Exactly As I Imagined France To Be

Listening: I am here in my mold, but tonight I’m on my knees, yeah. But I’m a million different people. I need to hear some sounds that recognise the pain in me, yeah.

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. The internet in Strasbourg was shit and their keyboards were so foreign to me that even with hunt and peck, I couldn't figure out how to even make the @ symbol appear. It was quite sick.

Now a lot of people have been getting on me to post including my mother and my little sister, but the truth of the matter is that I just haven't been able to. I actually had four e-mails in my e-mail account for once. It was amazing. My last day in Vienna, I spent at the Belvedere Palace and running around their botanical gardens. It was so nice. I got so lost in the botanical gardens that it wasn't even funny. I thing getting lost is a big theme in respect to my travels. At least I'm out there without a guidebook taking a million pictures of the same thing over and over and over again.


Belvedere Palace from the Bottom


Belvedere Palace from the Other Side


Part Of The Botanical Garden


Pretty Flower

After I explored the Belvedere, I went back over to ther MOMOK to take pictures of the funky benches.


The Benches at the MOMOK

Now, I had a 8:30 train out of Wein Westbanhof where I stashed my crap in a locker. So I made arrangements to have dinner with my fellow baseball fan Matt. It was funny because we had to go pick up flowers for his girlfriend's grandmother's 81st birthday on the way. It was good meeting that kid. Definitely a highlight so far. Here's my one pic with Matt.



So I get on the train to Strasbourg. It's yet another horrible couchette trip. And to add insult to injury, I found out that my hostel request had been declined right before I got on the train. So I was on my way to Strasbourg with no place to stay sleeping in a very uncomfortable place (like the back of a Volkswagon).

I arrived at six in the morning and here is some proof.



Note the time in the upper right hand side. This was taken on the platform as I got off the train. At that time the luggage storage wasn't even open yet so I crashed out in the lounge of the train station for about two hours before I was able to stash my gear. So at eight o'clock in the morning, I walked around Strasbourg, got lost, and after a couple of hours, got back to Gare Central. From there, I found the tourist information center and with that a hotel to stay at.

So I stayed at a 2 star hotel that I didn't think really deserved both stars. I paid thirty five euro for a room with no toilet or shower, but it did have a sink. I had to pay an additional two euro to use the shower and honestly, the toilet was shit. But I did it for two nights just because I needed a place to stay.

Let me just tell you that Strasbourg was exactly what I imagined when I thought of France. In the morning, mist rose off the river Ill and hung there all morning until it finally burned off at noon time. The architecture involved stone and sometimes timbers. Oh it was so beautiful. I only have some of my pictures uploaded, so here are just a few images.


The Covered Bridge Near Petit France


St. Peter's Dom

For the first time on my trip, I whipped out my Michelin guide and found myself at a winstube (wine bar) for lunch. I had a nice meal of:


Choucroute Aux Lardon


Pot Au Feu


And a Blueberry Tarte

Ack! My time is almost up. I promise I'll publish more tomorrow, hopefully from a better internet cafe that's not in my hostel here in Montemarte. Hope you Enjoyed my little bit today.