Basel, Switzerland
May 2–3, 2026
There was an oil spill on the river, so we were unable to get to our dock at Basel for the final night of our cruise. So we docked in Germany and were bused to our Basel tours. I signed up for just the morning tour, and Mary Jane took the tour that ended with a wine tasting. Some people signed up for free time after the city tour. Our captain found out that we would need to depart at 4:30 instead of 5:30 to keep from losing our place in line for the locks. Somehow the staff managed to get word to eveybody, and we sailed on time without leaving people behind. Because of traffic, our bus took us back by way of France. I got back in time to enjoy a late lunch from the cookout they had on the top deck.
The Basel Minster is now a Reformed Protestant church. It was originally a Roman Catholic cathedral. It does not normally admit tour groups, except by some special arrancement. It turned out that I was the only person who had signed up for my particular version of the tour. So my private guide left her guide's paddle and sound device on the bus, and we walked into the church just like normal people.
I didn't have time to search for Karl Barth’s grave. I was surprised to see the grave of Erasmus of Rotterdam in the Minster. He died in Basel. He remained a Catholic priest through the Reformation, prefering to try to reform the church from within. He was not radical enough to suit any side. Luther and Calvin were not fans at all, but Zwingli had a higher opionion. Even so, he had great influence on both Protestant and Catholic reformations. He was a main proponent of Chritian humanism and scholarly study of the scriptures. His edition of the Greek New Testament was used by translators for centuries, including the King James translators and Luther’s German translation. Some people claim it was divinely inspired, calling it the Textus Receptus, based on a Latin description on a flyleaf.
Basel is a major center for biomedical research. The two imposing towers are headquarters for Roche.
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