It took us under three hours by train, and the ride cut through the gorgeous German country side and for a while through the Black Forest.
Strasbourg is in the Alsace région (state) of France, where my mom's mom's family comes from. It's actually a fascinating area (not to mention beautiful), because Alsace has been traded back and forth between the French and the Germans for centuries. So you can see the influence of both cultures all over the city (cf. the half-timbered houses in the above photo).
Many streets also have both French and German names. ("Little Rooster Alley")
We went to the cathedral. (rose window)
And climbed up the tower. Here you can see the market.
the cathedral
Strasbourg is very pretty.
For lunch we had delicious French food from a pâtisserie. Then we went to the Musée zoologique, which was very cool - and cheap (€1,50)! Plus the woman at the counter thought we were German when she heard me struggling with French, so she spoke to us auf Deutsch!
The museum consisted of tons of taxidermied animals. Most of them weren't dressed up like something from Narnia, but I couldn't resist this photo op. It was actually extremely interesting and well done over all. They even had two mounted coelocanths.
We also went to the European Parliament, where the EU's legislature meets.
Then I bought an oddly shaped French baguette to take back to Constance with me. (It has horns on the ends!)
And today I walked back to Insel Mainau with two friends. We could see the Alps as we crossed the bridge! I love studying abroad!
