Strasbourg is the largest port on the Upper Rhine and is the
cultural center of France’s Alsace region. Thanks to its location at the border
of France and Germany, it boasts a great mix of cultural influences. The Old Town
is enclosed on all sides by the little Ill River, a tributary of the Rhine,
with sites so compact that it is easy to explore the ‘island’ on foot. There
are cobblestone streets lined with wooden houses and intersected by picturesque
canals.
The population of Strasbourg is about 250,000 people. Alsace
has gone between Germany and France, with it today a part of France. A lot of
it looks like Berlin did 150 years ago. There is a very important Jewish
community here of about 20,000. Strasbourg University, located here, has about
50,000 students. And, 38% of the population is under 26 years old. Strasbourg
is also home to the European parliament.
Along the Rhine there are lots of locks. And, in Strasbourg
there were a lot of swans. Here are some pictures of the locks, swans and our
boat.
We started the tour with a bus tour that took us through the
European Quarter, home of many institutions of the European Union. As in Basel,
it was raining. In Strasbourg, there are many storks. You will see in one of
these pictures the big nest of the storks. Here the belief is that if you put a
sugar cube on your windowsill in nine month the stork will bring you a baby.
Our guide said he tried it, but it did not work. Also here are some pictures of
the city.
Here are a couple of pictures of the European Union official
buildings.
After that we did a walking tour around the city center. They
have many bridges with their old defense tours. Here are some of the pictures
when we started our walking tour.
The first church we went by was the St. Thomas Church. It
was originally a catholic church, but during the reformation it became Protestant
and stays that way today. The pictures are of a statue of Gutenberg who used to
live in Strasbourg and a carousel in the square with him.
In Cathedral Square we saw the restored Strasbourg
Cathedral, which towers above the merchant houses. It is one of Europe’s finest
gothic cathedrals, with its 465 foot tall spires. It is the tallest medieval
building in Europe. There was a mass going on in there so these are mostly
outside pictures.
We finished the tour with lunch. It was vegetable soup, pot
roast with potatoes, and an ice cream cake. They also served wine and beer. We
had the beer, which was Fischer’s and was brewed in Strasbourg. Here is a
couple of pictures at lunch. It was in the old customs house.
Now we are off to Heidelberg and Rudesheim, Germany.
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