Strasbourg!
So one of the other assistants for the elementary schools in the Vosges lives in Strasbourg, since she's going to university there. I have to say that's one of the awesome things about this program... they try to make it possible for you to do university classes if you are so inclined. Anyway, I went to visit her and Strasbourg yesterday. Started with a hilariously morbid boat tour (featuring things like the bridge where they used to hang people, then changed to drowning people in a cage, then decided to reserve that execution for adulterous women; and the Torturer's Tower where the prisoners signed a petition to get some straw to sleep on, and one of the torturers was declared a heretic and so was sentenced to decapitation after removal of his tongue); it was hilarious because all of this is said in an incredibly cheery and lilting voice, so if you don't pay attention you totally miss what he's saying. Strasbourg is really cool because they take German and French architecture and smash them together. Plus it's been declared "the capital of Europe" and is home to the European Union, and all related buildings. Overall, it's just a really cool place.
Other than that, not a whole lot going on... I've been taking it easy during the break, taking lots of walks, reading french books, other random stuff.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Big 3:
Best: Visiting Strasbourg. It's a truly awesome city.
Worst: Cost of visiting Strasbourg. I was avoiding getting a 12-25 card until I thought I'd need it (it costs 49 Euros) but if I'd had it when I got my ticket for Strasbourg, I probably would have made 10-12 of that back.
Funniest: Walking around Strasbourg, down these incredibly narrow streets surrounded by 2-4 story buildings, when suddenly I turn a corner and maybe 150 feet away there's a cathedral. A 142 m (466 ft) tall cathedral. (To give you a reference point, the Statue of Liberty and Notre Dame in Paris are about the same height: 93m or 305 feet. So this thing is another 150 feet taller). My immediate reaction was "Where did that come from?" because at no point in the day could I see it over the surrounding buildings, until it was right there in front of me. Also, do to structural integrity issues, they realized that they couldn't put on the second steeple, because it would make they entire front half of the cathedral collapse. So it only has one steeple, but it's off to the left side... so it looks like a cathedral with a cell phone antenna (yes, cell phones used to have antennas).
Other than that, not a whole lot going on... I've been taking it easy during the break, taking lots of walks, reading french books, other random stuff.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Big 3:
Best: Visiting Strasbourg. It's a truly awesome city.
Worst: Cost of visiting Strasbourg. I was avoiding getting a 12-25 card until I thought I'd need it (it costs 49 Euros) but if I'd had it when I got my ticket for Strasbourg, I probably would have made 10-12 of that back.
Funniest: Walking around Strasbourg, down these incredibly narrow streets surrounded by 2-4 story buildings, when suddenly I turn a corner and maybe 150 feet away there's a cathedral. A 142 m (466 ft) tall cathedral. (To give you a reference point, the Statue of Liberty and Notre Dame in Paris are about the same height: 93m or 305 feet. So this thing is another 150 feet taller). My immediate reaction was "Where did that come from?" because at no point in the day could I see it over the surrounding buildings, until it was right there in front of me. Also, do to structural integrity issues, they realized that they couldn't put on the second steeple, because it would make they entire front half of the cathedral collapse. So it only has one steeple, but it's off to the left side... so it looks like a cathedral with a cell phone antenna (yes, cell phones used to have antennas).