Basel, Switzerland

Since we'd finished exploring Strasbourg rather quickly we woke up a little early the next morning and drove the roughly 1.5 hours into Basel's city center. We had a flight booked that evening from the Swiss side of the Basel airport anyway so it just made sense. 

As soon as we got to town and saw the prices for parking we remembered by Switzerland is always good for short trips-ha! It was over $36 to park for about 5 hours WAY outside of city center. Such is life. We were ready to stop driving and the town was ready for us to park, too. To say that their roads were a little confusing would be the understatement of a lifetime. 

We walked into town and across the bridge and noticed people floating in the river. Then we remembered we'd seen a special about it once on a travel show and instantly Jackson started plotting whether or not he could partake. 

Floaters in the river

You can hear Jackson at the end say, "I've got my suit out in the car!" 

Jackson "needed" sausage

I was able to keep Jackson on land long enough to find a snack at the outdoor market (sausage for him, of course) and to go tour the cathedral. I had read that this was a great cathedral to tour because for a small fee (by Swiss standards) you could climb the spires and tour it yourself with no guide. We really feel like guides cramp our style so this was super appealing.

Visiting the cathedral 

I love a church,

Looking up.

Jackson beat me to the top!
These stairs were...worn.

Looking out over town.

Chanting "this won't fall down during
your brief visit" to myself

More views from the top

I loved the green roof!

Petefish. 

Looking at the next spire

The bell wasn't small!

One last look at the church...

The guidebooks were not wrong. We really did climb the entirety of the cathedral without a single bother from an employee. Amazing. All that climbing made us hungry for a real meal so we did the normal thing we do in Switzerland and hit the grocery store to assemble our own picnic lunch. We got some ham, potato chips, rolls, cheese, beer (for Jackson) and water then headed to the riverfront to nosh. 

Picnic!

As we were eating I looked up and noticed that the windows facing us were open and inside was a very fancy dining room. Then it hit me: we were picnicking outside of the Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois which is home to Cheval Blanc by Peter Knogl, a 3 star Michelin restaurant.

If you're like me, you don't know much about the Michelin rating system. It is actually kind of fascinating. Information from Lookers:

Michelin Stars originated in a country best known for its passion for cuisine – France. Originally they were a feature of the Michelin guide books published in 1900 by Andre and Edourd Michelin - the founders of the Michelin tire company. 

Having started the company in 1889 the brothers were looking for a method to compel the then limited number of drivers to make more journeys and by extension, buy more tres. The guide listed a wealth of information for motorists which included where to find the best meals and accommodation whilst touring in their cars. 

As the business grew, so did the guide, becoming so popular that a charge was introduced in 1920. 

By then, the dining element was in such high demand that Michelin decided to set up a team of inspectors whose job it was to visit – anonymously - and rate restaurants on a 3-category basis. The rating systems – still in place today and with more than a passing nod to its motoring roots - was referred to as ‘Michelin Stars’. 3 stars being ‘exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey’, 2 stars ‘excellent cooking, worth a detour and 1 star, a very good restaurant in its category’

So this restaurant is one of the best in the world, according to these rankings. We found that it books out years in advance. Hilariously we just had our grocery store picnic out front. It was lovely. ;) When you randomly use this Michelin knowledge and win a trivia game please thank me-ha!

Once we'd finished lunch Jackson decided he just could not take it and HAD to go for a float. This girl is not a strong swimmer nor is she good with cold water so she opted to sit on the water's edge and just soak in the sun and atmosphere of a bustling Swiss city.

Enjoying the chilly water!

There he goes!

Jackson waving as he floats by me

Jackson is out there somewhere!

Most floaters had these little bags they floated with, but Jackson just had himself. He didn't mind. He would float down a decent distance, hop out, walk back to the platform and go again. He probably floated for an hour before joining me in the sun to dry off. 

We were able to exit the city breaking only about 789,425 traffic laws and made it safely to the airport. Their airport has two sides: one in France and one in Switzerland. If you return your car to the wrong country it can cost you hundreds of dollars. Isn't that wild? Luckily we both returned our car to the Swiss side and had a flight leaving from that side so it was not as bad as some travelers experience. The airport had a really nice lounge that we had access to (thanks, Chase for the priority lounge pass!) so we hung out there having snacks and waiting for our flight to Lisbon, Portugal. 

Unfortunately home (Florida) was bracing for a hurricane. Aunt Kathy had MacKenzie and was afraid of running out of food for her so I was coordinating with Chewy.com's representatives from Switzerland to get food to North Ft. Myers, Florida. MacKenzie eats a special prescription food and deviating it from it makes her very sick so I was pretty concerned. I cannot say enough about Chewy.com and their service. They waived shipping fees and had more food there for her the next day! What a relief. I'm also thankful for technology and the internet for assisting in my puppy parenting! 

We finally got to Lisbon pretty late in the evening. We got a hotel in the city just for one night so that we didn't waste money on a resort by arriving so late. We got to our hotel and pretty much crashed right away. We were excited to explore another new city the next morning!