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The inside guide to Basel, Switzerland’s cultural powerhouse
Back in the centre near the station, the elegantly revived 1920s Markthalle offers hungry lunchtime crowds the world on a plate under its huge domed roof. Expect cheese and wood-fired bread, street-food stands dish up everything from Ethiopian tibs to Venezuelan arepas (maize patties) and Italian gelato. Grab a regional beer from HausBAR. The Rhine is Basel’s backdrop and lifeblood and jumping in for a swim is something of a rite of passage. At the tourist office on Barfüsserplatz, get yourself a Wickelfisch, a fish-shaped waterproof bag to keep your kit dry, then head to Kleinbasel’s riverbank, strip to your bathers and go with the flow, splashing past the city…
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Top 12 Cultural Attractions in the Pays Basque
Grande Plage, Biarritz. Image © Tourisme Biarritz Twelve places to visit on the Basque Coast and further inland Related article: Great Destinations: Basque in Glory GRANDE PLAGE, BIARRITZ This broad beach is overlooked by Napoleon’s former palace, the seafront casino and the lighthouse. Spend the afternoon sunbathing on the sands, then follow the undulating promenade out to Port Vieux for a front-row view of the sunset. www.tourisme.biarritz.fr Image © Aquarium de Biarritz AQUARIUM, BIARRITZ Facing the Rocher de la Vierge, at the furthest extent of Port Vieux, the Art Deco façade of the Musée de la Mer hides a substantial modern extension. Inside you will meet seals and turtles, giant…
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This Summer, Get Invigorated With a Live Cultural Performance
Pandemic willing, live shows will be back across the United States this spring and summer. (A patchwork of them, anyway.) Scores of festivals, benefits and theatrical events are playing it safe with digital editions or postponements, but some impresarios are forging ahead, adhering to safety protocols, capping audience size and keeping it outside, mindful of all the artists and fans left bruised last year by cancellations. Jacob’s Pillow, a premier dance festival in Becket, Mass., will be scaled down to 15 or 20 companies from the 50 companies that had to be canceled last summer. In 88 years, it was the first time the show did not go on. “We…
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A city guide to Dresden, eastern Germany’s rebuilt cultural masterpiece
Seven highlights of visiting Dresden 1. Zwinger: To visit the Zwinger is to dive into Dresden’s baroque heyday. Built as a party pad for royals in the 1700s, when Augustus the Strong sat on the throne (his own residence, Dresden Castle, stands behind the Zwinger and is also worth visiting), the lavish, sculpture-studded palace complex surrounds an enormous courtyard filled with fountains. It now houses three museums: the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters Picture Gallery), in which hang celebrated artworks including Raphael’s Sistine Madonna; the Porzellansammlung (Porcelain Collection); and the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon, which displays a curious collection of telescopes, clocks and globes. 2. Procession of Princes: This 335ft-long mural presents Saxony’s rulers…
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