january-2012

of Basel
Head to Basel – a new KLM
destination – to revel in its
artistic peaks and design
contrasts, says Anna Whitehouse
PHOTOGRAPHY: MARK NIEDERMAN
TRAVEL SWITZERLAND
“Will I do this forever?
No. Just until I die.” Th ese are the words
of Basel’s fährimaa (or ferry man),
Jacques Th urneysen, the captain of a
creaking, engine-less boat that schleps
people across the River Rhine on a
rickety pulley system.
A former cabinet-maker who trained
to be a professional gondolier in Venice,
61-year-old Th urneysen epitomises the
hard graft that is synonymous with
Baselites – come rain or shine, he is
there, merrily rebounding off the banks
of Grossbasel and Kleinebasel, the city’s
two opposing sides.
He also wears sandals despite the 10
degree Celsius climes.
A city built around the vast,
meandering Rhine, locals say Basel sits
on the ‘knee’ of the river, although on a
map it looks more like a bulbous nose.
Either way, water is of the essence in this
small hub (167,000 people at the last
count) in the northwest of Switzerland.
Th ere are 173 ornate fountains,
including one depicting a monkey
guzzling wine in Andreasplatz, that
punctuate the city’s winding, cobbled
streets. Th ey each pump out mountainfresh
H 2 0 for all and sundry to glug
back, and the earthy taste is in many
ways superior to the bottled variety (as
is the price).
Holland Herald 31