Cross Country for T-Rex: A Jurassic Trip to Switzerland!
Welcome back! I have some catch-up blogs to write and share, but I wanted to share this one first to feel [a little] less behind since this was already quite some time ago… so here I am sharing another travel blog, but please don’t read it as that and more like a diary of our travels instead. I will share the things I learned from the area and all the fun facts, but mostly, it’s for me to share about our trip. So without further rambling, I’m taking you to Basel, Switzerland!
Our son has been dinosaur obsessed for months now. It’s cute and impressive, and I’ve learned quite a bit alongside him! For example, did you know that a pterodactyl is not actually a dinosaur. It’s a flying reptile… yet birds are actually direct descendants of dinosaurs!
Well, amongst all the different dinosaur shows and videos we watch, my husband stumbled upon a Jurassic World Exhibit video and did some research. He found they had dates for Basel, Switzerland, and with a long weekend coming up, it was perfect timing!
We didn’t plan much else since we would only be there for one full day and two half days, depending on how long our drive would take.
Day one was the day we got there. We made decent timing to check out their Natural History Museum, which is always a good idea no matter where you go!
We saw some dinosaur fossils, which my son named before we even saw the sign for it… quite impressed he can name a dinosaur just by the skeleton when a lot of them look so similar! We saw some other really neat displays and they had some cool interactive exhibits. It was definitely a good museum to walk through.
After that, we ventured around the Messeplatz, which coincidentally was also hosting Basels annual Herbst Messe (Fall fest). We hadn’t had a chance to get to an ATM to get some Swiss Francs, so we couldn’t enjoy any of the food or games, but we did enjoy seeing the Rhein from a different country.
We then decided to get checked into our hotel and figure out our next steps. We stayed at the Hotel Euler. This hotel was built in 1867 and was elegant, beautiful, and located not far from the major attractions and main city. It is directly next to the main train station and a perfect stop to hop on almost any Trämli (tram).
For dinner, we walked to a smashburger place and then called it a night. Sleeping with a 3,5yo is always interesting, and of course, he took up most of the bed! But when the bed is made up of only two mattresses next to each other, I had to get creative to fill the gap… and he still managed to get a little squished between the two.
The next morning, we enjoyed our breakfast and then got ready for the day. Our main reason for going, the Jurrasic World Exhibit, was a timed entrance, and our tickets were for booked for noon, so we needed to burn some time. We decided to venture through and in that direction to just see what we would see. We rode the tram, free travel complimentary of the hotel, towards the event location. We got out a couple of stops early and decided to explore the area, we took our time to walk across the Mittlere Brücke, saw some neat photo worthy sights and statues and then wandered through the Herbstmesse (Fall Fest) at the Messeplatz.
We were quite early so not much was open and we made the mistake of telling our son where we we were going that day so his patience was next to none and just wanted to be at Jurassic World! I had to come up with the fact that we were waiting on a phone call from Owen, you know the Jurrasic World Dinosaur Trainer, to let us know that Blue, the velociraptor, was awake and ready for us. I set an alarm on my phone and then pretended the alarm was a phone call from Owen when it rang. It’s not a bad idea. it’s just time still wasn’t moving fast enough…. a little over an hour later we ate some food, played some fest games and finally I got the “phone call”!
We walked over to our spot in line, which was first outside of the elevator. The VERY LARGE mural added to the anticipation!
We got inside, stood in another line for a photo opp, and then finally a line to get on the “ferry,” which would take us on a voyage to Jurassic World.
Jurassic World was really neat, I honestly thought we would see more dinosaurs than we did, but looking back, we actually saw quite a few! We were greeted by a brachiosaurus, got to pet a baby stigymoloch and baby ankylosaurus, and then saw indominus Rex get his lunch! In the end, we had to hide and escape from a tyranosaurus Rex! It was actually kind of intense! Our son did say he was scared during that part, but he was so entranced he braved through and at the end said he had a lot of fun and was happy to see T-Rex! His favorite part, he said, was seeing the baby dinosaurs in the eggs.
If you have a dino fan and the Jurassic World Exhibit happens to be near you, I would say it’s worth it to go!
After that we got some fest food and hopped back on the tram. Little man fell asleep, so we got off to sit and enjoy a coffee and beer next to a peaceful sleeping toddler and get a quick little moment “to ourselves” on this out of country trip. We were right next to the Tinguely-Brunnen, which was one of the things on the suggested places to see a list that I gathered from various websites and blogs. It was neat, and I’ve certainly never seen a fountain like it.
From there, we stopped in a chocolate and sweets shop where I got some macaroons. I’ll never turn down macaroons! Then, back to the hotel to rest for a little bit before going back out for dinner. We, of course, played with the new dino stuffies we got from the exhibit!
For dinner we went to an Irish pub of all places in Switzerland, right?! Of course, they were playing a big soccer game on TV, so there was lots going on, but even our little guy got excited when he could tell everyone was cheering. The food was good, the drinks were good and then it was time to walk back to the hotel to get some sleep.
The next morning our plan was to go to Switzerland´s largest and oldest zoo. It was built in 1874 and is ranked by Forbes as one of the top 15 zoos in the world. It is located in Basel and a quick tram ride from our hotel. This zoo has lots of history if you are interested in reading into it but one of the coolest things we saw there was the penguins going on their walk from the vivarium to their outdoor enclosure. This happens every day at 11am during the colder months. We did not know it was a thing but it was a lucky and very neat coincidence that we were able to see and we got to get REALLY close to the beautiful birds. The zoo also has 5 nile crocodiles which we were able to see one up really close. The details were incredible! I mostly took videos at the zoo so I don´t have many photos but I have a few I can share here.
Finally on our way home, we made a slight detour and probably lots of incorrect driving! The streets were not marked and very confusing! But we made it safely to the “Dreiländereck”, Three-Country Point, where Germany, Switzerland, and France all meet. It was a quick photo opportunity spot and then back on the road to home!
We had a blast on our little weekend getaway, and I can’t wait to share some more adventures we’ve been on!
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