We spent the whole day exploring old and famous cities in the Alsace region of France, which borders Germany. The natural border is the Rhine River. We started on the picturesque city of Strasbourg, which has two recognized UNESCO world heritage areas: Neustadt (a German neighborhood from the 19th century) and the Grand Île (the historic city center). It is the first time UNESCO recognized areas. or neighborhoods, not just a monument. One of the most interesting facts about Strasbourg is it changed hands five times. It started as German and then was France, and went back and forth with this until after WWII. Since then, it has been part of France.
We spent the day learning about architecture, politics, culture, and baked goods. Guess which part was our favorite? Politics of course, followed closely by the baked goods.
We visited Notre Dame cathedral in Strasbourg.
The cathedral is famous for its astronomical clock built in the 16th century and still functioning today. The purpose of the clock was to help the clergy determine when Easter would fall, which is the first Sunday after the first full moon.
This region is famous for wine, beer, and gingerbread. Don’t worry we tried all three and all are delicious.
And by tasting wine, we visited a family run winery that has been making wine for 33 generations. This wine barrel is from 1897 and went to a festival in Paris in 1900. On it is the crest of the village and the family crest. It’s still a functioning barrel today and it’s not even the oldest in the cellar.
Cheers!
After wine tasting, we visited Obernai another famous Alsace town. It WAS after wine tasting, so we couldn’t remember any facts. So you can just enjoy the pretty pictures... you’re welcome!
We thought the adventures were over and that we couldn’t eat or drink anything else. But alas, a German feast at the boat that we couldn’t say no to.
And some German entertainment.
We will sleep well tonight.
Tomorrow, Colmar for a lesson on WWII.
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