Basel: The Sun and a Bird Conundrum

On the final day of our weekend in Switzerland, we drove north to Basel, a city nestled between the French and German boarders.  Leaving Zürich, we typed the parking garage's address into our GPS and would reach Basel in forty-five minutes.  The smooth ride turned into confusion when the navigation system continuously got lost within the city.  Eventually, we were directed to pull into the wrong garage (must obey technology...) - one that had a 1.50 CHF fare per quarter-hour.  Further difficulties were faced when two validation meters wouldn't accept cash nor credit; forcing us to find a human-based cashier.  Another twenty minutes would pass before we found the correct destination without the help of our disoriented GPS.  Our unexpected detour did have one upside, we passed the Spalentor, the city gate which is an attraction we would have had to skip due to the isolated location.

Mittlere Brücke

Courtyard we found

Martinskirchplatz

Having found parking, we started our tour of Basel - heading towards the river and Mittlere Brücke.  We continued on a pedestrian path along the Rhine and took an alleyway to Martinskirchplatz.  On the same street we found the Blaues und Weißes Haus, a pair of buildings currently used for government practices (Commerce, Social Affairs, and Environment).  Across from the houses was an open courtyard with a entryway to an unknown area.

Rathaus

Balcony above inner courtyard

Sensory overload all over Town Hall

Rathaus from Marktplatz

Statue

Inner courtyard

The doors were unlocked, so we continued into the building - soon realizing we had entered the upper level of the Rathaus opposite Marktplatz, and were on the balcony above the inner courtyard of Town Hall.  To get the ground-level perspective, we took a pathway down to the Marktplatz and entered the Rathaus from the street.  Little did we know, but The Great Bird Dilemma of 2015 would soon commence.  Julie found a semi-responsive finch (Mush) sitting on a bench in the shade and wanted to know what was wrong.  Mush's general indifference to humans wan't alarming, but the apathy for free food and water was abnormal.  Julie asked if there was something we could do, but unfortunately, I said that there really isn't anything more we could do at this point.

Basel Münster

Inside

Altar

We left the Rathaus under the agreement that we would return to see if Mush had made any attempt at survival.  Walking south along the Rhine, we made our way to Baseler Münster, a Romanesque building whose colorful tiled roof reminded us of Matthias Church in Budapest.  Behind the church is the Pfalz, a small park overlooking the river, although; the view of Mittlere Brücke is somewhat tarnished by the smokestacks of the Novartis campus.  Afternoon approached, and we determined the final two attractions we intended to visit were not worth the effort.  The decision to end our visit a little early was mostly due to the anticipation of the long drive home.

Nave

Mittlere Brücke overlooking Rhine

View of Rhytaxi from Pfalz

Before returning to the car, we made one final attempt to rescue a helpless bird.  Julie was determined to find a way to save the poor animal, and hatched a most elaborate plan.  She would find two cups to temporarily trap and transport Mush back to Germany.  Of course, this is assuming the bird would make no attempt to escape during our four hour (plus) drive home. Because the last thing we want in this situation is a bird flapping around the inside of our car - slamming into every window.  Hypothetically, once the bird was "secured" and survived the long drive home, we would take Mush to the emergency vet to see if they could do anything.  However, when words were put into action, Mush had little interest in the cup idea - scattering about and fluttering to the Rathaus gate.  Julie made a few last ditch efforts, but alas, no luck.  That was the our last sighting of Mush, and his current whereabouts remain unknown.

And now... your bird related Public Service Announcement:  Roughly 13.7 million birds die daily in the United States alone.  That's a whole lot of bird death. The more you know.  Knowledge is Power!!!

This one is for you, Mush.

Our quick tour of Basel