After a short school week plagued with my first taste of homesickness, we were blessed with a four day weekend for Easter.
Highlights:
- my host mom's homemade lamb cake
- an intercultural workshop scavenger hunt--more so just an excuse to get out of AIB and wander Bonn for a short while
- Sausalito's with my gals (Ibk, Iz, Alexa)
We left Bonn at noon on Friday and arrived in Strasbourg around 6. After we checked in at our hotel, we picked up some "tacos" at Le Goremt Voyager (not exactly tacos, but very very yummy and the workers there were quite nice) and spent the next few hours walking around he city.
Highlights:
- the transit in Strasbourg has gps location maps along with the stop names so you can actually see the route you're taking
- Hôtel Graffagar graffiti
- first look at Strasbourg Cathedral
- moon/stars platz (not quite sure of the name but I liked it because it made me think of the little prince)
*sits on bridge for a photo*
Jack: What if I just pushed her in?
Me: I can't swim, please don't...
The next morning we took a flixbus to my most anticipated destination/the entire reason I'd planned to go to Strasbourg in the first place--Europa Park. When I'd first confirmed my participation in the program, one of the very first things I did was look up amusement parks near Bonn. The closest was Phantasialand, but Europa Park really caught my eye because it was supposedly the second most visited park in Europe, behind Disneyland Paris. But because there were lots of other places I wanted to visit, I put it on the back burner and decided Phantasialand would be better because I could go on just a one day trip from Bonn. But as Easter neared, my list of destinations dwindled and the more excited I got about Europa Park. So I asked Ibk if she wanted to come with, Jack and Joseph hopped aboard and off we went. I think arriving at the park on the bus and walking to the entrance was the most excited I've ever been over the course of my study abroad so far, so subsequently, the most excited I've been in my life. Seriously, I was bouncing and jumping all around and legitimately could not contain my joy. My mood went downhill from there and there were definitely a few things I'd have changed about my visit if I could, but it was all around a great day and a great amusement park.
My top rides:
Wodan timbur -- Das BESTE
Silver star
Arthur
General notes:
- The park layout was set up so that you pass country to country like Epcot
- They had a really cool locker system with the rides. As you board each coaster, much like at six flags, you walk through the car to reach the cubbies on the opposite side, but what makes them different is that there are three sets and they open with their corresponding group of people. So if there are two different sets of cars running at once, the people on the other car can't access your stuff. For one of the rides, they also had actual lockers but instead of money you open them with your park ticket.
- The food actually wasn't (too) overpriced. I had tortellini for lunch and it was 4,50 for a smallish quantity, but very yummy
- Giant slides = danger, I flew off the end and hurt my ankle a little so beware
After we left the park we grabbed some Döner pizza for dinner then took the bus back to Strasbourg and settled in for an early night. The next morning was Easter Sunday and Ibk and Joseph wanted to go to church, so I went along with them. The people there were friendly and the sermon seemed oddly directed toward me, but I thought the pastor was really funny and I enjoyed it a lot.
We went back to the hotel to pick up our stuff (and Jack) and check out before we set off for the day. And thus began the walking. Walking to grand ile, through little France, from the center of Strasbourg to Neudorf, a small sector on the edge of the city. We spent the entire day walking, but it ranks very high up there among my favorite days of city travel. We went inside (and up) the cathedral, saw Palais Rohan, stumbled upon SO MANY small markets and fairs, and wandered through the university campus.
Highlights:
- the old French architecture (10/10 very aesthetic, especially along the river)
- The cathedral--the view from the top as well as it's design (I liked the statues)
- Found the original master of forehead pics
- Pit stop for pomme frites et crepes (YUM)
- The Easter bunny gave me chocolate
Eventually we ended up in a shoppy type square in Neudorf. Ibk and I spotted a nice buliding with a beautiful art wall outside, so of course we stopped for photos!! For like an hour... whoops. Once we'd taken fifty million plus, we decided we were pretty done exploring the city. We were all quite tired and ready for a break, but we still had hours before our bus came. So we popped on into the movie theater (also the building with the art wall but we didn't know what it was before) and bought tickets for Ready Player One, version originale. I didn't know much about the movie except that it was based off of a book I've been meaning to read forever, and it definitely surpassed my expectations. It had lots of embedded game references and jokes and such, so it was a good lighthearted movie with a few splashes of action as well.
Joseph had told us his stomach didn't feel well before we'd gone in, so it was not too much of a surprise that he still felt pretty awful afterward. (Future update, turns out he had appendicitis.) He wanted a little bit of food but KFC was the only thing open. We got him a couple of chicken sandwiches to pick at and plenty of water, and in the meantime I enjoyed the free wifi! Soon we headed back to the bus, but we thought it left earlier than it did so we had to sit outside for a little while. But we all entertained ourselves with music, and I tried teaching Ibk how to do some pirouettes until the bus arrived.
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