Advertisement
Published: March 22nd 2006
Alison and Allison in TV Room
This is the effects of our 5 hour night train. We were tired. Neither were happy that I took this picture, but hey, they smiled!Remember When We Uberrheigd to Germany?
I'm a bit behind, but only by a few days - a good record for me!
While many of my fellow students were heading to Ireland for St. Patrick's Day weekend, and while this was my initial intention while in Europe at this time, I opted out. Why you ask? Firstly, I've already done the Dublin thing. 2. IT WOULD BE CRAZY! I've been told of just how wonderful the trip was, but that still doesn't make me regret my decision!! So, Allison, Alison and I decided to head to Strasbourg (France) for the weekend. We had no particular reason for going there for that particular weekend, but went anyways!
Strasbourg is a city on the border to Germany. It's in the Alsace region, making it a region that was fought over between France and Germany for many years. Since 1944, however, Strasbourg has been part of France and will stay that way (Unless Germany goes crazy again and wants it back!) This part of history alone made me intrigued by the city.
Thursday March 16 We decided to try out a night train in order to save money on
accomodation on the Thursday night. We left Rouen on a train to Paris at 8:00pm, arriving around 9:30pm. We proceeded to the metro to transfer from Paris St. Lazare to Paris Est. Paris has numerous train stations serving different parts of France. St. Lazare serves Normandy - hence why I arrived through it!
At 11:30, we borded the train on the way to Strasbourg, finding out that our tickets were not for cabins, but for regular seats on a VERY empty train. Alison and I were sat beside each other, but spread out as there were only about 5 people in our section, and we knew the night train would not be the most popular mode of transportation that night (Not everyone is as crazy as us!) We settled in, listening to our music and trying to get comfortable in the small seats. I probably switched positions about 5 times throughout the 5 hour train ride, never really getting comfortable until about 3am. I managed to sleep for 2.5 hrs before I was awoken by Allison telling me we were there. I was not impressed.
Friday March 17 Strasbourg at 5:30am was cold. Instead of taking a
bus, we decided to take our chances and took a cab to our hostel - hoping it wouldn't be too expensive. The cab ride ended up being only 5 euros, meaning each of us paid under 2 euros each - about the same price as a bus and WE WERE WARM! We got into the hostel and were told that we couldn't get into our room until 3pm. We weren't really surprised and kindly allowed to leave our bags in the storage facility (which was actually safe this time - unlike Glasgow's open door policy!) We were also let into the TV room where we watched some MTV (in French), making fun of the crazy videos and relaxing as much as possible. It wasn't like we expecting to get any sleep on the floor!
Around 8:30am, we decided to hit the city, vowing to find some food to fill our empty stomachs. We came across a food market, found a bakery counter, with a great deal of 3 items for 2 euros! We all picked from the delicious options (I got a donut, and 2 different types of Pain au Chocolat because I could!) and proceeded to explore the
city. We checked out the Cathedral as all European cities have Cathedrals! This one had an old astrological clock that chimed 12-noon at 12:30. It was apparantly a big thing... We didn't witness it.
We headed throughout the city towards Petite France - which seemed odd as Strasbourg was in France... All the signs throughout the city were in French and German, and in the tourist areas, in English too, which led me to call it a "Trilingual City". A Canal runs through the city, which lent itself to many photographic moments. We went to an Italian restaurant (because we always end up there) and had pizza (because we always do!).
Following this, we decided to try back at our hostel, and as luck would have it, our room was ready. There was already a roommate in the room, Eve. Eve was British, and travelling on her own for a few months. She told us all about her travels and had some amusing stories about saunas and old German men. The room was an 8-bed all-female dorm with an en-suite Bathroom. A very nice set-up actually - probably the best place I've stayed in yet! Everything was new
as the hostel was newly renovated.
As we still hadn't slept, the three of us were beginning to get a bit tired. We laid on our beds and attempted to get a plan for the night, but instead all fell asleep within a few minutes of talking about it. We awoke around 7pm, feeling refreshed and ready to hit the town at an Irish pub for St. Patrick's. Our initial plan was to find a place that served food and we could sit down and enjoy a pint or two and eat. Instead, the one place we found was intensely packed (See pictures). We had a pint each of Guinness and chatted until it was done. From there, we headed to a pub/restaurant that looked a lot emptier and sat down (in the no-smoking section that consisted of 4 tables and was empty). We found out, however, that they were no longer serving food, and left. We found a kebab place and all shared a small pizza with a side of fries each. Sooooo full, but oh so good!
We headed back to hostel, grabbed the caramel vodka and cola that Alison geniously stuck in her bag before
Building on Canal
I really like this picture! we left, and headed down to the bar area. We found a table off to the side, away from smokers, and played some cards and had a few drinks. Around 12am, we headed up to our room, exhausted after a very long day.
Saturday March 18 The next morning, we ate our free breakfast (after 'helping ourselves' to extra croissants for free). We decided that we wanted to go to Germany that day, and asked at the front desk for the best route. The man pulled out a map and told us which bus to catch (yes, a city bus to Germany!). We headed out, and were distracted by the many markets on the side - including some cheap book tents. Allison found 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' in French, and I found 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' for 2 euros. I've never bought a book so cheap! It was, obviously, in English as I have no illusions that I can read French!
We finally got to the bus stop and found out it was only 1.20 euro for the trip to Germany - so crazy. We went over the Rhine (yay!!) and found ourselves in
Kehl, Germany. We got off the bus, wandered around a bit, and found ourselves outside of a grocery store. Outside, I found a sale on Conditioner, and knowing I would need some soon, I picked up a 1.60 euro conditioner (Fructis!). It was labeled in German. We went inside so I could pay and found a section of Easter chocolate. So we bought some. Yum. I was a bit nervous about going up to the cash register in fear that I would be talked to in German and be even more lost than I am when people randomly speak French to me when I don't expect it. I'm okay when I expect people to talk to me, and I can focus on what they're saying and be able to understand... but in German, I'm a lost cause as I know zero words. I put my stuff on the counter and smiled at the cashier. She rang my purchases through and said some speel about how much it was (the only reason I knew how much it was was because the register had 3.33 on it) ... and that was it. I can now say that German is a very difficult
Irish Pub
Didn't turn out very well - but look at all the green! language.
I will know give you all a taste of what my conditioner bottle says. These are what I can only imagine are a description to how the conditioner works on the hair:
"Bei jeder Anwendung wirken die konzentrierten Fruchtwirkstoffe (milde Fruchtsauren, Vitamine B3 und B6, Fructose und Glucose) im inneren und auf der Oberflache des Haares: 1. Sie bauen das Haar von der Wurzel an auf. 2. Sie wirken im Inneren der Haarfaser, um sie zu kraftigen. 3. Sie glatten die Haare bis in die Spitzen."
If anyone wants to translate, be my guest!
We walked around a bit more, eating our chocolate and attempting to read German words. Kehl is not big at all, and we soon got bored and decided to head back to Strasbourg to explore in a language we recognized. We switched buses and headed towards the European Parliament. We found the European Council, and I realized just how much I had to use the washroom... and we found a FREE ONE IN THE PARK!!!!!!! I was very impressed. We walked around the park a bit, found a tree on which we all took pictures (and a video of Alison on
Alison and I With Guinness
Too bad the green dye wouldn't have showed in the black beer! her hilarious dismount!) On our way to the Parliament, Allison spotted an Inukshuk on a hill, so we mounted the stairs to find out it was donated by the Canadian government! Allison and I took pictures to show our Canadian-ness.
We walked alongside the European Parliament, as it was basically on an Island and not accessible to us non-diplomats. We began our lengthly walk towards the centre of town. As we reached it, we saw that there was a protest ('manifestation') going on in the streets. Hordes of people chanting in French, with signs of course, marching down the street. It looked quite peaceful and the policemen were on their scooters just watching them go by. (So I was not in danger!) The protest was in response to the CPE attempting to be passed in France right now - it's basically a Youth Employment Law that states that employers can fire anyone under 26 within a 2 year probation period without a valid reason. Allison is doing her project for French Civilization on the CPE, and therefore was picture happy. I stole her pictures and you will/have see them here.
We wandered by the Cathedral again, trying to
Alison and Allison
In the second pub we visited. decide what to do next, and suddenly, a marching band came and began to play in the square. They were in town because of Carnaval the next day - which we had to miss as it started at 2pm and we left Strasbourg at 1pm! They wore crazy gold costumes and we very excited and fun. They played a few Abba songs, and apparantly one from Grease too. They were, however, a distraction as another larger band (dressed in maroon) set up and began to play even louder and crazier. It was a great random moment in Strasbourg! Alison got a few songs on video even!
After the bands were finished, we found another kebab place and Alison and I got kebabs and shared a thing of fries as Allison had a plate of fries to herself. After this, we headed back to the hostel, exhausted again, found our new roommates asleep, so we headed downstairs to play cards and enjoy more German chocolate. We went to the non-smoking room to find it empty (and it stayed empty all night), and turned on the big-screen TV and watched more French MTV (the same songs played that had played the
Closed School
A high school is closed due to the protests by the students. Translation: "No to CPE. Dead Lycee" morning we got to Strasbourg.) Good fun ensued and we made up our own German word to reference our random day to German - you can see it in the title to this entry!
We headed back to our room and chatted to the roommates (who had left and then returned for the night) - one Canadian (from Ottawa), and three Americans. All of us were actually studying throughout France - so we exchanged thoughts on our schools. We chatted for a bit more, and then headed to bed.
Sunday March 19 We awoke early enough to get showers and head downstairs to check out and get breakfast (Meaning we got up at 8am). We had seen much of the city, so after breakfast, and putting our bags in storage again, we headed out to wander the streets until 11:30 when we had decided to head to the train station. We found some pastry shops and a few touristy shops and did some shopping. At 11:30, we got back to the hostel, grabbed our bags, and walked to the train station as we had plenty of time to catch our 1:15pm train. We got lunch at a
Departure Point
Departure Point for the 2006 Tour de France. Kinda cool. small shop in the station, and waited for the train. We were put in a cabin with another man (which turned into 2 more women at the next stop, Nancy). Why couldn't we have had our own cabin on the way there?? Doesn't make sense as it had been a night train!
Regardless, we had a VERY relaxed trip - the first since our random trip to Le Havre. Well, it was relaxing for Alison until we were at the bus stop in Rouen waiting to go back up to our residence, when she realized she couldn't find her keys! She sent an email to the hostel and they actually have them! Lucky girl! Anyway, that concludes this installment of Kara's Adventures in Europe! Enjoy the pics!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.206s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 8; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0638s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.2mb
Allison
non-member comment
I do remember when we uberrheigd to Germany! I do!