Dear readers:
Prepare yourself for a long, photo-heavy post, and Welcome/Wilkommen/Bienvenue to the multilingual and multicultural town of Strasbourg!
Part of the Alsace region -- which most of my American friends (hopefully) know from the WWI section of US History class -- it's flipped back and forth between rulers for centuries. So when you go through town, you hear both German and French being spoken, you see streets with names like Rue Finkwiller, and you see half-timbered houses everywhere.
A part of town called La Petite France, located on and around an island in the middle of town, was especially cute. Funny story: the island, once upon a time, was where they put people with "The French Disease"... a.k.a. syphilis. Hence, "The Little France".
(Above: Ina taking pictures of one of many cute little riverside parks.)
We also saw some people decorating for Bastille Day -- though we didn't see a whole lot of decorations overall.
But the whole time we were meandering, we were meandering in the general direction of La Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, a massive and impressive Catholic cathedral in the heart of the city. From far away it almost looks like rusted metal, but when you get closer, you realize what you're looking at:
And then you realize how immense it is:
It's gorgeous on the inside as well:
And it also contains the Strasbourg astronomical clock:
...And, being the good progressive rock fan that I am, I couldn't get this song out of my head the entire time I was looking around the Cathedral.
(Especially the second half of the song, starting at 1:55. Ding dong! Ding dong! Ding dong!)
After we left, we had delicious Alsacian lunch!
Top: Chicken with sauce and spätzle. Bottom: The best quiche I've ever tasted (with salad). Right: Riesling that Ina ordered (in its traditional glass), and the Alsacian beer I ordered.
The beer label was highly amusing:
Yes, that child is drinking his body weight in beer. Problem? Nah.
When we were done with lunch, we weighed our options and decided that, of our numerous museum options, we'd most like to visit the Strasbourg Historical Museum. So much cool info!! Made me want to read a book about Strasbourg. ("I need to read a book about that" = a major theme of this trip.)
Some fun highlights of the museum included this dollhouse from the 1600s(!):
and dressing Ina up in traditional garb:
Stylin'.
We stayed at the museum til closing time -- when we got ourselves some beverages -- Orangina!! -- and went to a little park to relax and read.
While I read and Ina took a nap, we had a great soundtrack: a big group of friends having a jam session in the park. They were actually pretty good!
(Check out that guy's turquoise bass!)
Finally -- we knew that there was a party going on for Bastille Day, somewhere in town, so with the help of my sometimes-reliable smartphone, we found an outdoor celebration with cheap pretzels, dancing Strasbourgers, and a live band!
Overall, an excellent (and long) day. About as long as this post is long! But took great photos, ate great food, bought souvenirs and gifts, and had a wonderful time.
Now, a few more days in Heidelberg, and then I head back home to the US. Best not to think too much about it!
Much love to all you readers,
Beth
p.s. Follow-up on the Random Facts blog post: Apparently bottles of soda in vending machines are stored nose down in France, as well -- not just Italy.
Got a photo this time!
Prepare yourself for a long, photo-heavy post, and Welcome/Wilkommen/Bienvenue to the multilingual and multicultural town of Strasbourg!
Part of the Alsace region -- which most of my American friends (hopefully) know from the WWI section of US History class -- it's flipped back and forth between rulers for centuries. So when you go through town, you hear both German and French being spoken, you see streets with names like Rue Finkwiller, and you see half-timbered houses everywhere.
A part of town called La Petite France, located on and around an island in the middle of town, was especially cute. Funny story: the island, once upon a time, was where they put people with "The French Disease"... a.k.a. syphilis. Hence, "The Little France".
(Above: Ina taking pictures of one of many cute little riverside parks.)
We also saw some people decorating for Bastille Day -- though we didn't see a whole lot of decorations overall.
But the whole time we were meandering, we were meandering in the general direction of La Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, a massive and impressive Catholic cathedral in the heart of the city. From far away it almost looks like rusted metal, but when you get closer, you realize what you're looking at:
And then you realize how immense it is:
It's gorgeous on the inside as well:
And it also contains the Strasbourg astronomical clock:
(We saw it chime on the hour at about 3:00 or so, but it didn't do all that much; not all the figures moved. We figured they must move a lot more at noon.)
...And, being the good progressive rock fan that I am, I couldn't get this song out of my head the entire time I was looking around the Cathedral.
(Especially the second half of the song, starting at 1:55. Ding dong! Ding dong! Ding dong!)
After we left, we had delicious Alsacian lunch!
The beer label was highly amusing:
Yes, that child is drinking his body weight in beer. Problem? Nah.
When we were done with lunch, we weighed our options and decided that, of our numerous museum options, we'd most like to visit the Strasbourg Historical Museum. So much cool info!! Made me want to read a book about Strasbourg. ("I need to read a book about that" = a major theme of this trip.)
Some fun highlights of the museum included this dollhouse from the 1600s(!):
and dressing Ina up in traditional garb:
Stylin'.
We stayed at the museum til closing time -- when we got ourselves some beverages -- Orangina!! -- and went to a little park to relax and read.
While I read and Ina took a nap, we had a great soundtrack: a big group of friends having a jam session in the park. They were actually pretty good!
(Check out that guy's turquoise bass!)
Finally -- we knew that there was a party going on for Bastille Day, somewhere in town, so with the help of my sometimes-reliable smartphone, we found an outdoor celebration with cheap pretzels, dancing Strasbourgers, and a live band!
Overall, an excellent (and long) day. About as long as this post is long! But took great photos, ate great food, bought souvenirs and gifts, and had a wonderful time.
Now, a few more days in Heidelberg, and then I head back home to the US. Best not to think too much about it!
Much love to all you readers,
Beth
p.s. Follow-up on the Random Facts blog post: Apparently bottles of soda in vending machines are stored nose down in France, as well -- not just Italy.
Got a photo this time!
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