With so many activities they had planned being rained out at some point during the trip, Raul and Lauren acquired a free day to use. They thought about visiting France but ended up choosing Basel, Switzerland.
Before going to Basel, though, they took a train to a small town near Bern in an attempt to procure some cow bells. They wanted the same that a farmer would buy and not the touristic kind, so they sought out a hardware store. Since no tourist would ever have cause to be in this area, nobody spoke English, but they managed to convey their intent to one of the employees, and she dutifully started them on a wild goose chase which they had the good sense to ignore. As the young lady made some calls to try to help them, another employee and several customers got involved, each trying to aid Raul and Lauren and throwing in the few English words they knew to boot.
Their failed mission complete, they travelled back to Bern and on to Basel. They brought with them only their daypack, for in Bern, they had taken advantage of a useful railway service that allowed them, for a small fee, to ship their large backpack on to Zürich, where it would be waiting for them the following day.
Since Basel does not figure among the cities in their guidebook, Raul and Lauren stopped at the very helpful Tourist Information in the train station and there, made a hotel reservaion and got information on various city walks. When they arrived at their hotel to check in, they found it was a “proper” hotel, lacking the charms of a family-run pension. That said, it was one of the most comfortable places they had stayed in during the whole trip.
When they left the hotel to explore the city, it was sunny and warmer than anywhere else they had been. They followed two of the well-signed city walks. The most enjoyable portions were the ferry crossing of the Rhine and the promenade along the river.
It was just beginning to rain as they neared their hotel, so they decided to stay inside for the rest of the evening. Raul napped, and Lauren waited for the rain to let up to visit Coop and buy their standard picnic fare for dinner.