A few days after my birthday, I boarded a train with Susy and Heather for a trip that I had been looking forward to for weeks! We decided to visit the famous marchés de Noël during the week of Christmas. We left Paris very early in the morning and it was snowing when we arrived in Strasbourg! It was absolutely beautiful :) We found our hostel, dropped our bags off and immediately made a plan to visit a few of the dozen or so markets scattered throughout the city. The snow eventually turned into rain making staying outdoors for great lengths of time virtually impossible. (During our 3 days in the city, we visited a café at least 3 times a day...coffees, hot chocolates, teas [and even a mug of grog!] were imbibed in mass quantities!) As we walked around the city, we discovered that each new market was more amazing than the last. So many colors and lights, so many smells and wonderful things to see and purchase. We signed up for a walking tour our first night (and thankfully, the rain subsided that evening) and learned more about the history of the city...even the fact that storks call Strasbourg home! We ate our way through the city as we enjoyed beignets and hot orange juice for breakfast, bratwürst with noodles/ham/cabbage (so good that I had it twice), bredle (amazing cookies), and vin chaud (hot wine) as well as many other local specialties! We walked through the cathedral and spent some time (warming up!) in the Musée Historique. We purchased souvenirs and gifts throughout our visit - food and ornaments and more food(!) It was the perfect city to visit in the days leading up to Christmas. I definitely missed my family during the holidays, but this city brightened my spirits more than just a little bit :)
Standing outside our rather impressive hostel amid the snowflakes!
Sugared pretzels (bretzels)...Yes, please!
Bundled up and happy!
Ornaments as far as the eye can see...
Seriously.
Nativity figures...
Pretzels and more pretzels...
Gingerbread...
First Bratwürst...
First café break...
Followed by the second, shortly thereafter...
Cookies!
A demonstration about how to make stöllen...
I'll take them all...
Kügelhof on the bottom racks...
Vertical building decorations...
Warming up by the fire in the Swiss Market...
Heather double-checking her umbrella...it rained practically the entire visit :(
The cathedral at night!
One of the oldest merchant shops/homes in the city...
1300s? 1500s? I can't remember, but trust me! It's old!
Bubbles!
The lights at night were amazing!
Petite France
First Dinner...(flamküchen)
Stained glass in the cathedral...
The Europeans loved their astrological clocks!
Another meal!
Wattle and daub architecture was everywhere!
We decided that this lady served the best vin chaud in the city!
Made in these amazing copper cauldrons!
We're smiling because the wine is warm!
The stork motif was everywhere!
SANTA! I know him!
Heather loved the snow-foam!
More wattle and daub in lovely colors...
We ate at the restaurant just across the way...
What time is it? Time for a warm drink, of course...and a slice of kügelhof!
The cathedral looks pink because of the iron content in the building materials!
Oh, Strasbourg...
You very quickly became one of my favorite cities in France!
Thank you for keeping my spirits up during the holidays.
For that,
I'll always be grateful ♥
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