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Bonjour! Or is that Guten Tag?
After much deliberation, Strasbourg was selected as my next destination. It is a beautiful city located right on the border of France and Germany. It has spent much of it's history being either French or German depending on who won the battle at the time but since 1946 it was officially made a French city.
Although French, the german influence in the city is unmissable and most of the older generation speak both French and german (some, like the lovely old man I met, even speak English!) Strasbourg is the main centre in the Alsasce-Lorrain region and they also have their own language (Alsacse) as well, apparently it is dying out though as the older generation are the only ones who speak it. (Dorothy, if you are reading this, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. My information source wasn't neccessarily that reliable.)
I only had 2 days here and there is actually quite a lot to do. I headed straight to the Old Town, where the famous red sandstone, gothic Cathedral is. It's pretty hard to miss as the tower is over 66 metres high and you can see it from almost anywhere in the city. A handy landmark if you get lost in the winding alleyways and lanes of the old town or Petit France. Like many other wealthy cities of the 1600's, the Cathedral houses an Astronomical clock, which only chimes at the quarter past but not every hour. There is a reason for it but I can't remember what it is, something to do with moon and it's phases I think.
After the Cathedral, I went wandering around the old town. In the last 3 months I've seen a lot of Old Towns and I have to say that Strasbourg's would have to be the most impressive. There are loads of half-timbered or stone houses. The whe area is incredibly pretty with the blooming flower boxes in the windows and the river running through the city. Petit France is particularly pretty because it is an island in the river and the houses and shops all cling to the edge of the river just as they have for over 400 years.
On day two, I was keen for a bit of culture so headed to the Musee des Beaux Arts (museum of fine arts). Not sure what time this place opens but it certainly wasn't before 11am! While I waited for the museum to open, I explored the old hospital area (not very exciting) and walked along the river bank. Hazarding a guess that the Museum would be open at 1pm, I ventured back there. I was in luck and finally got my dose of culture. The Museum isn't very big but has some good pieces by Rubens, Rembrandt and Van Dyk. Was well worth the 5€. After this, my new friend and I went to chill out in L'Orangerie, a big park in the (very) posh area of Strasbourg. Just down the road is the Council of Europe... based in really uninspiring 1960's building.
The next day I was off to Heidelberg, Germany. Heidelberg is famous for it's castle and old town. The old town is old but doesn't have the same romanticism about it as Strasbourg. The Castle is very impressive! Not fully intact but you can imagine quite easily how vast it once was and most of the building and details remain today. It also houses the worlds biggest beer vat! Not a lot else to do here unless you hire a bike and cycle around the Neckar valley vineyards. It was very rainy so I didn't do that.
I was flying out of Frankfurt, so caught the train back there on Sunday. Completely fogetting the every shop in Germany is closed on Sunday, I went for a walk around the city centre and to be honest it cold and uneventful.
Today, I flew to New York and will obviously let you know how ir goes in the next installment.
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