Highlights of Strasbourg

Despite having only a couple of days time to see places around Strasbourg, we really made the most of it. The first thing we did when we arrived in Strasbourg was explore the city centre and relax before our big day in the European Parliament. Much to our delight, the renowned French department store Printemps had been renovated only some days before our trip, and it was looking fabulous! Another thing that got us jumping to the ceiling were the ticket prices in public transport. Where I live, one single ticket from place A to place B costs over 3 euros. In Strasbourg a 24h ticket for three people cost under five euros. Good job!

A restaurant I would heartily recommend is Brasserie Max which is situated literally right in the centre of Strasbourg. Max looked quite posh from the outside (and was also extremely stylish from the inside) so we really had to think whether three underage youngsters could go have lunch in it. However, after asking for a table politely in French, they were pleased to serve us. The food itself, the service and the interior decoration were all absolutely stunning. I ordered the traditional Tarte Flambée which was basically like a thin pizza made of onions, ham and crème fraîche. As a cherry on the top, it was served on a wooden tray, which made a nice change to the normal plates.

Of course the peaceful cathedral Notre Dame de Strasbourg was a must-see. We decided to climb up the tower and it sure was windy up there! After all this, we also had a little time for shopping, more eating and Petite France. Unfortunately no good photos of Petite France were taken because we went there by night and it was too dark to take nice photos.

I must say that people in the Alsace region didn't talk too much English so it became crucial to know French. A friend of mine said that he wasn't getting served at an ice-cream stand because they didn't understand or want to speak in English. He started speaking in German and voilà, he got his ice-cream in no time. German, French and a mixture of those two, Alsatian are all widely spoken in the region. On the contrary, when I was ordering my food politely in French, the waiter insisted on talking English. Funny Alsatian guys. Their language is what makes it unique compared to Paris, for example.

We found a miniature version of Strasbourg!