Final Strasbourg notes and German shopping interlude

We’re briefly back in Germany so we can catch a flight to Lithuania. Flights to Lithuania from France are pretty limited and so I found this twice a week flight with RyanAir from Nuremberg. We were in Nuremberg for 4 days earlier this year and we really liked it. I don’t know that we’re going to do any touring there but it’s exciting to be in Germany for a couple of reasons. One is this – my favorite German drink – the Apfel Schorle – a lightly sweetened carbonated apple soda.

The other main reason I’m glad to be back in Nuremberg is that Nuremberg has a big Gudrun Sjoden store. I think of Gudrun Sjoden as a kind of Gymboree (remember that children’s clothing line?) for adults. Look – cool fabrics, flowing pieces, patterns that clash but somehow work together: (pics not mine)

Ron has promised me that I can go shopping and that probably means I only get 10 minutes before he wanders off, but I aim to make a purchase. Ron’s already one sweatshirt into this trip and I need to catch up:

By way of actual helpful travel information – we closed out Strasbourg with a bonanza of museums. It turns out that all the city museums are free on the first Sunday of the month and so, instead of seeing one or two, we did five! These museums covered 1) the history of the city, 2) the archaeology of the city, 3) the building of the Strasbourg cathedral, 4) the fine arts, and 5) the decorative arts. It took us about 3 hours (36 minutes per museum!) to “do” all the museums but this pacing required that Jim, who is a serious sign-reader, not be with us – but we miss you, Jim!

Through studied focus and my strong intellect, I am able to share this collection of two photos, which I feel best represents the highlights of my museum day – a carefully curated offering culled from architecture, archaeology, fine art, and church history.

1) This trompe l’oiel plate of some deviled eggs, by famous Strasbourg artist Paul Hannong, from 1750. A different (inferior, I say) piece of his pottery sold at Christie’s auction for 2.7 million:

2) The earliest known example of a cake pan for a Kugelhof – that large pastry I surprised Ron and Jim with a few days back. It’s from the late 1590s!

The final thing I recall from my 5 museum tour is that I wanted to tell you about the Strasbourg train station. We were in and out of there about 8 times, given the day tours we did, and each time we approached, I was struck by civic decision-making that must have been involved.

The original station, built in 1878, was declared a historic monument in 1984: (pics not mine)

But to bring the fast trains in from Paris – in 2007 – the station had to be enlarged. And so this is what the city did – they built a glass and steel bubble around the station:

Here’s what it looks like from the inside:

We’re arriving in Nuremberg on October 2nd. German Unity Day is October 3rd. This national holiday celebrates the reunification of Germany back in 1990. It’s been apparent that tomorrow is a holiday as we transit train stations today – Strasbourg, Karlsruhe, Nuremberg – because significant numbers of travelers are wearing lederhosen and dirndls and carrying around large containers of beer.

I’ll leave you with this final picture of Strasbourg – St. Paul’s cathedral from 1892: