The capital of the Alsace region in the north-eastern France, located in the border with Germany. The city's name is of Germanic origin and means "Town (at the crossing) of roads". Strasbourg is the seat of several European institutions such as the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
("No, I haven't seen any Portuguese deputy." ;-)
We have begun our tour in the famous Petite France neighbourhood,
a name given by the former German inhabitants because of the numerous prostitutes who used to work there in the Middle Ages.
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The timber-framing houses we see on the photos are, perhaps, the best example of the Franco-German culture fusion in Strasbourg.
Although violently disputed throughout history, the city has been a bridge of unity between France and Germany for centuries.
The University of Strasbourg, currently the largest in France, and the co-existence of Catholic and Protestant culture are the main reasons for this enjoyable sfeer.
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| From Strasbourg |
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| From Strasbourg |
Below, photos of Strasbourg's historic city centre, the Grande Île ("Grand Island"), classified as a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988.
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| From Strasbourg |
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| From Strasbourg |
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| From Strasbourg |
After this gezellig moment, we went to Strasbourgh's Cathedral, today the sixth-tallest church in the world.
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| From Strasbourg |
This Cathedral has a life-sized group of sculptures, "Christ on the Mount of Olives", in the northern transept...
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and, in the south transept, a 18m astronomical clock, one of the largest in the world.
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This clock dates from 1843. Its main features, besides the automata, are a perpetual calendar (including a computus), an orrery (planetary dial), a display of the real position of the Sun and the Moon, and solar and lunar eclipses.
We didn't know that the main attraction was the procession of the life-size figures of Christ and the Apostles which occurs every day at 12:30pm. This walkabout also occurs at midnight.
In front of the Cathedral, we enjoyed this sweet moment...
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before the lunch in Maison Kammerzell, a 1427 building, in the Cathedral's Square.
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We toasted to the vacation with the Alsace typical glasses...Sante!!
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...because we were about 5 hours away home...
In the souvenir stores, I found these postcards with the typical Alsace costumes...looks familiar?? ;-)
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| From Strasbourg |
By the way, my Quiche Lorraine was delicious... ;-)
The next entry will be about our journey from Almere to Portugal.
Have a nice week!!!
15 comments:
Sandra, this is phenomenal. My teacher-intern from last year is from Alsace and I so hope to go there one day. I love the tudor influence on the architecture and the combination of the Germanic in the language and the culture....the pictures are just breathtaking!!! Have a fabulous week my dear, and your drawings will be in the mail this week!!! Anita
Anita,
I can't wait for my drawings!!!
My dear, have you already received my package?
Mille Bisous!!!
Que vontade de ir até à Alsácia. Fotografias lindas e num encadeamento narrativo perfeito.
Parabéns!
Os desenhos são lindíssimos fazem lembrar as bonecas de papel que recortavamos e vestiamos, normalmente, de princesas...
Uma boa semana, bjs! :)
Ana ;-) sim, tambem fazem lembrar as bonecas de papel que recortavamos e vestiamos ( e o que eu adorava brincar com os recortes :-)
Por acaso, nao tinha pensado nisso... e que mais faz lembrar? ;-))
By the way, gostei muito da louca tipica da regiao e nao fotografei nenhuma peca...pena :-(
Bjs e ate ja!
Sandra,
I write again because the place give me an error.
I said that I like Strasbourg, I like the architecture of the houses and the cathedral is really outstanding!!! Wow!!! Good photos, good job, good post!!!!
Have a nice week!
Besos desde Buenos Aires!!
Thank you, Patricia!! I must say this Cathedral " me deixou de queixo caido''! E absolutamente magnifica!!!
E muito, muito rica! Os pormenores da arquitectura, os vitrais, tudo, tudo...
Beijinhos!!!
Que espectáculo! Adorei as casas, a catedral e o relógio.
Fantastic, Sandra! I've never been to Strasbourg, would love to see it one day. I like this kind of architecture with the wooden beams and white stucco. It reminds me a bit of a very nice little town I visited in Germany, very close to Maastricht (well, in my Argentinean head it IS close...!) called "Monschau".
Beautiful!
What a beautiful city! I love the timber beam architecture. And that cathedral is so gorgeous. I'm putting Strasbourg on my list :-)
Looking forward to visiting Strasbourg soon..thanks for sharing this and congrats on the award Sandra!
Margarida, Aledys, Japra and Arwa, thank you for your nice comments! Strasbourg is a very beautiful city and deserves several visits!
Don't you think that the Alsacian wooden shoes
looks like the Dutch clogs?
;-)
Sem dúvida que delineaste um itinerário muito interessante para as vossas férias, simplesmente fabuloso.
Beijinhos.
Ola, Aida ;-)
Obrigada ;-) Estas a gostar, que bom! :-)
Boa Semana!
Beijinhos xx
I was there in August 2009. It really exceeded my expectations: I though I would find a boring city, with all those european institutions and buildings, and then I found a quite charming city. I loved the Cathedral and Petit France. And also the "tarte flambée" and the Riesling wine. Delicious!
Beijinhos :)
Sara ;-) adorei a " Petite France"! E encantadora! Foi a partir dali que partimos a descoberta...;-) Bem lembrado, vou acrescentar esse dado ao post.
Beijinhos ;-)
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