Out and About

With new cell phone in pocket, and so a line of confidence by my side, I set out yesterday afternoon on my own for the first time into the centre-ville. It was fun and interesting to meander around the city center of Strasbourg, marveling at the centuries-old architecture and the natives at their afternoon watering holes.

I did a bit of browsing around the tourist-y shops, but my ultimate goal was to climb the massive circle staircase to the top of the Strasbourg cathedral... 2,60 euros and a few hundred stairs later, I made it!

The last photo was on my walk back to the apartment. Judging by the size of that barrel, I'm sure you can see how much the locals appreciate their beer! From Rivetoile (the mall) to the Cathedral is really only about a 15 minute walk! Perrine and Lionel are lucky to be so centrally-located! I also stopped to buy Perrine this funny plant :) Its pretty, like it grows orange paper lanterns, but it really has no other purpose as it is not edible and doesn't otherwise produce any flowers.

When Perrine returned from work, around 7pm, we went down into the mall to have sushi for dinner; the restaurant is the sort of place where the chef creates his selections of rolls, salads, and desserts, plates them on specifically-colored plates, then places them on a belt which revolves the dishes around the restaurant while you choose what you wish to eat. The rolls were smaller, and far more expensive than they would be in the U.S., Perrine explained that sushi is "à la mode" here... more of a fashion statement than a meal. And there were some very interesting French twists on the rolls to be sure! Heres one that I tried: the rice was cooked in milk, rather than water, and was then rolled in sweetened coconut, and the core of the roll is something that is usually found in crêpes... nutella and banana!

After dinner we met up with Perrine's friends over at Xavier's apartment, which was HUGE for central city living as a student (lucky he has a doctor-parent and is studying to be a doctor himself!) While there, I got to meet Quad, and consequently became friends with him on facebook:

Today Perrine will be off work early so we'll be heading out into the countryside, to Kauffenheim, to visit her parents for dinner. But before that, we're going to drive over the border to Baden, Germany, with Aurélie to go to Caracalla spa ( http://www.carasana.de/home/en/caracalla.html ) for some relaxation, and HOW the French LOVE their relaxation! Lunch hour is actually lunch 2 hours! I could definitely get used to this.