August 9 – Basel Sightseeing and August 10 – Heading off to South Africa

The first half of the day for Mary was spent catching up on photos and the blog while Paul worked on travel stuff. 

We had slept in and had a very late breakfast so we decided to skip lunch and have an early dinner.  Mid-afternoon we caught a trolley to the old section of town.  As we stepped off the bus we were faced with a large red building.  Very imposing and obviously rather old.  It turned out to be the City Hall.

Inside was a beautiful courtyard with a lovely balcony,

colorful murals, 

some statuary,

and come interesting doors.

After taking lots of photos we headed out towards the nearby Rhine River where we enjoyed views up and down the river. 

There were a couple of sections of the river with wide stairs leading directly down to the river…and lots of people enjoying the sunshine and the water.  And we saw a number of people floating down the river.

From there we headed into the city area on the opposite side of the river to try to find a mechanical musical museum.  Unfortunately, it was closed when we got there.

So, we walked back to the river and had dinner in a restaurant overlooking the river. 

We caught the tram back to our hotel and spent the rest of the evening working. 

August 10 Flying to Johannesburg South Africa

After breakfast we spent the morning packing and doing a few odd jobs.  After lunch we caught a taxi for the airport.  Tonight we fly to South Africa where we will be spending the next six weeks.