Christmas Markets Cruise - Basel

This year I gave my mother a late birthday/early Christmas present by taking her on a Christmas Markets cruise on the Rhine the week after Thanksgiving.  We kicked it off in Basel last Sunday, where we had our first experience with the Christmas markets.  It was really crowded, but great fun.

The stalls, aka chalets, were placed in the old town.  As usual, I took pics of interesting sights that caught my eye along the way.  Like the city's Rathaus below - beautiful.

And an old decorative well with fountain.

I saw the above carving on the side of a building next to the Rhine River (pictured below).  Upon closer inspection, we discovered a snail that had inched its way up about ten feet to hang out on the carving. I originally thought it was a wad of chewed gum.

The following morning, we strolled the streets of Basel a bit more, buying a watch or two... it IS Switzerland.  Plus a nice, golf sized umbrella since the forecast for our entire trip called for rain and it did, indeed, rain every danged day.

In the afternoon we boarded our ship, the Avalon Visionary. Here is a picture of my mother sitting down to enjoy the lovely and spacious amenities in our stateroom.

Favorite picture from Basel - the large Santa made from pretzel dough we spotted in a bakery window Sunday afternoon.