Strassbourg

One weekend, Viktoria (Friend from swing dancing) and I decided to go to Strassbourg (France) for a dance party.  It was last minute, but sounded like it could be fun. 2hr drive.

First impression of France:

Yes this Pug has a fur hood on. ha!

 Strassbourg is the "Capital of Christmas" according to signs around the city- I'm inclined to believe them.  The Christmas celebrations dwarfed Prague and exceeded my wildest expectations.  Around every corner was a christmas market and every single street and building was covered in lights.  It was also the most crowded place I have ever been in my life.

We walked around a lot:

The Strassbourg Cathedral is pretty awesome.  It was the world's tallest building for over 200 years and has some fun stories associated with it (relayed by Viktoria who had to come when she was a student).

The Rosetta (seen below) was removed from the church and hidden away during World War II to prevent it from being lost forever.  It was found and returned by the US army during post-war occupation.

 There is an astronomical clock that is over 40 feet tall within the church.  It can predict Easter according to the lunar and church calendar, which is apparently difficult, especially for when it was built.  It also has figurines that run around at different times of the day.  Because it was Saturday, Saturn was shown on one of the tiers of the clock.  It also had figures relating to the church season as well as the season and time of day.

 Fun story: One of the priests who gave the sermon was particularly long-winded, to the dismay of parishioners. He would speak for hours and hours, driving people mad. So the community decided to give him a dog so that he would have to take care of the puppy and end his sermons earlier.  People would rub the nose of a particular dog statue as they waited for the priest to remember his duty to the pet, causing the head of the stone statue to become polished.

Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the polished dog... you'll just have to believe me.

There was also this nice engraving within the church:

Nighttime Christmas Market:

Lights on every building.

One of the buildings in the main square had a show projected on it that was very weird. It was the cartoon journey of a boy who was avoiding monsters but for no real clear reason (I concede that the narration was in French and may of been helpful).  The music was very suspenseful and loud, causing a few of the toddlers watching the show to cry, which was pretty ironic.

 

Building with projected show.

I call this "framing the shot"

 Strassbourg and this region of France are known for the traditional timber housing construction:
 

37,000 Euro ring on display:

Is this one of those "Emperor's new clothes" rings, or are they in storage for the night? You decide.

 After wasting time wandering around until the dance started, we headed to the Metro in order to get transported to the party.  Unfortunately, the public transit went on strike (starting at 9pm) that night- dammit France!  We had a long walk....

When we showed up to the dance we found out that you had to have tickets.  Viktoria works and goes to school in France, and speaks fluent french, although she is German.  She begged and pleaded with the doorman, who was dressed like a 1920's mobster (pinstripes, hat, mustache and all).

Funny parts:
At the beginning, mobster says, "We can speak English if it is easier for you."
Viktoria in French "We can speak French too"
Mobster, "I can speak English-"
Viktoria, "and I can speak French" <<STARE DOWN>>

Viktoria (translated later) tells this guy about how she has built up how cool the French are to her american friend for weeks, that we've driven from Germany just to come dance, and how she promised me a proper French party, etc.  The guy does not budge at all.  He keeps saying it is a safety concern and that he told people 'no' earlier and that he is honor-bound to not change his position now.

.... There is a long pause, almost a full minute.  I assume Viktoria has given up... She stands there, sighing and staring at the man... his eyes are hardened and his emotions non-existent...

Viktoria is at it again with new reasoning and argument for why we should be allowed in.  I'm convinced this ship has sailed, and I'm not even mad- all of the walking has tuckered me out.

As we start to leave the man runs up to us and says that we can come at midnight after enough people have left (for reduced price).  I am not interested in waiting nearly two hours but Viktoria explains I have no choice as she is driving.  Or maybe she said something else and I heard that.

We go to the bar on the corner and I load up on Coffee.  Midnight:

 We got to the event right as they were hosting the dance competition for the night.  The couples were insanely good... I took a video of one that was below average for the field, which is saying something:

The live band was really great.  I would have been convinced they were from down south USA if it weren't for their french small-talk during water breaks.  Viktoria and I danced for a while and it was fun being in such a huge crowd of talented dancers.  We were way below average (and almost the only ones not in costume).

This was also the same time I got a Fitbit for Christmas from Will, which ended up being a really cool gift.  The whole experience ended up being around 11 miles of walking and 3 miles worth of dancing.

Step counter from Running to catch the train to school all the way through my lazy Sunday following Strassbourg.