Strasbourg: The Christmas Capital
Merry Christmas everyone!
(Ross speaking) I've been here for just over a week. The flight in was smooth and uneventful, other than arriving 90 minutes late for a 60 minute layover in Iceland. Luckily, many of the inbound planes were late, so the airline held all connecting flights until we could make it. WOW is definitely a "budget-friendly" Airline -aka- you pay for every little thing beyond the seat you sit in. Checked bag? charge. Carry-on? charge. Pick you own seat? charge. Peanuts or water? Yep, you get the picture! It was still cheaper than competitors even after all the nickel-and-diming, and I got here without incident, so I'm pleased! Thumbs up! The best part of the flight was seeing the northern lights after sundown. They first appeared real faint, I thought "meh" ... but after a few hours the whole horizon was glowing green. Magical! (Note: my camera couldn't capture it well, so the following photo is stolen from elsewhere on the internet!)
The first few days in Germany were fairly uneventful since Leah still had to work. Even a big base like this gets boring after a few days... The Ramstein mall Dunkin' Donuts and Chili's aren't exactly top tourist destinations in Germany :-/ But apparently Leah has a job to do, deployed in support of Airmen and Soldiers, yadda yadda, I suppose I can support that :-) I'm glad to be here, even during the boring parts! That boredom didn't last long... Friday finally rolled around and our first real adventure began!
(Leah speaking) I got out of work an hour early, so we packed up quick and started out for our destination of Strasbourg, France. I thought we had gotten everything set until right as we were leaving base. I realized we needed gas. You'd think that'd be no big deal, but I have this little card that you can use at certain gas stations on and off base in Germany where you pay the US rate (about $3 per gallon) vs the German rate ($6 per gallon). Ross found us a station, we took a short detour and we were back on the road. For Ross' visit, we rented a car through Hertz. We got an Opel Mokka. A nice little orange SUV. The GPS in it is great! I like it better than the one in my Mazda. She got us everywhere we've needed to go so far with little trouble. And she took us to Strasbourg! The drive was very uneventful and we made it in the estimated 2 hours. It was dark for the entire drive, so unfortunately we didn't get to see much of the countryside while driving.
When we arrived to the city limits we realized Strasbourg was a lot bigger of a city than we thought it would be. All the photos we saw were of one particular spot that led us to believe it was small, quaint and old. It's actually a very big city, has the second largest student population next to Paris, and is home to the European Parliament. Pretty neat.
We found our Air BnB, The SODA Room, easily though parking the car was a challenge. The streets and parking spaces here are tiny, and if you're not comfortable navigating with mere inches between you and obstacles, it's a whole new experience. We eventually wriggled our way into the provided parking spot, and went to our room. We walked through the owners' back yard to get to our room. Their yard was home to a cat and some large floppy rabbits, who could come and go from the hutch in the yard. So fluffy and cute! Ross now has been "attacked" by cats at two separate Air BnBs ... not sure if this is a trend we want to continue! :)
The room itself is a small apartment adjoined to the owner's home, though separated from their living space for privacy. Cute living spaces, furnished with all the creature comforts you'd expect... perfect for our three nights! Our host David came down to meet us after finishing dinner with his family, and ensured everything was up to snuff. We unpacked a bit, then decided to take a walk to explore the city and find some dinner.
The main reason we picked Strasbourg for Christmas was their famous Christmas market. They claim to be the "Capital of Christmas" - and they're not joking! We left our Air BnB on foot and headed in the direction of the market. Lucky for us, it was closer than we originally thought and came across it quickly - just a 10 minute walk. We crossed two rivers, passed under a ye olde stone tower, and *poof*, the bustling city disappeared behind us and we arrived in "Magic Land!" Everything went from busy streets and modern buildings to old, quaint, half-timbered buildings, every street closed to vehicles and decorated from top to bottom. We were in amazement and loved it from the moment we arrived!
We found the main square of the market at the famous cathedral, went to get our first Vin Chaud (hot wine) but it was 9pm and all the chalets were closing - boo! We wandered around a little more looking at all the lights in all the alleyways. We decided to take a chance on a good looking restaurant we came across, and after mustering some of the little French I know, got a seat. It was quickly apparent that Ross' Green Bay Packers t-shirt and Leah's Wisconsin sweater were at the very bottom of the acceptable attire list; this place was FANCY, with seafood towers, barmen in black ties with proper wine pour etiquette, table-side crepes and creme brulee. We stuck it out and had a wonderful meal. We had a mushroom risotto and a veggie lasagna. Ross got a Kronenburg 1664 beer and I had a nice Riesling. This area of France is known for its white wines, so I'm a happy camper! We got through our dinner, walked around a bit more and headed back to the room. Time to get some rest, a full day of Christmas was ahead of us!
Day two in Strasbourg started out comically: We had a Nespresso machine in our room, so we figured we'd make some coffee. Seemed easy, used cups similar to a Keurig... but somehow we managed to get the little pod got crushed and stuck instead of fitting it into the slot just right, and it angrily spit out a few ounces of of hot water. We looked up some how-to videos online, tinkered a bit, and had a bit more success... though determined that it's not meant for making the normal mug sizes we're used to back in 'Murica... all coffees seem to come very small and very strong around these parts.
We sipped down our tiny and extremely strong cup up coffee, bundled up, and after a few pats for the fluffy bunnies and another duel with the feisty cat, we headed out. Since our coffee attempt was a small disaster, we found a cafe to get a snack and caffeine fix. The "Oh My Goodness cafe" was the winner for the today. I ordered a Chai Latte, and Ross an Americano with scone. My Chai was more normal cup of coffee, and Ross' drink was again tiny. The scone was tasty with the provided jam!
From there, we headed to the nearby Historic Cave of the Strasbourg Hospital. What's in this historic cave you ask? Wine! It's the only winery to still be operating under a hospital in France. Apparently that was fairly common in the 14th and 15th centuries, when folks from the region would pay for medical services with the product of their toils... wine! This winery opened in 1395. Yep, over 600 years ago. It was an interesting piece of history and we took a self guided audio tour. There are some barrels that hold A LOT of wine - over 20,000 liters, they stood well over Ross' head, and there were tons of them. One empty barrel was a wedding gift to a couple from the king during the 1800s.
Its biggest claim to fame is that it holds the oldest white wine in the world. The wine was made in 1472 and they still have a small cask and bottle of it on display. No, we didn't taste it. It's only been sipped 3 times in history, and our visit was not reason enough for the 4th taste - unbelievable! (though they say it tastes like straw, so I'm OK with missing that opportunity.) The original casks are on display, though the wine itself has been transferred to newer casks a few times and the old ones fell apart. The also have a small amount in a clear bottle so everyone can see its amber color.
Once through the short tour, we OF COURSE had to buy a bottle of wine! We picked a Gewurztraminer Grand Cru, but have yet to open it. There were plenty of people there just to buy wine! It seemed like most people were buying many bottles vs just one. There was one family there and the little girl who was maybe 3 or 4 was helping load bottles into a shopping basket - super cute! All profits from the wine sales go back into the Hospital, so you can basically call it charity! We procured our one bottle of wine and took it back to the room so we didn't have to worry about it for the afternoon.
After our quick stop back at the room, it was time for lunch. We wandered back to the edge of Magic Land and found an Italian place called Marco Polo. Our French pronunciations must have been getting better because once we said hello and that we wanted a table for two, the waitress kept talking... in French... to which we responded with a deer-in-the-headlights look and some mumbled English. She luckily switched to English and we found our seat. The restaurant was almost empty save one other couple. We had a spot near the window so we could look out at the river and folks crossing the bridge into Magic Land and the area called Le Petite France. We shared an eggplant pizza, sparkling water and a white wine with blackberry liqour. All delicious! With full bellies, we ventured out to Le Petite France.
The area where the Christmas Market & Le Petite France is located is actually an island. The Ils river, tributaries of the Rhine, surrounds this part of Strasbourg. It was a good indicator of when we were coming and going from this magical area. The other good indicator was all the road barriers and security guards. The island was closed off to traffic all weekend from about 10am to 10pm. There was local police and military wandering the market, very much armed up as well. We both appreciated the extra protection and sense of security they provided. We got through security quickly and started our afternoon exploration.
As soon as we crossed the river we found a cool tree that looked kind of like the Game of Thrones tree. We marveled at it for a few minutes and continued our walk. The bridge we crossed had some cool towers that used to guard the entrance to the city long ago. After Ross hugged one of massive towers, mumbling something about Skryim and dragons, we continued on!
The market was in full effect, so we finally got our Vin Chaud! It's the french version of Gluhewein. We had three different kinds: a red, a white, and a white with orange - not all at once though! We both agreed that the red was the best. The white was very strong, and the orange one was tasty, but red won the day. It's the perfect drink for walking the streets on a chilly December day.
I picked up an ornament during my recent visit to the Nuremburg Christmas market, and wanted one from here to add to my new collection. Strasbourg is the capital of Christmas after all, so I was confident I'd find what I was looking for. There were thousands of ornaments to be found, but only a few that said Strasbourg or Alsace on them. I found one in a Christmas shop that caught my eye. It is of one of the famous storks of the Alsace region where Strasbourg is located. You can buy all sorts of stork paraphernalia: hats, aprons, towels, dish sets, etc. From our bit of research storks would migrate to the area every year and the local population took a liking to them. Storks are also very faithful and return to the same nest location every year. Due to various wars throughout time, the city of Strasbourg itself went between France and German rule numerous times, so the people said that as the stork returns to its nest, Strasbourg would return to France. It's a good memento of our time in Strasbourg!
We also ate our way through the Christmas market. Aside from the vin chaud, we popped into a cheese shop that smelled like a pool and farts (Mmmm!) but we tried some anyway. We also found a fresh nougat/marshmallow fluff treat covered in white and milk chocolate. We dubbed it the Diabeetus treat!
The best food of the day was also the last: Mushroom spaetzel! We took it back to our room since we were beat from an entire day of walking. Dinner was delicious and we paired it was a tasty moscato that Ross picked up before we left Germany. A quiet and early dinner, we were in bed by 7pm, totally spent!
Day Totals:
16,700 steps
9.1 Kilometers/5.65 miles walked
Day 3, Christmas Eve, was our last full day in Strasbourg. We skipped the Nespresso machine battle and saved coffee for breakfast. We stopped at a place called Cafe Bretelles Petite ("The Suspenders Cafe") located in Le Petite France. It was a cute little shop that could just as easily be located in Bay View. I got the croissant I've been wanting and a Chai Tea Latte. Ross had a Twixxx treat and Long Black coffee (Long black? Don't let them fool you, it's still tiny.) I had almost ordered a hot chocolate, but decided against it. Good thing, since the workers gave the three or four people sitting in the cafe a cup, on the house, in the name of the holiday! We enjoyed our breakfast and our increasing ability to order while using more French than English. I'm determined to learn the language fluently one day.
After breakfast we headed over to the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg (Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg.) You can see the top of the spire from many places within the City: it's the second tallest church in France and 6th tallest in the world. We wanted to see the astronomical clock that's located inside, so we got in the relatively short line right around 1100. I was looking at the sign and determined that we might be walking into the start of a mass. Sure enough, church was going on at the front of the church. We didn't stay for it all. We got a quick look at all the incredible stained glass windows, carvings, and suspended pipe organ. We never got to see the astronomical clock in action due to the service, but at least we got to visit - the church was closed right after service for the rest of the day.
After the church, we went to the river to get on a Batorama boat tour. We got our 12:30 tickets and promptly hopped in line. Luckily we were able to get good seats once we started boarding. There were headsets for each spot so everyone could listen in their language of choice. The tour was an hour long, and very informative. We heard a lot of history about the location. Ross made note of a few of the places they pointed out and we went to check them out later in the day. Did you know that Strasbourg is the home of European parliament? It is, and we got to see the headquarters... it's an impressive modern building!
Next up for the day was lunch. We found a vegan restaurant! It's called Velicious Burger and it's great! The food was very tasty and it had a hilarious theme. All sorts of angry vegetables trying to escape or to convince people to eat something else! (The carrot was named Charlotte!) We each had a different type of burger, and enjoyed them both.
We decided to stay away from the Christmas market for a little bit and go explore the northern part of the island that was pointed out during our boat tour. We found the Palace of the Rhine, the University Library and other university buildings, St. Paul's church, a cool face statue called the Fountain of Janus.
Now that it was getting into the middle of the afternoon, we headed back into a new section of the Christmas market. So.Many.People! Shoulder to shoulder crowds. I'm glad we had some time where it wasn't so crowded. We saw Santa and grabbed one more vin chaud. This vendor had some neat little mugs for sale - ceramic boot mugs more similar to the one I picked up in Nuremburg, nicer than the "standard" plastic souvenir cup the rest of the vendors sold. I stood there for a while debating whether or not I should get one, but eventually decided against it (it was cute, but I'm sure it would just collect dust.) I consoled myself with our first crepe since being in France: Nutella filled, of course. Yum! Very tasty. We devoured the crepe quickly and got out of the most heavily packed parts of the market.
We found ourselves back in some of the cool alleyways that had all the nice lights up. We stopped in a random bar, L'ideal, for a drink. Ross had a beer and I had the best vin chaud of the entire weekend. A red one with oranges. It was also our last of the trip. Ended on a high note! We sat in the front of the bar looking out the big window at all the people shuffling by with all their purchases and cameras. Eventually we joined them again and visited a few random shops. A punk themed store, and one with a bunch of neat travel items, science toys, teas, essential oils, and other random things. By now, it was dinner time!
Not surprisingly, it was difficult to find a restaurant open for dinner on Christmas Eve. We searched for close to an hour. We thought we found one, but turns out they were only currently open for drinks, we could come back in 45 minutes to eat. That was the current plan. We wandered around and came across another place that appeared to be open. We managed to convey in French that we wanted to eat and they let us sit down. We ended up being the very last people the let in for dinner. They turned away a good handful of others that were hoping to eat. I ordered a hot chocolate (which ended up being a warm chocolate) and Ross ordered a Grog... we had no idea what it was, but what the heck! A cup of hot liquid with a lemon in it arrived with a Darjeeling tea bag on the saucer. Apparently Grog is hot Havana Club rum, lemon, and water and a steeped bag of tea. Ross added a sugar cube and squeezed the lemon into the drink. It really wasn't too bad. For dinner we ate some spaghetti with red sauce and a flat bread veggie pizza. Another successful dinner! Yum!
Our final evening was winding down. We walked back towards the main entrance to the Christmas market for one last look. Ross gave me a twirl, dip and kiss, then we wandered back to our room. We made it a few hours longer this night than the night before.
Day Totals:
21,700 steps
13.2 kilometers/8.2 miles
Our last morning in Strasbourg was us just relaxing and packing up. Our check out time was 1100. What a great weekend! Strasbourg is truly a magical place during Christmas! I'm not sure it could have been any better. I loved it all! It's definitely a highlight of Ross' visit, but we have Paris for New Year's Eve coming up, so more epic travels will be had! Stay tuned!!
Merry Christmas to you all and thank you to all who sent us gifts and well wishes!
Weekend Totals:
Steps taken: 39,000
Miles walked: 14
Vin Chaud consumed: 5
French words learned: Not quite enough
(Ross speaking) I've been here for just over a week. The flight in was smooth and uneventful, other than arriving 90 minutes late for a 60 minute layover in Iceland. Luckily, many of the inbound planes were late, so the airline held all connecting flights until we could make it. WOW is definitely a "budget-friendly" Airline -aka- you pay for every little thing beyond the seat you sit in. Checked bag? charge. Carry-on? charge. Pick you own seat? charge. Peanuts or water? Yep, you get the picture! It was still cheaper than competitors even after all the nickel-and-diming, and I got here without incident, so I'm pleased! Thumbs up! The best part of the flight was seeing the northern lights after sundown. They first appeared real faint, I thought "meh" ... but after a few hours the whole horizon was glowing green. Magical! (Note: my camera couldn't capture it well, so the following photo is stolen from elsewhere on the internet!)
 |
| Artist's depiction of what I saw. |
(Leah speaking) I got out of work an hour early, so we packed up quick and started out for our destination of Strasbourg, France. I thought we had gotten everything set until right as we were leaving base. I realized we needed gas. You'd think that'd be no big deal, but I have this little card that you can use at certain gas stations on and off base in Germany where you pay the US rate (about $3 per gallon) vs the German rate ($6 per gallon). Ross found us a station, we took a short detour and we were back on the road. For Ross' visit, we rented a car through Hertz. We got an Opel Mokka. A nice little orange SUV. The GPS in it is great! I like it better than the one in my Mazda. She got us everywhere we've needed to go so far with little trouble. And she took us to Strasbourg! The drive was very uneventful and we made it in the estimated 2 hours. It was dark for the entire drive, so unfortunately we didn't get to see much of the countryside while driving.
When we arrived to the city limits we realized Strasbourg was a lot bigger of a city than we thought it would be. All the photos we saw were of one particular spot that led us to believe it was small, quaint and old. It's actually a very big city, has the second largest student population next to Paris, and is home to the European Parliament. Pretty neat.
We found our Air BnB, The SODA Room, easily though parking the car was a challenge. The streets and parking spaces here are tiny, and if you're not comfortable navigating with mere inches between you and obstacles, it's a whole new experience. We eventually wriggled our way into the provided parking spot, and went to our room. We walked through the owners' back yard to get to our room. Their yard was home to a cat and some large floppy rabbits, who could come and go from the hutch in the yard. So fluffy and cute! Ross now has been "attacked" by cats at two separate Air BnBs ... not sure if this is a trend we want to continue! :)
The room itself is a small apartment adjoined to the owner's home, though separated from their living space for privacy. Cute living spaces, furnished with all the creature comforts you'd expect... perfect for our three nights! Our host David came down to meet us after finishing dinner with his family, and ensured everything was up to snuff. We unpacked a bit, then decided to take a walk to explore the city and find some dinner.
The main reason we picked Strasbourg for Christmas was their famous Christmas market. They claim to be the "Capital of Christmas" - and they're not joking! We left our Air BnB on foot and headed in the direction of the market. Lucky for us, it was closer than we originally thought and came across it quickly - just a 10 minute walk. We crossed two rivers, passed under a ye olde stone tower, and *poof*, the bustling city disappeared behind us and we arrived in "Magic Land!" Everything went from busy streets and modern buildings to old, quaint, half-timbered buildings, every street closed to vehicles and decorated from top to bottom. We were in amazement and loved it from the moment we arrived!
We found the main square of the market at the famous cathedral, went to get our first Vin Chaud (hot wine) but it was 9pm and all the chalets were closing - boo! We wandered around a little more looking at all the lights in all the alleyways. We decided to take a chance on a good looking restaurant we came across, and after mustering some of the little French I know, got a seat. It was quickly apparent that Ross' Green Bay Packers t-shirt and Leah's Wisconsin sweater were at the very bottom of the acceptable attire list; this place was FANCY, with seafood towers, barmen in black ties with proper wine pour etiquette, table-side crepes and creme brulee. We stuck it out and had a wonderful meal. We had a mushroom risotto and a veggie lasagna. Ross got a Kronenburg 1664 beer and I had a nice Riesling. This area of France is known for its white wines, so I'm a happy camper! We got through our dinner, walked around a bit more and headed back to the room. Time to get some rest, a full day of Christmas was ahead of us!
Day two in Strasbourg started out comically: We had a Nespresso machine in our room, so we figured we'd make some coffee. Seemed easy, used cups similar to a Keurig... but somehow we managed to get the little pod got crushed and stuck instead of fitting it into the slot just right, and it angrily spit out a few ounces of of hot water. We looked up some how-to videos online, tinkered a bit, and had a bit more success... though determined that it's not meant for making the normal mug sizes we're used to back in 'Murica... all coffees seem to come very small and very strong around these parts.
We sipped down our tiny and extremely strong cup up coffee, bundled up, and after a few pats for the fluffy bunnies and another duel with the feisty cat, we headed out. Since our coffee attempt was a small disaster, we found a cafe to get a snack and caffeine fix. The "Oh My Goodness cafe" was the winner for the today. I ordered a Chai Latte, and Ross an Americano with scone. My Chai was more normal cup of coffee, and Ross' drink was again tiny. The scone was tasty with the provided jam!
From there, we headed to the nearby Historic Cave of the Strasbourg Hospital. What's in this historic cave you ask? Wine! It's the only winery to still be operating under a hospital in France. Apparently that was fairly common in the 14th and 15th centuries, when folks from the region would pay for medical services with the product of their toils... wine! This winery opened in 1395. Yep, over 600 years ago. It was an interesting piece of history and we took a self guided audio tour. There are some barrels that hold A LOT of wine - over 20,000 liters, they stood well over Ross' head, and there were tons of them. One empty barrel was a wedding gift to a couple from the king during the 1800s.
Its biggest claim to fame is that it holds the oldest white wine in the world. The wine was made in 1472 and they still have a small cask and bottle of it on display. No, we didn't taste it. It's only been sipped 3 times in history, and our visit was not reason enough for the 4th taste - unbelievable! (though they say it tastes like straw, so I'm OK with missing that opportunity.) The original casks are on display, though the wine itself has been transferred to newer casks a few times and the old ones fell apart. The also have a small amount in a clear bottle so everyone can see its amber color.
Once through the short tour, we OF COURSE had to buy a bottle of wine! We picked a Gewurztraminer Grand Cru, but have yet to open it. There were plenty of people there just to buy wine! It seemed like most people were buying many bottles vs just one. There was one family there and the little girl who was maybe 3 or 4 was helping load bottles into a shopping basket - super cute! All profits from the wine sales go back into the Hospital, so you can basically call it charity! We procured our one bottle of wine and took it back to the room so we didn't have to worry about it for the afternoon.
After our quick stop back at the room, it was time for lunch. We wandered back to the edge of Magic Land and found an Italian place called Marco Polo. Our French pronunciations must have been getting better because once we said hello and that we wanted a table for two, the waitress kept talking... in French... to which we responded with a deer-in-the-headlights look and some mumbled English. She luckily switched to English and we found our seat. The restaurant was almost empty save one other couple. We had a spot near the window so we could look out at the river and folks crossing the bridge into Magic Land and the area called Le Petite France. We shared an eggplant pizza, sparkling water and a white wine with blackberry liqour. All delicious! With full bellies, we ventured out to Le Petite France.
The area where the Christmas Market & Le Petite France is located is actually an island. The Ils river, tributaries of the Rhine, surrounds this part of Strasbourg. It was a good indicator of when we were coming and going from this magical area. The other good indicator was all the road barriers and security guards. The island was closed off to traffic all weekend from about 10am to 10pm. There was local police and military wandering the market, very much armed up as well. We both appreciated the extra protection and sense of security they provided. We got through security quickly and started our afternoon exploration.
As soon as we crossed the river we found a cool tree that looked kind of like the Game of Thrones tree. We marveled at it for a few minutes and continued our walk. The bridge we crossed had some cool towers that used to guard the entrance to the city long ago. After Ross hugged one of massive towers, mumbling something about Skryim and dragons, we continued on!
The market was in full effect, so we finally got our Vin Chaud! It's the french version of Gluhewein. We had three different kinds: a red, a white, and a white with orange - not all at once though! We both agreed that the red was the best. The white was very strong, and the orange one was tasty, but red won the day. It's the perfect drink for walking the streets on a chilly December day.
I picked up an ornament during my recent visit to the Nuremburg Christmas market, and wanted one from here to add to my new collection. Strasbourg is the capital of Christmas after all, so I was confident I'd find what I was looking for. There were thousands of ornaments to be found, but only a few that said Strasbourg or Alsace on them. I found one in a Christmas shop that caught my eye. It is of one of the famous storks of the Alsace region where Strasbourg is located. You can buy all sorts of stork paraphernalia: hats, aprons, towels, dish sets, etc. From our bit of research storks would migrate to the area every year and the local population took a liking to them. Storks are also very faithful and return to the same nest location every year. Due to various wars throughout time, the city of Strasbourg itself went between France and German rule numerous times, so the people said that as the stork returns to its nest, Strasbourg would return to France. It's a good memento of our time in Strasbourg!
We also ate our way through the Christmas market. Aside from the vin chaud, we popped into a cheese shop that smelled like a pool and farts (Mmmm!) but we tried some anyway. We also found a fresh nougat/marshmallow fluff treat covered in white and milk chocolate. We dubbed it the Diabeetus treat!
The best food of the day was also the last: Mushroom spaetzel! We took it back to our room since we were beat from an entire day of walking. Dinner was delicious and we paired it was a tasty moscato that Ross picked up before we left Germany. A quiet and early dinner, we were in bed by 7pm, totally spent!
Day Totals:
16,700 steps
9.1 Kilometers/5.65 miles walked
Day 3, Christmas Eve, was our last full day in Strasbourg. We skipped the Nespresso machine battle and saved coffee for breakfast. We stopped at a place called Cafe Bretelles Petite ("The Suspenders Cafe") located in Le Petite France. It was a cute little shop that could just as easily be located in Bay View. I got the croissant I've been wanting and a Chai Tea Latte. Ross had a Twixxx treat and Long Black coffee (Long black? Don't let them fool you, it's still tiny.) I had almost ordered a hot chocolate, but decided against it. Good thing, since the workers gave the three or four people sitting in the cafe a cup, on the house, in the name of the holiday! We enjoyed our breakfast and our increasing ability to order while using more French than English. I'm determined to learn the language fluently one day.
After breakfast we headed over to the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg (Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg.) You can see the top of the spire from many places within the City: it's the second tallest church in France and 6th tallest in the world. We wanted to see the astronomical clock that's located inside, so we got in the relatively short line right around 1100. I was looking at the sign and determined that we might be walking into the start of a mass. Sure enough, church was going on at the front of the church. We didn't stay for it all. We got a quick look at all the incredible stained glass windows, carvings, and suspended pipe organ. We never got to see the astronomical clock in action due to the service, but at least we got to visit - the church was closed right after service for the rest of the day.
After the church, we went to the river to get on a Batorama boat tour. We got our 12:30 tickets and promptly hopped in line. Luckily we were able to get good seats once we started boarding. There were headsets for each spot so everyone could listen in their language of choice. The tour was an hour long, and very informative. We heard a lot of history about the location. Ross made note of a few of the places they pointed out and we went to check them out later in the day. Did you know that Strasbourg is the home of European parliament? It is, and we got to see the headquarters... it's an impressive modern building!
Next up for the day was lunch. We found a vegan restaurant! It's called Velicious Burger and it's great! The food was very tasty and it had a hilarious theme. All sorts of angry vegetables trying to escape or to convince people to eat something else! (The carrot was named Charlotte!) We each had a different type of burger, and enjoyed them both.
We decided to stay away from the Christmas market for a little bit and go explore the northern part of the island that was pointed out during our boat tour. We found the Palace of the Rhine, the University Library and other university buildings, St. Paul's church, a cool face statue called the Fountain of Janus.
Now that it was getting into the middle of the afternoon, we headed back into a new section of the Christmas market. So.Many.People! Shoulder to shoulder crowds. I'm glad we had some time where it wasn't so crowded. We saw Santa and grabbed one more vin chaud. This vendor had some neat little mugs for sale - ceramic boot mugs more similar to the one I picked up in Nuremburg, nicer than the "standard" plastic souvenir cup the rest of the vendors sold. I stood there for a while debating whether or not I should get one, but eventually decided against it (it was cute, but I'm sure it would just collect dust.) I consoled myself with our first crepe since being in France: Nutella filled, of course. Yum! Very tasty. We devoured the crepe quickly and got out of the most heavily packed parts of the market.
We found ourselves back in some of the cool alleyways that had all the nice lights up. We stopped in a random bar, L'ideal, for a drink. Ross had a beer and I had the best vin chaud of the entire weekend. A red one with oranges. It was also our last of the trip. Ended on a high note! We sat in the front of the bar looking out the big window at all the people shuffling by with all their purchases and cameras. Eventually we joined them again and visited a few random shops. A punk themed store, and one with a bunch of neat travel items, science toys, teas, essential oils, and other random things. By now, it was dinner time!
Not surprisingly, it was difficult to find a restaurant open for dinner on Christmas Eve. We searched for close to an hour. We thought we found one, but turns out they were only currently open for drinks, we could come back in 45 minutes to eat. That was the current plan. We wandered around and came across another place that appeared to be open. We managed to convey in French that we wanted to eat and they let us sit down. We ended up being the very last people the let in for dinner. They turned away a good handful of others that were hoping to eat. I ordered a hot chocolate (which ended up being a warm chocolate) and Ross ordered a Grog... we had no idea what it was, but what the heck! A cup of hot liquid with a lemon in it arrived with a Darjeeling tea bag on the saucer. Apparently Grog is hot Havana Club rum, lemon, and water and a steeped bag of tea. Ross added a sugar cube and squeezed the lemon into the drink. It really wasn't too bad. For dinner we ate some spaghetti with red sauce and a flat bread veggie pizza. Another successful dinner! Yum!
Our final evening was winding down. We walked back towards the main entrance to the Christmas market for one last look. Ross gave me a twirl, dip and kiss, then we wandered back to our room. We made it a few hours longer this night than the night before.
Day Totals:
21,700 steps
13.2 kilometers/8.2 miles
Our last morning in Strasbourg was us just relaxing and packing up. Our check out time was 1100. What a great weekend! Strasbourg is truly a magical place during Christmas! I'm not sure it could have been any better. I loved it all! It's definitely a highlight of Ross' visit, but we have Paris for New Year's Eve coming up, so more epic travels will be had! Stay tuned!!
Merry Christmas to you all and thank you to all who sent us gifts and well wishes!
Weekend Totals:
Steps taken: 39,000
Miles walked: 14
Vin Chaud consumed: 5
French words learned: Not quite enough
Been eagerly waiting for this post... and it sure was worth the wait!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful experience for you two... and by your post I feel like I was (almost) there with you/s!
Merry Christmas to you both ...you sure make a cute smiley couple! (make that the three of you... can't leave Cheeky out!)
Have a fantastic Paris New Years celebration...I'll be thinking of you and waiting to hear of that adventure too!
Love and cyber-hugs to you both! ...dang... I mean the three of you!
~ Meem