Rambling along the Rhine

As I had done each day in Basel, I lit out early for coffee and to pick up a loaf of fresh bread for breakfast. Our plan for the day was to explore Basel with Billy, walk his old paths and see his old haunts. 

The first stop was the Jean Tinguely museum, one of the 40 or so museums that are sprinkled throughout Basel. Tinguely was one of Basel's native sons, and a major contributor to the modern art movement beginning in the early 1960s. Most noteworthy are his moving assemblies made of random found pieces of metal, bone, and household items. Most are motorized and when acitvated they spin, oscillate and clang away. Tinguely made his first big splash in 1960 at MOMA by installing one of his contraptions that when activated spun , oscillated, clanged and after about 30 minutes destroyed itself - according to his intention. He collaborated extensively with Rauschenberg, and their work was featured at the museum during our visit. 

Stimulated, and enervated, (modern art does that to you), we walked out and down to the Rhine, inside the horseshoe that frames Klein Basel. 

It was our time to take the full Billy Tour, and he was a great guide. It was a whirlwind, though, and before we knew it, it was time to take the tram back to Betsy's and zip up the suitcases.

Betsy and Billy dropped us at the Basel train station, and we were on our way to Frankfurt for our last night before flying back. We rode the ICE and had a compartment to ourselves for 2 1/2 of the 3 hours, which gave us time to reflect and talk about the wonders we had seen, how much we had done, and what an indescribably perfect trip we had. Betsy was a hostess of incredible grace and hospitality, Billy a colorful and knowledgeable tour guide, and the people we met up and down the Rhine in Germany, Switzerland and France unforgettable.



Thank you grandparents for taking care of the boys and giving us this opportunity!

Epilogue

1. Frankfurt Main train station is very nice. It is one of the primary gateways to Germany, and does it in style.

2. Airport hotels are best booked if you need a place to lay your head if your flight is cancelled, and nothing else.

3. Always arrive two hours early for international flights in case someone leaves a suitcase unattended and the portion of the terminal that leads to your gate gets cordoned off by machine-gun toting polizei until the bag is disposed of.

4. Boeing 747 is better than Airbus 330.

5. It's great to be home!