The Capital of Christmas

Jumping back now to last weekend, I met up with the lovely Michèle and her friend Meredith (bless them, coming from Marseille by sleeper train) to party on down in Strasbourg! Nice and close to me, Strasbourg is one of those places that has been on the tick list ever since I knew I was coming to this area. It calls itself the "capital of Christmas", and it isn't far wrong. Even for someone like me, who doesn't get overly excited about Christmas, it was a truly magical place. Kind of like Disneyland for grownups. Don't get me wrong, I'm no Scrooge, but I'm just not the sort of person who gets excited about Christmas in January. Or even November. However, Strasbourg seems to be the sort of place which can change my mind...

Nothing says "I love you" like a gingerbread piggy

There are lights everywhere, Santa hats galore, giant vats of mulled wine, thousands of Germans (don't they have their own, bigger and better Christmas markets?!) and most importantly/confusingly large hats with a big white bird on the top (see above). At the time, none of us had any idea what this symbolised, but Wikipedia has the answers as always: "The stork is a main feature of Alsace and was the subject of many legends told to children. The bird practically disappeared around 1970, but re-population efforts are continuing. They are mostly found on roofs of houses, churches and other public buildings in Alsace." See a picture here.

Everything which seemed wonderful in the daytime immediately got twice as cool as soon as it got dark - one good thing about it getting dark early I suppose - and the lights everywhere were just dazzling. Easiest way to regress 15-20 years, let me tell you. We even asked for directions from some drunken Sixth Formers, who told us to "turn right when you get to the bright blue Christmas tree". Blue trees! Where else would you get directions like this (that turn out to be accurate)?! 

The street we nicknamed Christmas Street

SO MANY LIGHTS

We even managed to fit in some cultural things in the form of not one, but two museums and of course a visit to the famous cathedral,  which really has to be seen to be believed and appreciated for how spectacular it looks!

However the highlight for me, as always, was the food. I tried as many things as possible from the market stalls (washed down with mulled wine/cider, bien sûr), and we also went for a slap-up meal in a cosy little place on Christmas Street called St Sepulcre. If you're ever in Strasbourg, GO THERE. It's no budget meal, but it's not extortionate and it is worth every single centime. The food was amazing, the wine slipped down nicely and the atmosphere was great craic - very warm and welcoming in true Alsatian style. I need to get back there soon.

So to sum up, get yourself to Strasbourg ASAP, preferably before Christmas. You'll spend a small fortune but you won't regret it! Next time though, I'll try to practice my ice skating first...

Bises,

Sophia xx