Near the border of France and Germany, Strasbourg showcases an amazing mixture of French and Germany culture. It can be seen immediately in the architecture, which savors strongly of timber framed houses, generally associated with Germany, and built closely together along the Rhine River. Strasbourg was one of my favorite cities that we have visited this semester. The harmony of the German influenced mixed with French heritage is so smoothly spread throughout the old city that it just mesmerized me, and I fell in love with everything about Strasbourg.
One building that made my interest in Strasbourg peak was the amazing sandstone cathedral that towers over the city. It is massive; and has a uniquely “pink and deep red” color that distinguished it from the many other cathedrals we have seen. We I walked into the cathedral I literally gasped at the size of the nave and was in awe of the domed alter at the head of the nave. It is defiantly my favorite cathedral in France, next to “ours” in Reims.
The boat tour we took of the city was extremely memorable; not just because of the sights and the history or even going through the “lock and dam” system that is essential for life on the Rhine—no it was memorable because of the audio guide. The translation from French to English was well done, but literal and hilarious in many ways. Language is amazing in the ways that it translates and then doesn’t. Many phrases were said or stories were told that did not make a lot of sense in our native English; and the speaker was not as “chipper” as he could have been—none the less we were entertained and enjoyed our trip to Strasbourg immensely.
oh yeah and we got to sit in on a session of the EUROPEAN UNION which is based in strasbourg....too cool, huh?
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