End of the line...

Last weekend Amy, Jonathan, Sophie, Chad and I set forth in search of a relatively cheap adventure and thusly decided to ride to the end of the street-car line with our free student tickets to the town of Wiessemburg, France. After a morning at the flea-market, we set out for the sleepy town of Wissembourg in the early afternoon and found a charming old city. Wissembourg is a much older city than Karlsruhe and I was impressed by the old houses and narrow streets that gave this quaint town a more historic feel than Karlsruhe. This church is a beautiful centerpiece of the town:
We were lucky to have a native French speaker (Sophie) with us to teach us a few key words and phrases, read the signs and talk with the locals. Although most people there speak both German and French, they much prefer speaking French. I must say it was a strange feeling to be somewhere where I couldn't understand anything they were saying and couldn't really communicate. But being there definitely gave me a new appreication for just how much German I can understand and speak!

Here you can see Chad, Amy, Sophie and Jonathan sitting on part of the remains of the old city wall that surrounded Wissembourg back in the day. In the background is a nursing home dedicated to the Polish King Stanislow who was exiled there in the 1700s. 

The narrow streets on which old and new architecture comfortably rubbed shoulders lent a comfortable feel to our afternoon stroll through the city. The city integrates green parks and open spaces well with the crowded building structures. I glimpsed a few gardens through rusted gates that made me long to read The Secret Garden for the first time in years.

The afternoon was sunny and comfortably warm, seasoned with the company of friends. I thoroughly enjoyed the sleepy town, although I know I would have felt more comfortable if I knew the language!

After an afternoon of strolling around the narrow streets, we settled down to eat dinner. Unfortunately for us, the French eat on a much different time table, with most restraunts closed until 7 or 8 at night when the re-open for dinner! Luckily we found a place that took us at 6:30 and enjoyed some traditional French food: escargot! Sophie convinced us all that we needed to try snails at least once in our lives, so she ordered a plate and we took turns using the tongs to pick up the very hot, rather slippery snail shells and using a special fork to extract this delicacy from said shells...food and a show, what more can we ask for?

As with most things that are cooked in butter with a lot of great spices, the snails were superb. (a conclusion that all came to, despite the skeptical look on Jonathan's face!) In the end, a good time was had by all, although we were all glad to come home to familiar Karlsruhe. I am glad that each day this city is more and more familiar and feels more like home. However: here's to exotic food, good friends, and new adventures! ~love~