As you might already have noticed, I was lucky enough to visit the city of Strasbourg this May. In all honesty I didn't really have any idea what the city would be like, It wasn't a trip that I had planned myself and so I didn't look anything about the city up - I didn't know where to go, what to eat or generally what to expect. I thought I would be too pre-occupied with conference life to even get a chance to look round the city, but here are some of my snaps from my 3 day trip.
The only knowledge I had was that Strasbourg is a French city (yes it does sound very German - it is pretty close to the German border) and some work colleagues that has visited Strasbourg before has told me that it was pretty heavy on the concrete. So I was kind of prepared for this cemented town and wasn't really expecting the beauty that I found.
We arrived late on our first evening and because I am terrible when it comes to travelling, I had managed to eat a small amount of pasta, some crisps and a yoghurt throughout the day and really needed some food. We left out hotel, which was directly opposite the train station, to go for a quick wander around. Unfortunately at 11pm the only thing we could find was a kebab shop - the girls I was with said the chicken kebab was one of the best that had ever had. Non meat eater me settled for a margherita pizza, it was delicious actually and exactly what I needed to get a good nights sleep before the conference.
Over the weekend we did a lot of walking around the city and jumping on the tram. Both were great ways to see the city. It was such a short trip that I didn't have my bearings at all and so probably only saw such a small area of Strasbourg, but visually I was impressed. Walking down cobbled streets, houses with window shutters and although very concrete heavy, there were flowers everywhere. Such a poor description, but it felt very French. I could have been mistaken as being on a set in LA of a French movie, sometimes it feels like that when you are in a city that is so different from your own.
My biggest struggle in Strasbourg was definitely finding vegetarian food, which I was kind of surprised at. It wasn't that there were no veggie and vegan options, we actually found a vegan kebab shop on our first night, but vegetarian options on menus are not signposted like they are in the UK. Everywhere we went to eat seemed to be very meat and fish heavy and the vegetarian options (if there were any) were very limited and not creative. I ended up eating a lot of cheese, tomato and bread - It isn't a problem, I still had a great time, but I didn't eat bread for 3 weeks after the trip because I felt like I had enough in one weekend.
My French is not what it used to be but this trip has inspired me to pick up the language again. I was really chuffed with how much I could remember, I can read French fairly well and I generally I can understand what people are saying but I struggle to reply. Knowing another language is incredible. Some of the people I was in Strasbourg with know several European languages and have met so many people and had so many different experiences because they can speak those languages - definitely inspired.
It is interesting, as I get older I am realising that I enjoy city breaks a lot more than I thought I would. Although not as relaxing as a beach or hotel resort holiday, they can be far more rewarding. I feel like you can really soak up some culture over the space of a few days and every city I have been to I feel like I have been educated. Whether it is food, history, buildings, language or just walking around and looking at places you have never been before, spending a few days somewhere else is nice.
Although a lot of this trip was taken up by the conference (it was the reason I was in Strasbourg) I am glad I still got a chance to look around this beautiful city with some great friends.
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