Featured photo was taken in the Historical Museum.

Sunday morning, Bill and I decided to try the breakfast at Les Trois Rois. When we stay in hotels, we usually go ahead and book breakfast, even when it’s expensive. I didn’t do that for our trip to Basel, mainly because I didn’t see the option to do so until we’d already booked our stay. Now that we’ve been to the hotel, I’m kind of glad that we didn’t include breakfast in our nightly rate. I believe you do get a break on the price if you pre-book breakfast. When I look at the hotel’s Web site, I see that the rate for a room with breakfast is 45 francs more per night, while if you just go there without pre-booking, it’s 55 francs per person.

Les Trois Rois also has a Sunday brunch that runs from 11:30 PM until 3:00 PM. The brunch was fully booked on Sunday, but if we had chosen to do it, it would have cost 155 francs per person.

The breakfast includes a buffet, juices, champagne, hot drinks, and made to order egg dishes and other breakfast staples. It was pretty busy in the Brewery restaurant, where breakfast is served, when we arrived. Bill had Eggs Benedict, and I had Eggs Norsk, which was basically Eggs Benedict, but with smoked salmon instead of bacon.

After breakfast, we decided to walk around Basel some more. We went across the bridge nearest the hotel, which took us to a seedier part of the city. At one point, I looked down and noticed pictographs on the pavement. It looked like a woman standing next to a streetlamp… A prostitute! And lo and behold, upon looking up prostitutes in Basel, I discovered that yes, indeed, we had found Basel’s Red Light district! Prostitution has been legal and regulated in Switzerland since 1942, but street hustling is supposed to be illegal. In 2016, city officials in Basel made areas where prostitutes are allowed to stand, um… offering their wares. Before I noticed the pictograph, we did see a few ladies in the street, chatting up men and sort of loitering near what appeared to be seedy bars… for Switzerland, anyway.

After a few minutes of walking through the Red Light District, we decided to go back across the bridge and up a hill. We wandered around, passing buildings belonging to the local university, until we wound up in the Münsterplatz. This is a big plaza where the Basler Münster is. We happened to be there just as church was letting out, so we didn’t have the chance to go inside for a look, but I did hear some lovely organ music that I picked up on video, along with my heavy breathing. I also got some photos of the area, which is one of the oldest public squares in Basel.

We rounded a corner and soon found ourselves near the Basel Historical Museum. I needed to pee, so that was a sign we needed to visit the museum. I’m not sorry we visited, as the museum is pretty awesome and extensive, and once you get to the bottom of it, you will, in fact, find a public restroom. But something surprising happened when we went inside.

First, we bought our tickets, which were half price, because we had a Basel Card. The tickets were good for two other museums within walking distance and could be used for up to seven days after purchase. We didn’t get a chance to visit the other two museums, one of which was a music museum. If we ever go back to Basel, we’ll have to make a point of seeing those places.

I took in the vast, beautiful building, that was clearly once a place of worship. Then I realized I was hot. I wore my heavy coat, and had been walking around. I decided to take it off. When I did that, I was immediately accosted by a security guard. The man came up to me and said that in the museum, I had two choices– I could either wear my coat or put it in a locker. Then he went on to politely explain that they had 800 year old artifacts there, and somehow, if I’m carrying my coat instead of wearing it, that puts their priceless artifacts at risk.

I must have looked annoyed, confused, and perhaps even angry, because the guy just kept going on while I stood there listening to him, considering what I wanted to do. As he continued to explain… unnecessarily, I might add… I finally said in a rather peevish tone of voice, “It’s alright. It’s not a problem.” I put the coat in a locker, but was then quite pissed off, not because I minded putting my coat in a locker, but because the guy kept going on and on about it, as if merely removing my jacket was offensive to him. All they needed to do was suggest it when we bought the tickets, not lecture me in the middle of the museum for daring to take off my coat because I was sweating.

That confrontation kind of put a damper on the visit, but at least I got the chance to pee. I’m glad we did go there, too, because it is an interesting museum with a lot to see. One could spend hours in there. We also managed to pick up some gifts for Bill’s grandchildren and co-workers, and a book on phobias and manias for me. In fairness to the guard, he was not impolite. In fact, it was like he was trying very hard not to offend, but in the process of doing that, managed to be offensive by acting as if I didn’t understand his request. He could have just requested that I put the coat in the locker without the unrequested explanation and that would have been much less irritating.

After we visited the museum, we realized it was close to lunchtime. So we went across the street to a Swiss beerhall type restaurant called Braunen Mutz. This was a very casual place that offered a lot of local favorites like fondue and raclette, but also had things like meatloaf, sausages, and fried fish. In fact, I had fried perch and frites, while Bill had the meatloaf. We enjoyed several locally produced beers, too. We got a kick out of the little Swiss flags on every dish. It wasn’t the most amazing food we’ve ever had, but it was comforting and tasty, and we got service with a smile. I see by reviews on TripAdvisor that not everyone enjoys the experience as much as we did…

I told my German friend, Susanne, that the little flags were very National Lampoon’s European Vacation…

After lunch, we walked around some more, finally running into some impressive buskers who were playing a mean version of “Don’t Be Cruel” by Elvis Presley. I got Bill to leave them a tip.

Then we headed back to the hotel to rest a bit and digest… and then enjoy a little more time in the bar, where I got a dirty look because I was trying to watch a video without sound, but didn’t realize the volume was turned up. I’m afraid my eyes probably expressed how I felt about that. Below are some more photos, including some of the lovely bar at Les Trois Rois. I noticed what appeared to be a few ladies posing in front of the fireplace. I don’t know if they were guests, or had just gone there to have a drink and be “seen”.

We missed turn down service again, because we decided to watch some TV and relax on our final night in Basel. I will sum up our ride back to Germany in the next post!