Day #4 - Strasbourg

Greetings! At least I'm only a day late on this one. Today was busy....over 10,000 steps and a very tired me! There was a tour of Strasbourg in the morning, and an optional wine tour (which you know I took part in) in the afternoon of the Alsace region. 

I'm starting to get the hang of river cruising, and it's different from my previous vacations. Before I would randomly wander by myself, and get into some good conversations wherever I ended up. This time we're going places by huge vans and following tour guides waving Emerald Cruise flags. Much less chance for interaction and much more identification of "hey, I'm a tourist!" I'm learning a lot both ways, but it's a much different experience. 

Which brings me to my next point. The towns we're visiting are absolutely storybook-worthy. You'll see it in the pictures from today. We're the intruders in someone else's version of normal. Gotta wonder what it's like to live like this everyday.....walk cobblestone streets, live in houses built in the 1800's (the interior has been refurbished, but still), get your bread fresh from the corner bakery. I mentioned this in my trip to Napa - travel is good for adjusting your idea of normal. It's too easy to think your way is the only way to live. I do have to add a counterpoint, though.....if I were here permanently, I would definitely be introducing the concept of sweet tea. I miss it! 

There's also much more of an awareness of war, something we don't deal with as Americans. There are war memorials all over the place. Our tour guide on the winery trip told a story about her grandfathers having to fight for the Germans (they were not supporters) and how it affected their family. Easier to dismiss it when you haven't lived it, or had it happen on your land. 

One thing I love about here - the attention to greenery. Everywhere we go there are beautiful gardens and flowers. This is from a square in Strasbourg. 

In the bus on the way to Strasbourg 

Better view of the ship. This is the front half - the lounge is the top set of windows, the restaurant is the bottom set of windows. Cabins are in the second half of the ship (not pictured). 

One of the streets in Strasbourg

The cathedral in Strasbourg. Again, one of the tallest buildings in the city, and absolutely amazing in detail.

Some of the inside of the cathedral. 

I especially loved this piece of stained glass. If you can zoom in, look at Jesus' face. The artist took thousands of pictures of people and combined them to make his face. The idea was to emphasize the humanity and diversity of the world. It's a beautiful idea and execution. 

The astrological clock. I didn't understand all the details, but so fascinating to hear about all the different things it kept track of. 

I love the whimsical - the legend says that a pole featuring angels was added to the cathedral after it was built. People expressed concern that the pole was too heavy with all the carvings and would collapse, damaging the cathedral at best, causing a roof collapse at worst. So....the sculptor added himself to an opposite balcony, so he could always keep watch to make sure the pole wasn't leaning.....

Outside of the cathedral

More decoration - the bears were coming out to play! 

Petite Paris - a tiny section of Strasbourg, but an absolute fairy tale destination. Some of the most expensive houses in the area (of course). Again, the definition of normal.... 

More of Petite Paris (and me!) 

The fact that all these love locks are the same makes me think there's a salesman walking around somewhere, but the concept is cool. Happens all over France. 

Combining two symbols of France - the stork and the small mosaic (someone tell me the name of this style of art again?). The stork is a symbol of the Alsace region, and this style of art was all over Paris. Fun to see what people come up with. 

Entrance to the town. So many towns were built to be defended against invaders, hence the wall and gate. 

Alsace wineries are typically passed from family member to family member. The 21 year old daughter (not pictured) in this family had just created her first Reisling. She was preparing to take over the business from her father. This particular winery went back 6 generations, and existed before that. That's why the building is so old. It's not Disney, it's reality (again, going back to the definition of normalcy....) 

The French do NOT believe in stainless steel or the egg or any form of wine storage other than the oak barrel. This is deep in one of the cellars that store rows of these. 

Entrance to the town, as well as the sign for the winery. Tasting rooms and vineyards are separate, so we only saw the vines as we passed them in the tour bus. 

More stories: If you had a daughter who was of marrying age, you were supposed to place a heart on the door or roof to invite suitors to come visit. Personally it doesn't strike me as a fun idea for the daughter, but I also wonder - early form of eHarmony?  :) 

The crew that I'm hanging out with this week. I'll include the stories about the races for tables during lunch and dinner (it's open seating, and people get territorial) in another post.