Strasbourg!

Today we went to Strasbourg, France which is in the Alsace region of France. The Alsace Region of France has been in and out of French/German/French/ German occupation. But now and since WWII it has been in French control. We went there to tour the European Union Parliament (there is also one in Brussels- they switch off after a couple of months). We were able to see about 15 minutes of chamber debate… each parliament member speaks in their language and it’s all translated to the 24 EU language and broadcast on headphones that the audience listens to.

But to be honest the best part of our trip was the city tour of Strasbourg. My favorite part was the Notre Dome Cathedral de Strasbourg, which was built after the famous in Paris but took 250 years to build for one amazing reason. Since the Alsace region was constantly changing control from country to country they barely ever got any money from whatever country was controlling it at the time. So the Cathedral was paid for by the residents of Strasbourg! So they had to build and take breaks to raise money.

Another fun fact about the Cathedral is the stain glass window behind the alter… depicting the Virgin Mary and Jesus… About the Virgins head there is what some considered a halo but it is actually the European Union flag with the twelve gold stars, since the window was given to the Cathedral as a gift from the EU. (if you click the picuture to enlarge it- you see at the very top 12 gold stars in a circle)

Later we learned that the notion of a stork brings a child to mothers and fathers came from this region. The tradition goes that you put two sugar cubes outside your window and the stork with come and eat them and bring that household a child. It is also said that if you see a stork in the city you should rush home and put sugar our for a that’s a sign that you’re about to get a child from the stork!

Lastly we had an all you can eat Flamkugen meal. Flamkugen is a Southern German and Alsace tradition. It is like a pizza, with very thin dough and sour cream spread on top of it, and then bacon and onions and cheese are spread on top. There are a variety of types but this is the most common and is famous in this region. Lets just say the restaurant was shocked at how much a group of 70 Americans can eat… they almost had to cut us off… lets just say all you can eat in Europe isn’t anything like all you can eat in America!!