A Quick Stop In Switzerland Then Back To Germany

Our ship docked in Basel, Switzerland and that was the end of our cruise.  We disembarked and took a cab to Hotel Euler.  This hotel was right next to the train station, which is exactly where we needed to be the following day.

Kenyon started to come down with a cold/bad allergy episode and wasn’t quite feeling 100%.  Our room wasn’t ready when we arrived but we were offered an upgrade to a suite for an additional 30 Swiss Francs.  We took the upgrade and enjoyed a very large room with a very comfy bed.

We made our way into town via tram and walked around a bit.  We also popped into the Spielzeug Welten Museum of Toys.  It was really neat to see so many different looking toys.  They also had a whole floor of costumes.

We boarded the ICE Train enroute to Munich, Germany, which was our final city on our Europe trip.  Riding the train sure is easier than having to go through airport security so I understand why it quick to get around Europe.  It was quite crowded and I was thankful for our reserved seats.  When we decided to take the train vs. plane, we had hoped to see more scenery.  That wasn’t the case on this train and we also realized we traveled north back to Mannheim, which we visited on our cruise.  Maybe on future trip we will see more of the countryside.

We arrived in Munich late in the day and found our hotel quickly because it was again across from the train station.  Hotel Excelsior was our home for the next two nights.  I loved all the hotel locations the travel agent picked for us as they were right in the center of town (minus the hotel on Amsterdam).  The only downside to this hotel…NO air conditioning.  Kenyon had been struggling the entire trip with the heat/humidity and it wasn’t until we arrived in Munch that I started to feel it too.  After all, Munich was 94% humidity and our temps were in the 80s.  I really loved the staff at the hotel and they had a very yummy breakfast buffet, which included pretzels!

We explored on foot the first evening and stopped into a restaurant for authentic German food and beer.  It was a great restaurant.

The following day we bought tickets for the hop on/hop off bus.  Now, I don’t know where the fault lies but the company we chose was terrible.  The past bus tour companies we have been on are City Sightseeing.  This was Grayline and they were not good.  Service was terrible, the tour guides were rude, and there were several stops along the route closed.  I don’t like to talk negatively but I was peeved!  I will say that there was a taxi driver strike going on, which wasn’t the fault of the bus company.  However, to pay for the tour and then find out four stops were closed…NOT cool! 

We were able to make our way on foot from one of the close stops to the BMW Museum, which is what we bought the tickets for.  The museum had a fee and with the taxi strike, there was a risk of missing the bus and not knowing when another was coming by.  So, we walked around BMW Welt (world) and called it a day.

We had one more round of authentic German food and beer!  I really wanted to say that I drank from one of the big glasses before we left Germany.  I am sad we missed Oktoberfest but maybe I’ll get back there again someday.

And, with that…back to reality.