First travelling weekend in 2012

Last weekend, we decided to finish our winter break in what trips around Frankfurt concerns and chose Strasbourg for such an important opening. It is strange that such dynamic and European cities like Frankfurt and Strasbourg do not have direct train connection, but I am sure there is a good (political) reason for it (maybe a way to ensure that it remains in France and to keep it away from Germany?). In any case, our train trip was comfortable and easy, with a short stop to "enjoy" the train station in Offenburg...

I had already been twice in Strasbourg (trying to learn some French in 10 days some years ago and two years ago with my parents, http://antsanch.blogspot.com/2009/04/from-frankfurt-to-strasbourg.html), but it is always a pleasure to visit this city. This time I persisted in my try to speak French as bad as possible. It is a pity, because I really understand it quite well, but when it is time to talk... Poor Balzac and colleagues!The cathedral in Strasbourg is really one of the most impressive I have ever seen. It simply jumps to the visitor amidst the houses in the old part of the city. There are many other remarkable cathedrals but this one is so gothic, so medieval and so elaborated: every centimeter in its façade has an sculpture (I know, I know that most of them are not far from this century), full of detail and art in it. This time, though, not everything was positive in our visit. First, we could not admire the astronomical clock, which is really worth some of our attention. We stayed like 15 minutes listening mass and we got frozen: there was certainly no central heating there.Going for a walk through the canals and the old lanes in Strasbourg is a pleasure. This time we took a small boat, which took us around the main buildings of the city, including the new building of the European Parliament. I would not comment on the utility of the European Parliament and its two seats, because I want to keep this entry in peaceful terms.

Walking along one of this canals, we encountered a beaver ("bobor" in Slovak). I thought this kind of animals only live in Canada and I must say that I was half fascinated and half disgusted by it: it was like a giant rat. And the animal was coming to us, probably looking for some food...Talking about food, we had a real Flammkuchen or tarte flambée and it was delicious; nothing compared with the imitations we have here in Frankfurt. It is remarkable how Strasbourg is close to Germany in geographical terms, but in gastronomic terms, the distance must be measured in light-years.

To sum up, a very nice weekend in a very nice and interesting city, which I wish to visit again soon.