One of my favorite places in Basel is the Markthalle. This historic market hall has been transformed into a vibrant food court with a variety of international cuisines. The architecture of the building is quite interesting, with its high ceilings and large windows that let in plenty of natural light during the day.

Last week, when I was passing by Markthalle at night, I noticed the full moon shining brightly above the building. The combination of the modern "Markthalle" neon lights and the natural glow of the moon created a beautiful view that I tried to capture in the photo above.

Last weekend I took a stroll up to Münsterberg, and this part of Basel looked absolutely lovely! The sky was clear and blue, with that same hue you sometimes see on those nice late-autumn days. I captured this shot while wandering around—there, the church’s clay-colored walls were brilliantly highlighted by the rays of sun.

Dun Laoghaire is a beautiful coastal town located just south of Dublin. As I mentioned in a post a couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to visit Ireland recently and during the weekend, I took a trip to Dun Laoghaire.

I repeated a plan that I used to do quite frequently when I lived in Dublin years ago: take the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) train from the city center to Dun Laoghaire, walk all the way through the pier back and forth, and then head to the bookstore on Marine Road, grabbing a coffee and a scone in the café next door.

When I looked out the window and saw the church of St. Michael's, I remembered those days many years ago when I was in that same café writing the dissertation for my Master's degree.

Eurostat provides an interesting dataset about how EU residents travel, including where people go, how much they spend, and how long they stay. The 2023 data show that Europeans’ travel choices still reflect that the majority of foreign trips are carried out inside the Union.

In 2023, Europeans made over 1.1 billion trips, spending 5.7 billion nights and €555 billion. Nearly three-quarters of these trips (73%) were domestic, though foreign travel accounted for a larger share of nights and expenditure.

Italy and Spain emerged as the top foreign destinations, while France also drew significant numbers of visitors from within the EU. Beyond the Union, the United Kingdom, Türkiye, and Switzerland were the most popular spots, with intercontinental destinations making up just 12% of foreign trips.

Overall, the data show a strong preference for familiar, nearby locations, balanced by the pull of longer journeys that contribute more heavily to tourism spending. You can read more about it here.

A couple of days ago I went with my family to visit the Wieliczka Salt Mine near Krakow. Going down into the tunnels felt like stepping back in time — endless corridors, glittering salt walls, and even chapels carved deep underground. The Chapel of St. Kinga was the highlight, almost like a cathedral hidden below the earth. It was fascinating to see how a working mine turned into such an incredible place.

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