Category — Travel

This is part two of my post about my trip to Wissembourg in France. To read part one, please click here.

I actually enjoyed Wissembourg so much that I decided to go back on Friday. I mostly went to peruse the grocery stores and take my time but also snapped a few more photos as I was there. The weather was even better than on Thursday, not a cloud in the sky. I ended up buying a few things, some wine, a fresh baguette (that I ate for dinner on Thursday), and some odds and ends. If I lived closer to the border and had a car so I could buy refrigerated food, I’d probably go to France for grocery shopping a lot more frequently. As it is I live about 60mi from the border and it takes two hours on the train to get there.

While Wissembourg is in France, it is right on the border to Germany, and it was actually part of Germany several times in the course of history. As a result, it’s not really a typical French town but a mixture of the two cultures. While people there speak French, I also did not come across a single one who did not speak at least a little German. In fact, all except one waitress spoke fluent German. I took French for three years in high school, and while I still understand some, speaking it is very hard for me, so it was really helpful that I didn’t have to speak it.

As I had mentioned in part I, we stopped at the window of the Patisserie Rebert which had amazing little pastries on display. Aren’t they mouthwatering? I didn’t buy one, though they all looked amazing. (Almost too beautiful to eat. Almost.)

This is the Maison du Sel and I think its pitched roof just looks amazing. It’s from the 15th century, and looking at that roof it makes you wonder how it hasn’t caved in already.

Of course my friend and I had to have the typical Alsatian dish tarte flambée and some red wine. It was a really good (and inexpensive!) dinner. Lovely way to end the day there.

So tasty!

I caught the reflection of the house we were sitting at in my wine glass. I thought it made for an interesting shot. There is also an idiom we have in German, ‘to look into the glass too deeply,’ which means you’ve had too much to drink.

Well, I will end this post with a picture I took on Friday. We had walked past this house on Thursday as well but not really noticed how beautiful it was. Isn’t it great how you can still find new beautiful things in a place after you’ve already visited it? It makes me wish I had taken the opportunity to go to Wissembourg sooner (years ago) because then I would have probably tried to go back every now and then.

I’ve lost track of time again and it’s already been over a week since my last post. How did that happen? Well, but I got something great to make up for it. Yesterday I went to Wissembourg with a friend. Wissembourg is a small but incredibly picturesque town in France, right by the French-German border. I had been wanting to go there for a long time, but I never actually did until yesterday. Students can buy a discounted pass for public transport here, and instead of just Heidelberg, it’s valid for the entire region, including Wissembourg so the train ride there was free.

I had heard about Wissembourg from others who had recommended the trip but I had no idea just how pretty it would be. I took so many pictures I actually ran out of space on my camera and kept having to select pictures to delete so I could take more. Maybe that will make you understand why I am splitting the trip review/photos up into two parts. I don’t want to swamp you with too many pictures in one post. I’ve narrowed it down to 19 pictures and believe me, that was hard enough. I really hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed my day there. It was so lovely.

I loved all the flowers on the houses and the colorful shutters. And check out the clip on the shutter in the first picture, it’s a little person! Isn’t the detail amazing?

Look at that turret. The entire town is decorated with flowers on most houses and bridges.

We walked around the town for hours and I took nearly 400 pictures. No, that’s not a typo. Nearly four hundred.

This is a patisserie that made the most amazing pastries. (Picture of said amazing pastries will follow in part II of this post.)

Isn’t Wissembourg breathtaking? I loved it so much. It was really great to get out of town, even if it was just for a day. And I am so glad that I did this before leaving Heidelberg (in just 10 days!). It is places as beautiful as Wissembourg that really make me grateful for living in Europe. I love Europe for all its history and architecture. Yesterday’s trip made me so excited about my trip to Prague in just two weeks!

As I said, I’ve split up this post into two parts, so check back for part II of this post on Monday.

Have you ever been to a town like Wissembourg? Isn’t it an absolute gem of architecture?

Yup, that’s right! I am. On my birthday my mom mentioned to me that she would like to go on a trip with me after graduation, before I enter the working world. The cities from my to-travel list from this post immediately came to mind.

Unfortunately my mom refused to spend a day at Disneyland were we to go to Paris, so Paris was off the list. I absolutely want to visit Paris, but when I do, I want to go to Disneyland. I have never been to Disney-anything (can you believe it?), and I know that once I have been to Paris, it is a lot less likely that I will go there again any time soon just to go to Disneyland. However, this has made me want to go to Paris all the more. I want to go next year, provided that I find a decently-paying job.

So which city did we finally settle on you ask? A beautiful one. A city that is roughly 230 miles from Munich. Outside Germany.  To the east. Got it?

Photo by Trent Strohm.

Prague.

I absolutely cannot wait for this trip. We will be going for five days in the first week of September, just a few days after I move back to Munich. I already did all the planning last week & booked a nice 4* hotel and the train & bus to get to Prague from Munich for us. That’s right, this girl will be staying at a 4* hotel! Definitely an upgrade from the hostels I usually stay in when I travel by myself.

I have already bought the Lonely Planet guide for Prague and will be reading up on Prague and its sights in the next few weeks to make sure I won’t be missing out on anything. I cannot wait to visit this gorgeous city and take pictures of it.

And it is so amazing that I will get to go on a vacation this year after all, something I had already given up on. My last one was to New York City last year in March (and that was technically an excursion with the English Department). It has been way too long since the last time I left the country.

Are you going on vacation this year? Or did you already? Where to?