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Published: June 29th 2009
So I'm writing this on the way back from strasbourg on the 5 hour train ride, that was definately worth it!
I got up very early Friday morning and trekked with my ~35 pound kayak+belonging monster off a backpack to the train station. After realizing I was on the wrong car, the one I was on only went 2 hours of the journey and wold stay in Luxembourg, I had too haul my way to another car. End train drama.
Enter Strasbourg!
Friday I quickly found my hotel, and speaking only in French inquired where I could kayak. She showed me how to get to the local club, but I ne er found it. So I proceeded to try and put in at this rowing dock(the ONLY one low enough on the entire seciton of the river through the town). As I got everything out, only then did I realize I had left the two caps to may kayak side chamers in the room, and consequently could nt inflate it. So half an hour later, I wrested my 10 ft kayak back into the bag and grudgingly dragged back to the hotel in really really warm(un-belgiumy) weather...
Depiction
How I almost toom out ~150 skaters...So kayaking this weekend was an epic fail. :/ Its much harder in Europe, there are a bunch of restrictions, crazy dams/lochs, and what not... C'est la vie!
So, Friday nightI rediscovered a lost love of mine: skating! I came across a store devoted entirely to skates and of course was
innocently lured in just to have a look. I ended up leaving with some new wheels and an invite to a very special event that happened to be happening tonight: night skate in Strasbourg! So after not having skated in 4 years, I strapped up and joined the other ~250 or so people that came out and went for a skate of ~13 km, or 6 ish miles. Woah, buddy. It took some time to get my skate feet/balance back. Oh but it was immensely joyful, I remember now why I liked it so much. I got some fitness/travel wheels, no aggressive skates this time(those days might be over… ha!) but thefit nice and roll well! I think I was the only non-france person skating that night, or at least I didn’t hear any English. It was definitely the coolest way to see Strasbourg: a night(starting at 9:30)
arou the city with the locals. Most of the time I ad no clue where we were, so it was this great sense of community(stay with the group or good luck finding your way back, basically!). Anyways, I managed to do pretty well after a little while of warming back up d to it, I had only one minor incident.
You see, its like this… The group would stop every 2 km or so and rejoin the speedsters and the relaxers…. And they thought that it would be a good idea to stop the group some 20-40 meters from the bottom of a very very steep hill. So I pumped pretty hard to the top, not realizing that the descent was as steep or even more so that all of the ~100-150 in front of me were stopped at the base. And so I kind of forgot how to use my brake on a hill and here is my cartoon/depiction of the event(click on it to enlarge):
I came, I skated, and I conquered Strasbourg.
Saturday This morning I woke up really early and headed out to Selestat, where I caught a shuttle to
a big castle most recently restored/used by William II, and which was originally intended to protect the silver road. The Haut-Kkoiesbureg was definitely a cool place to visit. Afterwards I ventured out to the highlight of my day: Montagne de signe(Monkey Mountain). It is a few minutes from the Chateux and definitely worth a visit. The are > 250 free roaming macaques in the park, and they give you food to feed the monkeys. So you can get literally a few inches from the monkeys(no cages, bars, etc) and hold out your hand and the monkey will grab the piece of food out of your hand and eat it right in front of you. I got some awesome photos! Not many of you here know, but Monkeys have been my favorite animal for a long time(I even asked for a pet one in 3rd grade, anyways…). That trip was a blast, and the picture say more than I can.
Sunday Today, I woke up at 7, checked out of the hotel and hopped a train to colmar. Upon arriving at colmar, I exchanged my tennis shoes for skates(or “rollers” as the French call them) and skated
about ½ a mile or so to the ‘old’ petit venice. The houses and stores were all quaint and colorful. Definitely a 50/50 blend of France-Germany, with the predominate language being French(with a more germanistic accent). Theres not really much to ‘see’ or ‘do’ here, but walk around and take in the beauty of the place(and then get lost, because there are so many litlle windy roads). But I managed to find a bisquit paterresierie, and got some cookies to bring to the office.
Alsace Summary I wish I would have had more time. I would have baased myself in Colmar and gone hiking/paragliding in the vosage. There just wasn’t enough time for me to do everything. I also wish I would have known that my kayaking plans wouldn’t hav worked, because lugging around that big bag is very very heavy! But all in all, Strasbourg-Alsace-Colmar was a good trip, and I’m glad I came. It was a lot less city than my last trips(London and Paris) and is what I needed. I’m exhausted, didn’t sleep much this weekend, but the train trips and more relaxed pace gave me a decent amount of time to dig into
the rule of King David of Old Testament.... It's certainly interesting, and the people back then were very aware, and respected justice. Imgine if we had that kind of respect for justice in all the world today? I can't.
Also I have designated my real feel practice (drum) pad, "Mini", as my new
official travel buddy!
I hope you enjoy its pictures! 😉
Anyways, Bon soir and God Bless,
Sarah.
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Marlene, Your Mom's Friend
non-member comment
Amazing
Sarah, I have been following your travels and am amazed at your strength and gumption to embrace the European continent. You go girl! I love what you are doing and seeing...hope I get to see you at another She-Doo event when you return. Marlene