Let's take a mini break. Strasbourg is the capital city of the Alsace region of France. In its history, its ownership has flipflop several times between Germany and France. Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany is near the Black Forest and is supposedly the warmest and sunniest place in Germany.
All in Attendance: Eric and Kristen
Tobias returned to Melbourne, Australia after his internship and subsequent European travels. We went out for dinner on Friday at the painfully cliché Austrailian restaurant in Zürich, The Outback Lodge. Menu was standard Swiss priced ($$) and highlights include kangaroo, emu and alligator.
One this note, the mini break weekend began. Eric and I took the train on Saturday morning (after a lot of hap-hazardous packing and little sleep). We connected to Strasbourg via Basel. Tickets were only 33 CHF. HOWEVER, in true Switzerland crazy fashion, they charged us 15CHF for "fees". Eugh, thanks guys.
Highlights of the train ride include finally trying that curious green cake I see all the time at Migros. The result? Somewhere between a creamy-coffeeless tiramisu and marzipan whats-its. Strasbourg was very windy but very beautiful in a quaint-small-town kind of way. Lots of cute bars dot the area near the train station that attract a variety of headliners from Flux Pavilion to The Submarines. It was a pretty chilly day and the sky was quite gloomy but the visit to the town itself was still lovely.
The train station is shaped like a giant shiny alien egg. Located on the Grande Île in Strasbourg is Petite-France, a collection of streets along canals reminiscent of a time period long ago. Picturesque and lovely. Don't worry, there's also no shortage of cute French cafés.
Cute cafés which appear dirt cheap from Swiss price indoctrination.
Cathédrale Notre Dame? No trip to a French city is complete without it. Scenic pictures from above the local Cathedral? Check.
We stayed at a hotel that offered us a crazy deal from bookings.com (Comfort Hotel Montagne Verte for 18 euros a night). A feather down bed, ensuite bathroom, kettle and television? I forgot what life is like outside of hostels.
For dinner we ate at Poêles de Carottes, a vegetarian restaurent which had carrot lights in the window.
Wandering around in the cold wind all day and a nightlife that starts when Calgary's usually end results in an early night on an expensive bed.
zzzZZzzzzZZZZzzzz
Wake up and spaz out. Regardless of careful planning, there is no way to arrive to catch a intercity train other than by running. We ran like crazy and then took the tram patiently and arrived with a few minutes to spare for our train to Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. Again, Freiburg is said to be the 'greenest city' in Germany because it has the most sunlight hours. Things we bought in the vending machine as snacks include Kinder Bueno bars and a waffle (my new obsession since Belgium).
Martinstor, Notre Dame (Strasbourg), look out tower, Freiburg Minster
Not to much to do in Freiburg when you only have a few hours to see the sites. A stop at the Freiburg Minster, a walk up the mossy beautiful path to a tower which blew gusty winds in your face and we saw the Martinstor (one of the original city gates) which Eric told me is now nicknamed the "McDonalds Gate" because of the Mcdonalds located nearby that printed its name onto the gate. We ate Chinese food (oh how I miss you) and ate sinful lactose-intolerant Häagen-Dazs ice cream. We wandered into a the Naturmuseum to see a snake exhibit.
We use the German ride share to get home for 10 euros each. I really wish Canada used something this widespread. I feel as though every German I meet participates in this carpooling/ride sharing method and thus travels everywhere for so cheap.
Things I liked:
- Finally, a trip with no agenda of 15 things to see. Almost "relaxing"
- Cute French cafés, as always
- Häagen-Dazs is an American company that attempted to make their name appear Scandinavian (see foreign branding)
- McDonalds is very posh in Europe and Europeans find it startling that it's so plastic-furniture-chic in North America
