So Basel is very interesting in the fact that it is predominantly a Swiss city (the third largest in fact), but also reaches out into both Germany and France. The Rhine river runs right next to the hotel and we took a stroll to it this morning. As we walked across the bridge we saw a sign that said entering France. When we are looking out the window of our room (which is in Germany) we can see the Swiss border crossing, Pretty cool.
Let me now gush about this hotel. We saw it on Priceline before we left home and earmarked it for a stay tonight on our path from Switzerland to Heidelberg, Germany. We picked it for price and location and assumed it wouldn’t be much more than a place to sleep and take a shower. After being in the car all day yesterday we found it easily and were ready to sleep just about anywhere. I admit that it looked like a ten story dump as I saw it from the freeway, but didn’t care at that point. Boy, was I wrong!!
Its an older hotel that hasn’t been renovated since probably the 70’s, except for being painted and the addition of some really nice art hanging everywhere. The paintings in the hallway of our floor are pretty provocative.
Our room is so big and that feels great after four days in the tiny room we had in Paris.The lobby is pretty and they have FREE COFFEE!! And I mean an expresso/cappuccino machine! There is also a very cozy bar that looks like someone’s personal study. We hung out in there for a bit last night, but took these pics today since the lighting was better.
Saddle bar stool! LOL!
You go up these winding stairs to the second floor restaurant. This is the first hotel where a lovely buffet breakfast was included. The restaurant is called Hacienda and has a really nice Southwest theme to it. The bar has the same motif as well. Also, you know you are in Europe when the bar has a cigarette vending machine in it that works. The verdict is in. Although not as much, Europeans still smoke quite a bit.
Now for the super awesome bonus…….The Sauna!! Not only does this “dump” have free breakfast, wi-fi, and delicious coffee, but there is a large sauna area that we had to ourselves.
We decided to stay here another night, which puts us back on track for arrival in Heidelberg tomorrow. We are spending the day relaxing, which is nice after going gangbusters for the past week. We watched church online….the service at our church that we missed last week. Later this afternoon we can live stream today’s services, which is pretty cool. Plus, we turned on the tv for a bit after breakfast and found a Joel Osteen broadcast in English. Since today is Sunday, it really feels right to just rest. God has really blessed us with this trip, along with Mike and Amanda Bodnar, who made this all possible. We are having the time of our lives, and its not over yet!
I realized we haven’t shown any pics of our cute rental car, so here you go. I’m going to be sad to give it back.
Fiat 500L The yellow plates mean its from The Netherlands.
