Day 1 - We flew into Basel, Switzerland which is located at the
meeting point of France & Germany (you can see all 3 countries at the same
time). Our 1st stop was
Kayserberg, a small Alsatian town with timber framed buildings. They were all decked out with Christmas
decorations. One interesting thing is
that they have storks nesting on top of their buildings. We spent most of the time shopping but did
stop for lunch. I went for the Flammekueche - the menu wasn’t in English, so I kept my
fingers crossed. I was rewarded with something that looked like pizza with no sauce. I
wish we would have had more time in Kayserberg – I would definitely go
back. Our next stop was Riquewihr,
another tiny village with a 16th century vintner’s house. I guess this region is known for its Riesling
wine – we did a little wine tasting & a little shopping. I bought some glass ornaments that were
etched while I watched & waited – very cool! After a long day, we jumped in the bus to
head to Strasbourg, where we would be staying.
We had 7:30 pm reservations for dinner – unfortunately, we didn’t make
those reservations. We are driving down the highway on the bus, having a good
time – talking about all the goodies we just bought. When all of a sudden the bus comes to a screeching
halt – we had taken an exit & were going through an underpass BUT the bus did
not fit! The screeching noise was the
hood of the bus getting jammed under the concrete bridge. The bus driver yells “everyone out – don’t
grab anything, just go!”, the top of the bus has the air conditioning unit
& wiring – he was afraid it would start on fire. So – out we go, into the very cold, very dark
night and of course, it starts raining.
At 1st it was exciting – something to write about in our
blogs but after 45 minutes of huddling together under the bridge, we decided
this was lame. Thankfully, after another
30 minutes another bus arrives to pick us up & take us to our hotel. At this point, we had missed our dinner
reservation. Some of the ladies walked
into town & grabbed a sandwich – I just called it a night.
Day 2 – We started with a walking tour of Strasbourg. It’s an interesting place; it was French
& then German & then French again.
So there are influences from both countries. It was beautifully decorated, they even had
Baccarat crystal chandeliers hanging between the streets. We saw
a Romanesque Gothic Cathedral built during the 12th – 15th
centuries. It’s pretty amazing! We stopped
in to hear the choir sing – there are beautiful tapestries hanging along the
walls. It’s very cold inside & we
don’t stay long. Gutenberg lived in
Strasbourg for some time, so there are some statues of him. We stood in the courtyard of the Palace Rohan
& heard about all the scandals that went on. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping
– I bought gingerbread that was beautifully decorated & porcelain candle
holders (dome shaped with Christmas scenes) & some Christmas tree napkin
rings. That night we went to dinner – I have
no idea where. They said it was a French
restaurant but the person next to me had a plate of meat with a side of meat –
looked German (just saying). My favorite
thing – Pretzel bread! Oh my word – I could
just eat that, it was so good!! How have
I never had this before – loved it! I
would go back just to eat this again J
Day 3 – We spend most of the morning in Colmar, it’s a
beautiful place with picturesque houses & bridges. Lots of shopping & food - I found a tea
shop! There is a gothic church there (St
Martin’s) – it was built in the 1200’s.
I spent a lot of time wandering around & people watching – eating pretzels
(that are so good!) Our last stop before
we left was Obernai – which sits at the foot of Mount Ste-Odile, it’s an old
imperial city. They had a live nativity
set. David our guide took a couple of us
to the town hall where we got to taste a lot of different things. It was a nice way to end our trip.
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