Basel

Basel is a city in Switzerland and is located along the Rhine river in north west Switzerland, at the Swiss-German border. Because of the location of Switzerland such that its locked in between France, Germany, Austria and Italy, there are different language speaking regions in Switzerland. Generally the cantons which are nearer to France, ie the West part of Switzerland tends to speak French while the Northern part of Switzerland which is closer to Germany speaks German, and the southern part, Italian. However, there's a difference between spoken Swiss German and standard German in a sense that its harder for us who learn standard German to comprehend Swiss German, although we write the same way.

Basel is hence a German speaking region. But you do actually find some traces of French influences, like cafes and chocolate shops. It is at the same time, one of the most underrated tourist destinations in Switzerland, for there's nothing much to see and what there is to see can be completed in a few hours.

Despite this I thought that it was still worth to drop by Basel since I would have been already in the southern part of Germany for the next few days.

River Rhine

Inside the Münster (Cathedral), built around 1020. The courtyard of the Münster - it is the season where all the flowers would bloom, and what makes it beautiful is that they just seem to grow wildly in the courtyard. At the same time, behind the Münster, there is a backyard garden that faces the Rhine river, and many people actally hung out there to relax or have a mini picnic.

Outside the Münster. As usual, its impossible to capture the whole picture of the Münster. Notice the Sundial clocks above my head. There're two acutally, one at the other corner. And both are still in use supposedly.

On one of the cobbled streets near the Münsterplatz

What I found to be interesting in the design of the old buildings here is that they have very beautiful roofs, designed in such a way that it looks like pecock feathers. Also, there are a few buildings here which were painted dark maroon, (the Rathaus being the epitome of it all) which actually stands out admist the other old buildings beside it.

Rathaus, in its Renaissance style.

Fountain near Markplatz

I realised that there seem to be quite a lot of old fountains scattered around the Altstadt of Basel, and people were drinking from it.

Spalentor - The Gate of Spalen

Like most ancient cities, Basel also had a city wall. But most of it is largely gone today. However, the Spalentor, a former city gate, still stands today. It was built around the 14th century and is probably one of the most precious landmark of Basel.

One of the alleys in the Altstadt where all the old houses were still preserved. It seems that despite its vicinity near the German border, the houses here do not have the typical Fachwerkhäuser design. Rather with the window panes, they tend to resememble those that I saw in Strasbourg about a month ago. Another fountain, this time in the backdrop of a castle. I cannot remember what the name is or its significance. One of the many shopping streets of Basel. Like in Strasbourg, I also realised that there's this cloth like thing that's hung across the streets, and I really wondered what it is. It doesn't seem to be an avenue for advertisement to me nor is it a protection for rain. Perhaps I will see more of such traits when I venture more into French cities.

http://picasaweb.google.com/vintagebin/22MayBasel

Uni Goodie Bags

I remember that NUS would give out goodie bags or wellness pack nearing the exam periods. I am not sure if the goodie bags I got today from the Mensa are part of Mannheim's exam welfare.. but from the contents of the goodie bag it does not seem so. Apart from the usual vouchers, Post-it slips, shampoo and coffee samples, there's also more useful things such as deordorant, sprays, alcoholic alcohol drink, wine, and condoms. And its not entitled to one per person... its take until your hands cannot hold.

Sometimes its great to be a student, discounting the exam fever.

Der Schwarzwald und Bodensee (Blackforest and Lake Constance)

Just came back from my hiatus from the south of Germany, at which the bulk of the places were spent at the towns at Schwarzwald area. It was great to actually visit these places which are easily overlooked by tourists, and I think I'd also not consider going there as well if I am not staying over at Seok's place the past few days. This is because although the places that I visited were within Baden-Württemburg (the same federal state as Mannheim), it took me 3 hours to go from Mannheim to Freiburg im Breisgau (where she lives) in order to use it as a base to move out. Although we came back every night dead tired, it was worth the "effort". And here's a quick look at the places visited:

Basel - one of the venues of the Euro 2008 matches and highly underrated Swiss destination.

Freiburg im Breisgau - small and beautiful German university town

Konstanz (Constance) -Looks touristic but wonderful place to do seasports and really resembles the Mediterranean.

Triberg - another lush town like Baden-Baden laid back against the Schwarzwald (Black Forest)

Last bout of travelling before mugging for exams

This will be my last time travelling because my exams are in 2.5 weeks time and its time to start studying, after which I have some days break before I receive another visit from Singapore. In 3 days, I did lots and seen lots with Seok, who's really an energnizer bunny I must say! I stepped onto Swiss soil for the first time, had grill for lunch facing the Bodensee (lake Constance), saw Germany's largest waterfall as well as the world's biggest Kuckucksuhr (cuckoo clock). The individual entries will be posted up during the course when which I get sick of studying in time to come.

Frankfurt Stock Exchange, European Central Bank, as well the Altstadt

The Raffles Place of Germany

I realised that this blog has not been published and is part of the drafts. Clearly I had forgotten to do so. And there's another entry as well on Baden-Baden which I have not published.

Anyway, it was ironic that the first stock exchange I visited is not SGX but the Deutsche Börse at Frankfurt Am Main. And the first central bank that I visited was not MAS but the European Central Bank (ECB). Anyway this was part of a field trip organised by the Uni Mannheim for students who enroll in this course called German Financial Market, and the fee to go there was only 5€, so why not?

Börse Frankfurt (Stock Exchange Frankfurt)

Our first stop was at the Börse where we were given an introduction to the history of the stock exchange which was set up in 1585. And then we were introduced to the main operation and trading systems used at the Börse, the Xetra system.

That's our lecturer for the German financial market course

If you'd expected that the stock market is a place bursting with full of people screaming, 1 finger pointing at the screen while the other shoulder trying to clasp the telephone to take the latest quotes and bits and pieces of paper flying around, then you'd be very surprised... for this is what the working environment is really like. And its real, not staged where they get people to put up an act.

Indeed, with everything computerised, there's no need for so many people to stand there pointing fingers. It looks like its a great job to be here, judging from what the 2 guys above are doing!

The Bull and the Bear outside the stock market - representing financial market sentiments

The European Central Bank (ECB)

Like all central banks in the world, the ECB's primary task is to maintain price stability in the Eurozone and not let inflation escalate. However, judging from the inflation rates of the Eurozone over the past year, it seems that the ECB has not been doing its job well. This was also admitted by the spokesperson who gave us the talk at the ECB.

Unfortuantely we were not allowed to take any pictures inside the building. There's nothing to take anyway. The photo below with the big € sign is the European Central Bank. And they are going to expand into another building, which are at the moment under construction, soon.

The presentation at the ECB mainly focused on the history, evolution of the common currency as well as the role of the ECB. It was highly economic in nature so I think I would not want to bore anyone here into the details.

European Central Bank - in all of the official languages in the Eurozone

Frankfurt Altstadt (which isn't very alt actually)

Frankfurt is perhaps most well known as being the financial centre of Germany. But there is one enclave of the city which has a taste of the past, the Altstadt area from the Paulskirche to the Römerplatz. Actually this Altstadt is not very alt because the half timbered houses were actually replicas built about 25 years ago.

the river Main

1 side of the Römerplatz

the other side of the Römerplatz

Römer, with the Paulskirche on the right (not seen)

The Old and New

Walking along the streets of Frankfurt on a working day, we see people dressed up in blazers and ties, the feeling is just like a normal working day in Raffles Place. I draw parallels to what I see here, like the Opera House to perhaps the Victoria Theatre?

Typical street in Frankfurt, just like Shenton way

the oprea house

Like most financial cities where big banks try to outdo one another by competing to see who has the tallest skyscraper, as a result of that, Frankfurt am Main has a skyline. And I am very certain that it looks very beautiful at sunset, given all the pictures I have seen online or printed on the postcards there. Unfortunately we made our way back to Mannheim at 6pm where the sun was still shining. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to climb to one of the high towers one day and get a shot of the city as well as find out where the best spot to take a skyline photo is. The point is, while it is true that there is nothing much to see at Frankfurt, many people who arrive in Germany are likely to arrive in Frankfurt first. And I think its good to actually check out the place if you have like an hour or 2 to spare. Especially at night, around the Hauptbahnhofviertel, the quarters just outside the Hauptbahnhof, where the streets are burstling with redlight activities.

Facing the Frankfurt am Main Hauptbahnhof, on the side where the redlight action is.

http://picasaweb.google.com/vintagebin/29AprFrankfurtAmMain

Stuttgart

A Benz Affair

As soon as I arrived in Stuttgart, I got the feeling that the Benz experience was going to be a huge part of the day trip. Even the Hauptbahnhof, which to me is tastelessly designed like a concentration camp, had a Mercedes Tower (as in the picture below). And if you climed up (well we took the lift) the tower, 10 storeys high, you'd actually get a view of the city, like from one of the shots below. The many people looked like ants from above walking through the burstling street, otherwise the main shopping street of Stuttgart, known as the Königstraße. (King's Street)

Das Mercedes-Benz Museum

After getting down the tower, instead of going straight into the city area, we took the S-Bahn instead to the Mercedes-Benz Museum since it closes at 6pm. The Museum was located some 10 minutes away from the city area so its not very far actually.

The exterior of the Museum. Reminds me of the Chinatown point where the levels are inclined, meaning there are no stairs.
Looks like a Flintstone car. Well its stone anyway.
The world first patented car operated by gasoline (1886). Noticed that there were only 3 tyres instead of 4.
The world first ommi-bus (1895)
Of all the cars I saw in the exhibition, I liked this one the most. It was gleaming and shining excerting an aura of luxury from all angles as I admired this car.

Mobile post office (1938)

Fire-fighting truck (1910)

The gallery of sport cars

Benz racing car (1900) - top speed 65 km/hr!

Stuttgart City Centre

After having enough of the museum, we headed back to the city centre. Because the museum was near the stadium and there was a match going on that day, it was terribly crowded and full of rowdy crowds. For some of the Singaporeans, it was their first time encountering such crowds during football matches. For the rest of us, we've pretty used to it and we also expect that later after the match end when we board the train back its gonna be full of crazy people or drunkards yelling and screaming at their top of their voices even in the trains.

Anyway Stuttgart city centre is not medieval as Heidelberg. There's no half-timbered houses, no old bridges, and even the Rathaus looks like the Hauptbahnhof (which is like a concentration camp). However, there is a part of Stuttgart that is very lush and laid back. That's the area of the palace gardens, and the Schloßplatz. (Palace Place), below:

As you can see, when the weather is sunny everyone likes to sit on the grass and watch the world go by. We had our lunch of Würste while baking ourselves under the sun on the grass too(after much searching, we almost wondered if the Stuttgarters actually eat cos the Königstraße was filled with boutiques but almost zero outlets selling food!)

Neues Schloß - New Palace

Altes Schloß - Old Palace

By the terribly contaminated lake in the Oberer Schlossgarten.

And so, the visitors are already gone. They left for Berlin, and should be in München now, after which their next stop is Paris. As for YT and her bf they should be on their Europe trip now. Now I can't wait for Thursday cos its a public holiday and I will travel to Freiburg im Breisgau to stay with Seok Hui over the weekend. She seems very excited about it and we have planned a lot of activities together!

http://picasaweb.google.com/vintagebin/19MayStuttgart

Besuch aus Singapur (Visit from Singapore)

Woke up real early today at 4.30am to go to Frankfurt Airport to fetch 3 friends from Singapore, who will be putting up at Mannheim over the weekend. Right from the beginning it was an "extraordinary flight" and some unexpected surprises. Firstly, they paid for China eastern and got to sit into SQ instead! Secondly, Junda's baggage was lost and he got 60 Euros and some nice accessories as compensation on the spot - his backpack was delivered to my place the next day, and I got all the stuffs I wanted from Singapore intact. But the fact he earned 60 Euros and all got to sit SQ was already quite a good deal.

Wasting no time after leaving the luggage, I brought them to see the Wasserturm first - which I am quite ashamed to put the picture of Wasserturm which is like so ugly when you compare with Heidelberg scenery: (The following pictures were all from their cameras as I did not bring along mine)

It is this picture that captures every visitor who came to Heidelberg.

The visitors aus Singapur

Don't sit on the grass because you'd kill the flowers - that sounded quite "duh" to me

Betrunken aber glücklich

Das letzte Mal, dass ich auf Deutsch ins Blog eingetippt hae, war vor meiner Abreise nach Deutschland. Das letzte mal, dass ich mich echt betrunken hab, war auch vor meiner Abreise nach Deutschland. Nach 3 Monaten in Deutschland habe ich mich endlich betrunken, obwohl ich fast jede Nacht Alkohol verbrauche. Und das hab ich eigentlich ganz komisch gefunden, weil ich am Sonntag nicht so viel getrunken hab. Damit ist auch Jared einverstanden, denn wir waren am Anfang des Semesters beim PubCrawl und ich hab fast alle seiner und Valaries Shots genommen aber danach konnte ich noch vom Zimmer (kein Zimmer von mir, sondern der Club) nach meinem Zimmer (jetzt ist das echte Zimmer) laufen. Naja egal!

Obwohl ich am nächsten Tag einen schlimmen Kater gekriegt hab, ist jetzt bei mir alles in Ordnung. Zum Glück wurde ich nicht auf dem Hinterhof des Wohnheims gelassen. Und wegen meiner Bewusstlosigkeit nachdem ich mich betrunken hab mussten die anderen 3 Typen mich ins Zimmer tragen. Dafür bin ich sehr dankbar. Die haben daran viel gelitten, im besonderen ZR. Ich hab mich auf ihn viel erbrochen. Und die anderen 2 singapurischen Damen waren sehr verständnisvoll und humorvoll, obwohl die gesagt haben dass ich sie unbewusst "belästigt" hab!

Und es gibt einen Freund von Ian, der Trevor heißt. Wir haben zum ersten Mal beim Grill kennengelernt und ich finde ihn sehr nett. Der hat um mich gekrümmert, als ich fast betruken war. Es ist schade dass er jetzt weg ist, aber ich würde gern mit ihm im Kontakt bleiben. Vielleicht treffen wir in irgendwann in der Zukunft und ich werde sicherstellen, dass ich nicht so viel trinke bis ich mein Zimmer nicht mehr erkenne.