks and I managed to take many good photos, as well as many more that weren't so good! I've posted my favourite shot below, but you can see some more on my Facebook site here'
I love Basel. It best to avoid the Art Market in June unless you work in contemporary art but I'm amazed how it is always very cheap to fly there from London on easyJet (and the airport is really close to the city) and there are so many good musuems and galleries there. Now the TGV goes there, I hope to take the Eurostar. If you like water towers, check out www.bwtas.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteThanks Nat. I enjoyed looking at the British Water Towers Association site. It must be great to live in one of these old towers, especially if it has a good view of the surrounding countryside.
ReplyDeleteThere are plenty you can stay in for holidays. The Appleton tower in Norfolk and the House in the Clouds in Suffolk are popular but there are many others. Best wishes.
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