My First Solo Trip: Part Four of the Swiss Adventure- Discovering Basel

I began the day slightly gutted as I should have woken up earlier. I had wanted to make it up another mountain before my journey to Basel Euro airport. Thing was my flight departed at around 5pm and the journey to Basel alone was 2 hours. No point risking it... I decided to go with my original plan of having a wander around Basel before I left to catch my flight home. I have to admit I didn't quite feel ready to be leaving Switzerland (but am I ever really ready to leave?) Seriously though, I hadn't seen half of what I had hoped to... though thinking about it I had squeezed in a lot over the past couple of days and my purse was looking increasingly sad haha. 

I checked out of Lion Lodge and had a final walk through Luzern, taking pictures along the way to commemorate my last day in this inspirational city. 

After my 2 hour train journey I arrived in Basel. It was bitter sweet as I still had a new city to explore but I only had a few hours to do it in and I am one to take my time. I find it usually takes around 2-3 days to begin to feel at home in a city- and get a jist of how things work. I didn't have 2-3 days so I decided to hop on a tram and hope for the best. If I remember correctly it was the #1 Tram that lead from the Banhof into the city centre. We passed lots of elegant old buildings with new spring flowers hanging from balconies everywhere. There was this elogance to the city that I hadn't felt in Luzern... slightly more modern and trendy whilst it retained it's old architecture and feel.

I soon felt lost as I hadn't a clue where I was actually heading and by the time I thought I had arrived in the 'city centre' I was just amongst tall cement buildings. I was slightly disappointed as there was no real obvious town centre. I had clearly got on the wrong tram or entered a district less upbeat and more city slicker. 

After a while of wandering I became more relaxed and began to take in my surroundings.

It wasn't long before I came across the Kunstmuseum Basel Hauptbau (there is three branches in Basel) where I then spent the rest of the afternoon. Entry was free thanks to my trusty Swiss Pass (click to read about whether I think it's worth the purchase!) though I was gutted as it was 'no photography allowed' however I met one nice security guard that allowed me to sneak a piccy!

Basel was a nice city, but it didn't hit my high expectations that Luzern had built up. If I had possibly spent more time there I feel I would have been able to explore deeper and gain a better insight into the overall vibe. I mean I didnt even get to visit the river Rhein!!

Interesting contrast of old vs. new

I hope to visit again at some point although it most definitely won't be the only stop on my journey through Switzerland.

Peace&Love,
Willow

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My First Solo Trip: Part One of the Swiss Adventure- The First night in Luzern

Switzerland was a destination I had wanted to visit ever since I had studied Frankenstein in my A Level English Literature class. Mary Shelley apparently wrote the novel over a cheeky weekend trip to Lake Geneva. Tripping on Opium she created a masterpiece... and I thought I would do the same! Haha kidding. So originally I had wanted to visit Geneva and explore this interesting and seemingly mythical area until I actually booked our flight...

Lake Luzern

The day Brexit's Article 50 came into play Ryanair held a sale, of course, and reduced air fares around Europe to as low as £2,99 each way. No, I am not kidding!! I spent ages procrastination over whether I should buy these super cheap fares as I didn't really have the time to be flying somewhere the following week (when the fares were for). Eventually, I came across £7,99 fares to Basel, Switzerland and yes I think it goes without saying, I booked them! Perrrrfect! Little did I know... Switzerland is pretty much on par with London expenses wise, if not worse.

One day I will return and stay at this super expensive hotel!

So here you find me sat, in my university library typing away as yes... I am back from Switzerland! I was right... although I paid £16 for my return flights, I definitely made up for it in spending money. I spent the entity of my trip in central Switzerland; Luzern and used it as a base to travel around the country. Oh and I must say thank goodness I had a Swiss Pass as oh my gosh, travel (and everything else) is 100% more expensive than London. However, this was probably the only set back of the entire journey as Switzerland is truly an amazing country and I do feel honored to have scraped the surface. I do hope to go back one day... not in the next year haha. Possibly the next two or three years so I can save up and really go all out and explore the beauty even further, delve deeper into the mountainous regions and actually ride the glacier express (I was going to but just didn't have enough time!) I kept a fairly detailed diary throughout the journey as well as a vlog (with some great footage!!) and as it was my first solo trip... there was of course some hiccups along the road but... all is well! So here you have it... my 4 day Swiss Adventure.

The cheese spread (I think) has my name haha!

My first day was mainly spent travelling. I landed in the North at the Euroairport in which a humorous sign lay before me. I had the option to proceed to Switzerland, or continue on to Germany or France as the airport sat on the border of all three!
After deciding to head to Switzerland as planned- although Germany and France were rather tempting, I proceeded through to buy my 4 day Swiss Pass. Online there is a lot of debate about whether the pass is in actual fact worth it and I did have a hard time trying to decide whether to buy it or not, so here is a link to a fellow post about WHY my SWISS PASS WAS worth the money I spent on it. If you want to skip the post, all I can say is if, at all anything, it saves you a lot of stress! Once purchased, I headed to the bus stop for the shuttle that would whizz me into the centre of Basel, right in front of the bahnhof (train station!). After snapping up some pictures and enjoying the surprisingly hot weather (29 degrees  Celcius people!!!) I hopped on the train to Luzern, where I would be based.

Basel Train Station

Luzern was just beautiful. My first impressions of the mini city; in love! I couldn't get over how beautiful it was. It really was beautiful. I understood the hype, instantly, about why this was the best place to stay whilst visiting Switzerland. I made my way to the hostel I was staying at; Lion Lodge Lucerne- a clean, friendly place with an extremely convenient location, being a mere 5 minute walk from the famous Lion monument- by bus, directly from the bahnhof and arrived 4 or 5 stops later. Check in was easy and quick and to my surprise I had the room to myself for the first night!

Lion Lodge Lucerne

Notes from my diary
So aside from the drama that is contracted into my life, I had a really lovely evening. After settling in at the hostel I headed out to get a feel of the little city. I have to admit, arriving here I really didn't expect it to be so big. It sounds silly yes, but it's true. I was expecting a little town like place with small quaint features and whilst this place has these things... it is most definitely a small city with oh so much to offer! Already I am in love. One thing I don't get is how on Earth people that move here make the decision of where exactly they will live. It is beyond me as there is so so much to see, so so much to do and just so so much natural beauty everywhere. Don't they just fall in love with it all?! I am also super happy I stayed in the hostel as it  is great. There are lots of friendly faces (travellers and staff), it is very clean and well the location is just perfect. So yes, I haven't really done much apart from wander around looking for food. I saw some of the 'classic sites' such as the famous bridge thingy that was covered in knats, so I didn't dare walk across. I took a lot of pictures and attempted at my vlogging, oh and eat a 14.10CHF Burger King meal! Oh my! 

The most famous bridge in Switzerland haha! 'Kapellbrucke' or 'Chapel Bridge'

My first day and night in Switzerland was not just about experiencing a new country, it was my first ever solo trip. Waking up the next morning was a reminder that I could do anything my heart desired. I just had to be confident in myself and stay positive...





Peace&Love,
Willow

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