Was I ever here before?

Basel and I are old friends.

I spent the northern winter of 1987/88 in Basel. They were heady days. Basel was my first landing place in Europe, and as a young wide-eyed and barely travelled 24-year-old I felt like I’d been transported to another world.

At that time I was living and working in Southern California, which is about as far away from Europe in all aspects as you can get. I was on my way to a work project in Cambridge, England, and stopped by to lend some moral support to a colleague who was working on a project in Basel. After my time in Cambridge I went back to Basel and fell headlong into a hard-working, long-hours, fun after work period. I was also very busy falling in love with a very tall and handsome European man who wore trench coats and scarves with an aplomb that no non-European could ever manage, who was multi-lingual and spoke English with the cutest accent, and who made grand romantic gestures like running alongside a train holding my hand and blowing kisses as I left after a visit to his home town.

Heady days indeed.

And now I am back, some 35 years later, hoping to find something of the Basel I remember from my youth. I have two days.

I do remember the Rhine river, such a feature of this town as it slices its way between Kleinbasel and Grossbasel. I remember the Mittlere Brücke, the historic middle bridge of Basel. I took a photo of this bridge in 1988 and had it hanging, framed, on my wall for many years. I remember the cobble-stoned Markt Platz and the many trams that pass through here after winding through the random maze of narrow streets. I also remember the Basel Christmas market, and in particular a crazy upside-down fairground ride that I went on time after time with my American colleagues one night after work.

But, as a lovely lady in the Basel Tourist Information said to me, “Basel has changed a lot in 35 years”. I suppose I have changed in that same time period. Maybe both of us are unrecognisable as we were in those days.

I spend my first few hours here trying to remember, seeking a landmark that I remember. I take a tram out to Munchenstein, which is where I believe I worked in those days, but on the entire trip I keep saying, “I’ve never been here before in my life”. By the end of my first night here I allow myself to relax, to not seek the past. In my mind, the memories of Basel are more about the people I was with, the things that happened, rather than what was around me.

I lay my past with Basel to rest, and enjoy the rest of my time here.

Basel is a quirky place, a little mystical, a little magical. It’s that little bit more European than Europe. It has its own ways, its own traditions, its own magic.

It has the wonderful green Rhine river. (The last time I was here was in winter, so pretty much everything was grey or brown.) The river is the lifeblood of the social fabric of the town. People flock to the river bank to sun themselves, to eat and drink and to float down the fast-moving river. When we arrive we notice people bobbing down the river; by the Sunday of our stay we are in the river, attached to our own wickelfisch bobbing our own way down the river, moving at up to 5km/h on an almost 3km journey. It is the highlight of my time here!

Basel is full of fountains – there are somewhere near 300 of them, mostly freshwater where people happily drink, fill water bottles or even clean their teeth. The fountains are often decorated with wonderful gryffin figures (part lion, part eagle) and they just add to the mystical aura of the town.

Basel, the time I spent here, and the events of the time will always hold a special place in a corner of my memory and my heart. I’m not the same person I was then, but maybe my time in Basel has in some small way contributed to the person I am today. I am so pleased to have had the chance to visit this place again; maybe I never will again. You never ever know what life has in store for you. When I left here in 1988 I would never have imagined that 35 years later I would ride in here on a bike along a path beside the beautiful Rhine river. Maybe in my dotage I’ll cruise on through here on a Rhine river trip. For now I’m still young and fit enough to say, God help me if that is what my life becomes!

Basel’s Fountains

Basel’s Munster

Basel Scenes