Today Janet was feeling the pressure of work to be done, and she decided we knew enough to be let out on our own for a while. So—even though our stock of German comprised little more than "zwei Tageskarten," "bitte," "danke," and of Basel Swiss German merely "greutzi" and the word for thank you, which sounds passably enough like the French "merci"—off we went.
Janet's version is here.Taking the tram to Barfüsserplatz brought us within easy walking distance of more museums than we could handle. We began with the Puppenhausmuseum. We did not expect to spend much time there, and at first I had flat-out refused, having heard much about their new Barbie exhibit. Barbies, yuck! The only reason any of those ridiculous dolls ever entered our house was as gifts that I did not have the heart (or courage) to dispose of. But we both have fond memories of the Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum in Rochester, which is about much more than their incredible collection of dolls, and our Basel Cards granted us free admission, so we decided to give the Puppenhausmuseum a chance. It was well worth it! Even the Barbie exhibition was somewhat interesting, as she was only the vehicle for displaying over 200 hand-made outfits—and I have a weakness for miniatures. The rest of the museum was filled with other dolls and toys, including the most amazing collection of teddy bears I've ever seen, plus doll houses, stores, and other buildings filled with miniatures, and also tiny working carousels.
In contrast, at our next two museums we spent much less time than we had expected. Architecture can be fascinating, but the Architekturmuseum Basel had only a special exhibit: Unaufgeräumt / As Found, which focused on "the reactivation and transformation of found spaces and existing buildings." It was housed in a couple of small rooms, and there's only so long we can look at photographs when we can't understand the commentary.
There was more to see at our next venture, the Kunsthalle Basel, but it was all about Bas Jan Ader. I have decided that performance art really doesn't do it for me. This exhibit was worthwhile as a lesson in why I shouldn't waste any time worrying about this lack of culture on my part. There are too many wonderful things to do in this world to choose to spend much time watching a video of someone deliberately falling off a roof while sitting in a chair, or standing on a path then slowly falling sideways. I'm assured by musicians that modern musical compositions that seem like random noise are in reality complex creations with a definite purpose, so I'm sure it's true with art as well. But in both cases I'm left with the same reaction: There's already too much noise, ugliness, brutality and despair in the world. There is a place in art for reflecting the darker side of our lives—but if it does so without offering at least a small spark of hope, hasn't it just multiplied the sorrow? In any case, I certainly don't feel the need—nor the responsibility—to seek out additional pain in my life.
It was much more pleasant to return to the Historical Museum at the Barfüsserkirche and see some of the exhibits we'd missed on our first visit, after which we met up with Janet and returned home. After a rest we went shopping, then ate rösti once again at the Stöckli.
The Historical Museum has other divisions, and we could have used a lot more time at the Musikmuseum. Janet has described this collection of historical instruments so well there's no need for me to say much more, except that it would be a terrific place for homeschoolers. The abundance of excellent, multimedia commentary is worth many visits. Alas, we're unlikely to return, but I’m sure Janet will be back several times.
We all returned to the school, where we had a break in the cafeteria then attended Janet's Renaissance dance class. Porter and I had planned to leave after a short time of observation, but it was so much fun to watch we ended up staying the whole time. I even danced a little! Afterwards we went out with the teacher and another student, and the conversation was even better than the delicious Flammkuchen.
Thus ended another wonderful, busy and exhausting day, and the next wasn't promising to be any more restful….
