Basel – past and present

Dear All,

It’s been a little while since I blogged in! The reason is that I’ve been quite busy lately – not travelling around Bristol, but Basel. And not just wandering about present-day Basel, but time-travelling! Yes, believe it or not, I went on a tour of this city with Paracelsus.

There, you can see photographic proof. It was a very cold November evening so we walked briskly through the streets and alleyways of Basel. Occasionally Paracelsus stopped and drew our attention to places he remembered when he lived in Basel back in 1514. He also told us about his friends Erasmus and Holbein who also lived in Basel at the same time. Through our journey back in time and through the streets of Basel we got to know somethng about Paracelsus and his life.

How many people enter Basel University at the age of 16? How many people can boast being banished from the city twice? At that time, people were not allowed to disagree with the bishops or university professors. First Paracelsus was sent away for necromancy (I had to look that up: its the practice of claiming to communicate with the dead in order to discover what is going to happen in the future). Some things he knew were wrong, especially the medical practices of the time which were both cruel, painful and useless. He introduced the use of opium and mercury in medicine and to prove what he thought of academia, he burnt books publically. This was the cause of him being banished the second time.

As we passed through the alleyways, Pfeffergässlein, Schneidergasse, Schlüsselgasse…we could smell the spices and hear the busy tradesmen at work. We tasted the Läckerli that has been produced in Basel since the 14th century. The original bakers belonged to the Saffron Guild – we passed in front of their building on the way to Cathedral Square where we also looked at the rich silk merchants’ wonderful homes.

The next time you walk down Rheinsprung from Cathedral Square, take a look at the street sign of the narrowest lane in Basel. Eleven thousand virgins? And right next door to a Condom Shop? Paracelsus told us the shocking story of a religious mother (an English aristocrat?) and her nuns being massacred in Basel in the 14th century which probably explains the name. And did you know that the 3 Kings Hotel is not named after the 3 biblical kings or wise men but after 3 Burgundy kings?

Well it’s not everyday that you can take a guided tour with a famous person from the past. That is why I asked some of my students to write about Basel and the following is a day tour written by Anne-Carole.

I want to tell you about a one-day sightseeing tour in Basel. This city has really a lot of interesting places to see.

First, I would recommend a walk through the old town which you can reach in a few minutes from the train station using the tram. Start at Barfüsserplatz where you can find the Natural History Museum. Then follow Gerbergasse or Freie Strasse where many shops are located. Soon you will arrive at the Market Place where you can find the City Hall, a beautiful red building. In the same direction you will find The Schifflände (The Boat Landing). There you turn right and go up to the Cathedral. For lunch, you can find many restaurants and cafés in the old town.

In the afternoon, I recommend a tour by boat on the Rhein. Finally, in the evening you can find many cinemas and bars at Steinenvorstadt.

I hope you will enjoy your short visit to Basel and come back soon.

- Anne-Carole

Whether you travel back in time to old Basel or visit present-day Basel, you can get a map and booklet at the Tourist Information Office and follow a sign-posted tour. If you are not lucky enough to have Paracelsus as your guide, you can also rent earphones to learn about the stories of Paracelsus burning books and other interesting people who lived in Basel through the centuries.

And finally, a limerick from Suzy and a word game by Mark:

A sweet-toothed Swiss teacher called Beverly

Consumed two whole kilos of Leckerli

She started on Monday

And finished on Sunday

And thought she had done very cleverly.

 

B is for Basel and…

8 animals (mammals),5 vegetables, 7 items of clothing, 5 sports, 4 ‘nice’ adjecatives, 4 ‘nasty’ adjectives, 8 types of building and 5 colours. Can you name them?

Now that we have mentioned Basel in the 1500’s and 2007, are there any necromants out there daring enough to time-travel into the future?

Send your limericks, B-words and comments by clicking on the word ‘comments‘ below. Thanks, we’d love to hear from you.

-Hazel

How do you celebrate the weekend?

Dear All,

I received a nice email from Jon, the director of our host school. You will have to read all the text below to understand why I’m including this cartoon. It ties in with Lilo’s comments on TV dinners.

Dear Hazel

It is lovely to hear from you ( I am just back from a two-week break) and the blog is fantastic with some very positive comments and superb photos.

I loved the comment about one particular family celebrating the weekend by eating dinner in front of the TV! Many families also celebrate such events by eating meals cooked in the microwave……..

Regards

Jon Crocker

Principal

OISE Bristol

 

Jon’s email made me think that there are probably lots of different ways to celebrate the weekend. I always think of the good old British Sunday roast dinner as a celebration of the weekend. However, I suppose things do change, just as CTM (chicken tikka massala) has probably become more British than roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. You can buy CTM in the supermarket and microwave it, but you certainly cannot cook roast beef any other way but the traditional way in the oven.

 

Another example of celebrating the weekend: many office workers in Canada and America change their dress code on Fridays to celebrate the end of the work week and coming weekend. Instead of suits and ties, the men wear “Dockers” and casual shirts without ties and the women also dress down (the opposite of dressing up or wearing smart, formal clothes). My husband has to wear a suit everyday to work but he wears one of 3 special ties he saves for Fridays. They have cleverly disguised Guinness bottles or glasses on them and most of his colleagues haven’t even noticed.

 

We also have our own way to celebrate the weekend. On a Sunday our family usually has breakfast at lunch-time. Either we get up at 9 or 10 o’clock in the morning and go for a long walk or we sleep in late and read the weekend newspapers. We don’t bother with lunch but we often have a roast dinner in the middle or late afternoon. However, we always sit at the kitchen table and have ’slow food’ because it is the only meal when we can all be together as a family and talk about our past week and plans for the next one.

 

How do you celebrate the weekend? I’d love to hear any of your special or unusual traditions.

 

TGIF or have a happy weekend!

Best wishes,

 

Hazel

P.S. For those of you who have never eaten Yorkshire pudding:

cookeryblog.com/chatter/yorkshire-pudding

 

 

 

A great experience

Lilo talks about her impressions and what it was like to stay in a host family:

For me it was the first time I did a trip like this: discovering a new city and part of a country as a student in a group of people I didn’t know (at least most of them). I won’t tell about the main tourist attractions there. I would like to describe what made quite an impression.

It was the first time that I have been to this part of England. I was impressed by the nice houses with lovely gardens. Every house, even if it was small, had its own garden with flowers. Also, in towns and in villages there were a lot of hanging baskets.  That put the places with the sunny weather we had, in its best light.(See the picture above of the National Trust Shop in Wells. Could there possibly be more flowers?)

In spite of my first doubts, it was a good experience to live in a host family. At first I was amazed to have a meal in front of the TV. It was the family’s way to celebrate the weekend. Also, as I left my own family behind, it was interesting to observe the habits of another family.

Our group was thoroughly spoilt with our teacher and driver, Peter, who collected us and took us home sometimes twice a day. Thus, we learned a new word: posh. (“It’s very posh to have your own chauffeur or driver”, as one of the host families remarked.)We had several evening entertainments, like a concert, theatre, a visit to a pub as well as a special five o’clock tea!

Personally, it was a good experience to hear and speak English most of the time everyday and I could loose my shyness of speaking this language. Altogether, it was an entertaining week and I have very good memories of Bristol.

Meeting very nice people…

Some more  messages from the Bristol  group and some photos:

 

Dear Hazel

Of course I don’t mind finding my story on your blog.

I really enjoyed the week in Bristol very much. My brain even started to run in English — that never happened before……..!

As I am adapted to the Swiss way of life again, here are my memories of Bristol:

I enjoyed my perfect holidays in Bristol very much. We were a good group and had some beautiful days with a lot of interesting experiences. Also our OISE-teacher showed us the most interesting tourist attractions of the region.

I had the opportunity to meet very nice Bristolians. Sunday evening, when I was too tired to walk up to Westbury again, I waited for the bus. After a while, as no bus was in sight, I asked a lady who was also waiting at the bus stop, if this would be the right bus for me. She said yes, this would also be her bus. Then, another bus came and her husband and her children got in. I asked her if she stayed because of me. She did. She said that this would be safer for me. I saw her sending a text message. Five minutes later she waved at a car. It was her son (she must have advised him). Instead of the bus, I could take this “lift” (after at least an hour of waiting at the bus stop!). – I was extremely impressed!

I found out, that many Bristolians pick up people from bus stops. This, because of the desperate public transport system in Bristol.

Dora

Above: Our happy group, admiring the English countryside from the Glastonbury Tor

And another message:

Dear Hazel

Sorry, I didn’t have time to write something on your blog but I read it and it seems all were very enthusiastic about this trip.

I send you some pictures. I liked the beautiful flowers everywhere. At the moment I can’t send you the movie I took at the theatre and of the band in the pub. But I could bring you my camera and you could try to put it on your blog later.

Wishing you a nice holiday.
Susan

 

A message from Sandra

Many thanks go to Sandra for writing some of her impressions after visiting Bristol:

First of all, Bristol is not a very touristic city. As a visitor you don’t have this typical holiday feeling of being a tourist. You feel at home because there is so much in common between Bristol and Basel. Therefore, we didn’t have any problems settling in and enjoying our trip to Bristol.

Bristol is a city where you can soak up the atmostphere in bustling shops and markets (retail therapy), become immersed in culture in the stylish galleries and museums (Arnolfini), stunning architecture and enchanting parks and gardens.

In the evening the city comes alive with a lively nightlife in bars, restaurants and theatres just like in Basel.

On a boat on the River Avon you can see the city from a different perspective just like you can in Basel on the Rhine.

Bristol has an old city centre and historic buildings like B…

Bristol has a well-cared zoo like our “Zolli”.

Bristol has two football teams and we have the FCB.

Bristol organizes a Halfmarathon every year like our “Basler Stadtlauf”.

Bristol has an international airport like B.

Bristol’s population is about 410,000, nearly the double of Basel. Its two suburbs, Clifton and Redlands are like Bettingen and Riehen.

Basel has a number of different bridges but Bristol has the suspension bridge spanning the beautiful Avon Gorge built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1830. It’s the symbol of the city.

What impressed me:

The graffiti artist, Banksy. It’s believed that Banksy is a native of Bristol. He’s a well-known artist but there is substantial public uncertainty about his identity. His artworks are often satirical pieces of art which encompass topics from politics, culture and ethics.

In the 17th and 18th century Bristol became a centre of the slave trade. Now in 2007, Bristol is marking the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act with a range of exhibitions, talks and events. Bristol and Great Britain have to be P.C. (politically correct).

Our visit to Bristol was so successful many thanks to our pleasant group and in particular, Hazel, our teacher Peter Stefano and our host families.

22.09.07 Sandra W.

I agree with Sandra that the charm of Bristol is that it is not a tourist trap. It’s easy to feel straight away at home. So if any other ‘new Bristolians’ would like to share their impressions, don’t be shy. Just click below. – Hazel

Hi All!

Below is a mail from one of my students: I’ll try to answer the questions myself and if any of the other Bristol trippers would like to also answer, please click on comments and add your impressions.

Hello Hazel,

Hope you’re well. Here are some questions about your trip to Bristol:

1. Did you enjoy your stay in Bristol ? Yes, very much. Never a dull moment and we were a great group!
2. What was the weather like? It couldn’t have been better. It never rained and was warm and sunny.
3. What was your host family like? I stayed with a three generation family – the elderly father lived with the son and his wife and 16 year old daughter. The grandfather left most mornings to work in his garden allotment and the wife worked as a lawyer in Bristol. The 16 year old was very friendly and usually chatted to me at breakfast about her school and part-time job in a greengrocer’s. They were very friendly and told me to “make myself at home”.
4. Did you visit a lot of interesting places ? Everyday we had a huge program: we saw most of the interesting things to see in Bristol, Bath and also
5. Which was your favorite place ? Bath. Such a beautiful town with its yellow sandstone Georgian houses, Abbey and Roman spa and shops…

6. Did you do a lot of shopping ? Yes. Park Street, Clifton and Broadmead in Bristol and Bath…
7. You lived in Bristol a long time ago. Do you think Bristol has changed much? Do you prefer the “old” Bristol of your memory or the modern Bristol? Much of Bristol has not changed as its old houses have been well preserved. However, around the docks has been developed into a busy cultural area with bars, restaurants, galleries, theatres and a new science centre and apartments. You can take a ferry for pleasure or as a means of transport from home to the entertainment places. When I lived in Bristol 30 years ago, there was only the Arnolfini as a cultural venue – now the place is buzzing with activity. Below is a picture of the house where I used to live and it hasn’t changed a bit – except that the hamburger bar in the basement  is now a tandoori restaurant.

-8. Would you like to go to Bristol again? Yes. Next time, I’ll bring my husband. After all, this is the city where we met as students.
I wish you a nice week-end and I’m looking forward seeing you next week
Marie

We’re back!

It was a great week. We were always busy. We visited lots of interesting places in Bristol, learnt about its history, listened to music, went to the theatre and experienced life in a British family and in a modern city. Thanks to Peter, our wonderful course coordinator and driver, we visited Oxford on the way to Bristol, Marlborough on the way back and enjoyed side trips to Bath, Glastonbury, Wells and the Cheddar Gorge. An added plus, we had super weather.

They say pictures are worth a thousand words. They do to those of us who were there, but perhaps not to those of you were not. I’ll include some photos here and invite those who went to Bristol to fill in the details by answering on the comments.

Similarly, I’ll be adding questions from the ’stay-at-homers’ for the ‘Bristolians’ to answer.

The first picture follows up from the last one:

That was Daniel’s contribution. Lilo and Sandra were busy trying other English specialities:

And some views:

What English expression is Peter explaining?

Park Street (above), Wills Memorial Tower, The Art Gallery and Museum and great place for retail therapy (anyone like to explain?).

The Docks and Pero’s Bridge (who was Pero?).

That’s all for now. More views and comments later (I hope).

Hazel

 Dear Bristol and Basel fans,

I’m just taking a break from packing my bags for an early start to Basel-Mulhouse airport tomorrow. I was looking at our itinerary for the week in Bristol and the names mentioned in Monday’s programme brought back fond memories of my student days there a long time ago.

If you’d like to find out about the place where I lived, click on the document below. I’ll send you a photo of it later,  if it is still standing, but I don’t want to spoil the fun for my travelling companions who might like to take up the challenge and walk around the Triangle and try to find it.

can-you-find-my-house.doc

Wishing you a good weekend wherever you go.

Regards,

Hazel

A reason for shopping…

I don’t know how we started talking about crisps (otherwise known in North America and Switzerland as chips. Perhaps we were talking about food differences between Switzerland and England. The Swiss group could only imagine salted and paprika crisps so I suggested the Lilo and Sandra take on the task of finding out what flavours of crisps are available in British pubs or supermarkets. I bet there will be a few surprises…

I am also getting some questions about price differences between Britain and Switzerland so Susanne, our intrepid shopper, has taken on the task of going shopping and I hope she will report back her findings.

Below is a photo of one of Switzerland’s most popular brands of crisps. Perhaps we can provide a photo of England’s crisps next week.

Bon voyage and see you in England!

Hazel

Two cities…

Dear All,
Both these cities begin with the letter ‘B’. They have a river, a port, bridges, museums, universities, theatres and a colourful cultural life. Let’s look closer at these two places and see how much they have in common and what they have that is unique.

You don’t have to travel far to be a tourist. Even if you don’t leave home, it is sometimes fun to be a tourist in your own region. It’s a state of mind. You try to see a place as new and exciting and experience places like it is the first time you have visited them.

One of the exciting things about travelling is not just seeing and experiencing new places and meeting new people but also sharing your impressions with others once you get home. So let us try to see these two cities as ‘tourists’ and write down our feelings and impressions.

Join me on this real or virtual journey!

Bon voyage, again!

Hazel