Blogs from Alsace, France, Europe - page 31

2.-6.2.09 Uimahallireissu, opiskelua Juha ja Lare saivat joululahjaksi kymmenenkerran kortit meidän paikalliseen uimahalliin, ihan meidän lähiruokakauppojen naapuriin. Nyt vihdoin oli aikaa kokeilla. Lare tuli kotiin todeten "AIKAMOISTA. Siellä oli vieläpä suihkutkin." Isi tarkensi että suihkut oli, muttei tietenkään saunaa, joten hauskaa oli, mutta pienen pojan lämpimänä pitäminen oli haasteellista. Lupasivat mennä toistekin. Äiti puolestaan keskittyi kokeisiin lukemiseen, sen mitä tällä kokoonpanolla pystyy. Jos ei ole vielä tullut suoraan sanottua, niin sanotaan nyt: Lasten kanssa opiskelu on joskus hyvin vaikeaa! Töitäkin kun pitää yhden tehdä. Sitten taas kun on jo saanut hepulin pariin kertaan, muistaa että niiden miniriiviöiden "ansiosta" täällä ollaan opiskelemassa. Sitten vielä päätyy ihmettelemään että hitsit, sitä pystyy jotenkuten opiskelemaan ja lapsetkin on niin ihmee... read more

So another weekend and another adventure. This past weekend I traveled to Strasbourg, France. It is only a two hour train ride from Luxembourg City. After classes on Friday we went home to get all of our stuff together and took the 4:10 train to Strasbourg. We got into Strasbourg around 6:30. I was already dark out and we had to find our way to our hostel. We had to take a 5 minute walk and then catch a tram. They have trams that go all over the city. They don't have as many buses or trains, the main form of public transportation in the main city center are the trams. These trams look like trains, but are more like buses. They run down the streets but are on guided tracks. Once we got off the ... read more

As I mentioned another entry, Strasbourg views itself as the Capital of Christmas. As such, they really do the holidays up right! The city is lit up beautifully. Many of the designs and the types of lights are brand new to me. The Christmas markets are really nice as well. All high quality items. As I said before, nothing toxic from China to be found anywhere. I brought home some marshmellow chocolates. They were a little crushed when I got home. But they sure disappeared quickly. Here are some photos of the Holidays in Strasbourg. Enjoy.... read more

Bonjour à tous! Wow, I've been very busy the past few weeks; having fun of course and teaching here and there. Two Sundays ago I had a "galette des rois" with lunch with the family I spend every Sunday with in Mulhouse. The feast of the Epiphany or Kings, on January 6, is celebrated here in France and they eat a "galette des Rois." This is a kind of cake, with a trinket (usually a porcelain figurine of a king) or a bean hidden inside. The person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket becomes "king" or "queen" for a day. Yesterday, Pascale bought "une galette des Rois" for me to try after lunch. Solenne cut the galette into 6 slices and Estelle (without looking), assigned a piece of cake to each person. The ... read more

This morning we jumped on the train to take a trip to Colmar. This is a smaller town about half an hour away, and is another one of the pretty little towns that are on the wine trail in this area. The town was beautiful, with lovely buildings and gardens, and the christmas markets had a great atmosphere. The first market was pretty traditional, but the second market we went to had all sorts of local artisans and antique dealers displaying their wares; we have seen some stunning jewellery today. We walked the town, and were really glad that we had made the effort to go there. We then came back to Strasbourg and had a rest before walking into town once again after dark. We went a different way into town and walked past all ... read more