I know it has been a long time since I've posted, and I'm sorry. My phone charger died on me and I've been waiting for a replacement one, so until that one gets here, I can't post any of my pictures. :(
But I decided to just go ahead and tell y'all about the last two weeks anyway, and I'll add the pictures later!
So I left off halfway through my Germany and France trip. So on Monday morning, we took the tram into Stuttgart and said goodbye to Chelsea's brother. It started snowing!
From the station in Stuttgart, we boarded a train to Strasbourg, France. I had never traveled on a train like this one, and all the announcements were spoken in German, French, and English! It only took about an hour. From the train station in Strasbourg, we took a taxi to our hotel.
The hotel was a very odd experience. It was very small, first of all. Also, because we were four people we ended up staying in the apartments that the hotel owns. I don't know if they're like apartments in the US where people live in them all the time or what, so that was kind of confusing. It was really cool to have our own apartment! It had a little kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom that all four of us shared. It was really nice to come back to after long days of walking!
We spent most of the rest of the day just wandering around the city, which was very beautiful. My friend Mattie's family is from the region of Alsace-Lorraine, which was our whole motivation for coming to Strasbourg. The area has been much disputed between France and Germany. In fact, when Mattie's family lived there it was still a part of Germany. Although everyone speaks French, almost everyone here speaks at least conversational German as well. A lot of times when we would try to communicate that we didn't speak French, people would assume we were German! That night we went to the cutest little Alsacian restaurant for a typical meal. I had sausage and spaetzle and I think it might have been my favorite meal of the whole trip. The one down side was the "Alsacian delicacy" they brought out before we began. It's really hard to describe, but it's basically pig's head in jello. It was very, very odd.
The next day, we went to the Cathedral of Strasbourg, one of the city's most famous landmarks. The Cathedral is home to the famous Astronomical Clock, which puts on a little show every day at 12:30, which we got to see. The Cathedral was also very beautiful.
After that, we went on a covered boat tour. The main historic center of Strasbourg is kind of an island, surrounded by the river Ill. These heated boats drive around the river so you can see all of the beautiful, historic buildings along the river. Strasbourg is the legislative and democratic capital of the European Union, and we got to see some of the buildings on the boat ride. That night, we made pasta in our apartment to save some money, and watched some French TV before bed.
The next day, we got up, made some sandwiches to take with us, and headed off for the Botanical Gardens. We stopped and ate our sandwiches by the river along the way.
Once we got to the Botanical Gardens, we remembered it was March, and nothing was blooming yet. Luckily, the gardens are on the grounds of the University of Strasbourg, so we wandered around there for awhile.
After that, we headed back to the old town to visit the Museum of Decorative Arts, housed in the Rohan Palace. Both Napoleon and Marie Antoinette stayed here at one point in time.
Following that, we headed to La Petite France, an area of Strasbourg known for its half-timbered houses. The whole area was so distinctly European.
The next morning, we took a taxi to the airport to catch a flight to Brussels, Belgium. We had an eight hour layover there before our flight back to Madrid, so we took a train into the city. Brussels was very, very touristy. Probably one of the most touristy European cities I've been in besides Pisa. We still had a good time walking around the Grand Place (a square noted for its architecture), and sampling Belgian waffles. We finally got to Madrid, and then had to take a 1AM bus back to Sevilla, which took 6 hours. Needless to say, we were exhausted.
The next day, Mattie and I tried to go see some of the Semana Santa processions, but unfortunately they were rained out. Many of the floats date back to the 16- or 1700s, so even a small amount of water would cause irreparable damage. The next day though, we had better luck. We pretty much just camped out on the side of the Cathedral for four hours watching processions and enjoying the atmosphere.
Basically, Semana Santa is a celebration of the death of Jesus. I know that sounds kind of morbid, but I think people view it as celebrating the fact that Jesus sacrificed so much for people. Each of the floats are carried by costaleros, which are men who practice all year and must pay the church in order to have the privilege. They stand under the float so you can't even see them moving really. Apparently costaleros used to keep this a secret, but now it's kind of a bragging point! Along with the floats march the Nazarenos. These are people (both men and women, sometimes even children) who accompany the float wearing religious outfits that include long robes, and a pointed hood covering their faces. (It looks startlingly similar to the KKK, but the hoods are different colors depending on the brotherhood). They are also accompanied by a band. All in all, Semana Santa is a really cool experience, and one that is distinctly Spanish.
After Semana Santa, Laurel's host parents invited us to a fútbol (soccer) game! I had never been to a professional level game like this, so it was very exciting. People come to the stadium about 2 hours before the game and hang out in the bars around the stadium drinking and making predictions. Sevilla has two main teams, Betis (the team that I saw play) and Sevilla. The two teams are bitter rivals. This game though, Betis was playing against Getafe (a team from outside of Madrid). The game ended in a tie, but the atmosphere was the real experience. I have never seen so many people so excited about a sport. It was crazy!
Again, sorry for the delay in the posting! I'll try to crank out another one here about the week of the 2nd to the 9th.
Hasta Luego!
Carly <3
