Basel Capital of Swiss creativity | Bangkok Post: lifestyle

Balanced delicately in the cabin car 1,410 metres above Blechenland, the Black Forest, the stunning panoramic view overlooks the borders of Germany, France and Switzerland. Bright clear skies and the smell of refreshing pine trees, however, could not fully erase the repetitious images of election campaigns that littered the streets of Bangkok. Still, it was a brief welcome break not to confront those hungry, begging eyes lurking at every corner like hungry ghosts awaiting their merits and votes from the confused citizens of Thailand.

Richard Serra’s steel sculptures at Theatre Square near St Elizabeth, Basel.

From the tranquil town of Schopfheim in Germany, a short journey on the autobahn brought us to the beautiful town of Basel on the banks of the Rhine in Switzerland. Basel is the heart of tri-national region - the Dreilandereck (the three countries' corner) that serves as a gateway to the French region of Alsace, the German Black Forest and the Swiss Jura Mountains. Since the Roman era Basel has been a strategic town that attracted settlers. Walking on the cobbled streets in the old town area of Basel, the visitor can trace layers of rich history ranging from a trade town in the Middle Ages to a religious centre of Protestantism to the bustling nodal point for pharmaceutical and chemical industries.