FIRST ISTANBUL, AND FINALLY BASEL!

We arrived in Istanbul after a 9 hour non-eventful flight.  OMGOSH, the airport was beautiful!  We wished we had more time to spend there—the lounge was spectacular!  But after a couple swigs of coffee it was time to head to the gate!  Next flight—2.5 hours to Basel, Switzerland.  Interesting fact: when we landed in Basel we learned that there are actually two exits at the Basel airport, one enters Switzerland, the other enters France!  

Meanwhile, Gary and Yvonne were living it up in Business Class on their flight!

Once they arrived in Basel, John and I walked to Gary and Yvonne’s Airbnb (a 2 minute walk) and we all ventured off to explore!

We enjoyed drinks in Munsterplatz, a square where the cathedral (pictured above) is located, and watched the locals walking by!  Yes, the brewskies were delicious!

We found a darling restaurant to have dinner and got seated at a table overlooking the Rhine River.  It was fun watching all the boats and barges and, wait a minute, what else was floating down the current?

PEOPLE!  There were PEOPLE floating down the river, lots of them, all during our dinner!  Apparently, swimming in the Rhine is a big thing in BASEL!  Too bad none of us packed bathing suits!  The current down the Rhine is FAST and it looked like SOMUCHFUN! 

We called it an early night, as none of us slept much (if any) on our flights!  I forgot to get a picture of the four of us at dinner overlooking the beautiful Rhine River!  Dang, I’m a bit rusty!  My octopus salad was delicious and would have made for a great photo!  I promise, after a good nights sleep, I’ll do better!