I wish I lived in a castle...

Where to begin...
Yesterday was a very busy day, we visted Mercedes-Benz in Rastatt, Germany and a Castle on the French and German border. Mercedes was interesting, we saw their very eco-friendly, efficient plant for the A and B class car. It is very popular in Europe because it is a small, non-gas guzzling vehicle. After our visit we went back to the hotel, put on walking shoes to go tour a castle. The castle is from the 12th century and was restored by William II when Germany took reign of the Alsace region. It was beautiful and full of history, but the best part was the view. When you were at the top of the castle you could look out and see for miles and miles and miles. Finally, our long day ended around 7pm and we returned to Strasbourg. Upon returning to Strasbourg, I decided to take a little "me" time and catch some fresh air in the local square. I felt just like a local, sitting near a fountatin people watching and just enjoying the evening. My time in the square was topped off when a man started playing the guitar and singing in French; I think this will become a part of my daily routine. Then to finish off an already fabulous day, a group of girls went to see Sex and the City (yes, it came out here first). Fortunately, we found a place where it was showing in English and to our surprise movie premiers here do not entail long lines and a giant crowds. The movie was great, I loved it!

Today was a much more relaxing day. We had our last introduction to French class and spent the rest of the day in our international classes. During the lunch break, I found a local bakery that makes a delicious "thon" tuna fish sandwhich. The lady there is so cute, she speaks a little bit of English and loves to practice which is very fortunate for me. After class, Anna and I stopped by the train station to make sure we had all of our tickets for our trip to London. Yay! We are leaving tomorrow morning at 6:45am. I look forward to another adventure to the UK!

More Pictures....

Typical Window in Strasbourg....love it!
Scenery Pic
This is the square by our Hotel....AWESOME!
This is Restaurant we ate at the first night with the group.

I didn't eat very much, it was interesting.

Pictures :)

First Day of Class

I don't even know where to start talking about today and all of its adventures! This morning we had our first day of class at the University; we had to take a tram for about ten minutes and walk a couple of blocks. The University is very plain, but it is fun to see European students and lets just say they love to smoke. Our first class was at 8:00am, blah, and it was just an introduction to France. Honestly, I don't think I will ever be able to pick up on this language! Then we visited the Cafeteria, which I probably won't be visiting very often and saw our computer lab. I am so glad that I brought my laptop because the keyboards are arranged differntly than those in the US. After our brief tour, we started our International Finance Class and European Union Class. During our lunch break I decided to visit a sandwhich shop across the street and taste some French cuisine. I thought this would be an easy task, but quickly realized that the entire menu was in French and I am do not know any of the food terminology and both of the workers did not speak English. Eventually, the purchasing of my sandwhich ended with me pointing at what I wanted to put on my sandwhich. It was delicious! Both of my professors are brilliant and very well-informed of wordly issues and history. Finally when class ended at 3:30pm we were free to explore the city. Today the city truly came to life, apparently on Sundays the town shuts down and takes an important day of rest, so yesterday we felt like we were in a ghost town.

Anna and I decided that we had some importnat errands to run, such as visiting Zara (a clothing store) and the grocery. Unfortunately, Zara did not have anything that fit into our price range, so we decided to buy some ice cream and cruise the streets. When we had finished eating our delicious Alsace ice cream, we entered the grocery store "Simply." Can you say overwhelming?! There was absolutely nothing in English, so we looked for familar brands while we held our noses and passed the delictable meat sections...yuck. We decided we are very thankful for FDA standards. Then we met up with some other people on our study abroad at a quaint cafe on the street. I indulged in a delicious bowl of spaghetti and tasted other's pizza and pasta. I finally enjoyed a full meal!

Strasbourg is the perfect mixture of German and French culture; it's timeless builidings and tranquil atmosphere are enchanting and I will soon by addicted to the laid back European attitude. I look forward to tomorrow and getting to know more people in the city, as well as those on my trip. :)

Travel Day and Arrival

Yay! I am finally in Strasbourg! After a very long, long day of traveling through three countries we finally made it. During our travels, my favorite moment was when I woke up on the bus and was greeted by a glorious sunset as we crossed the epic Rhine River. Beautiful! We are staying in an Apart/Hotel; fortunately, it is very clean and has most of the ammenities we need. On the negative side, it is about as big as my bedroom and there are three of us, a "toilet" and a kitchen, with a minature fridge, stove and dishwasher.

Last night was our first outing on the town, we were on a quest for food after living off of plane snacks for a whole day. We found a small, local pub and quickly discovered the difficult language barrier. The staff ended up being very nice and helpful, contrary to popular belief, and I managed to order a delicious "jambon" and "formage" sandwhich aka ham and cheese. Today we are going to venture around Strasbourg on the Ill River and then on a foot tour. I am very excited to see the town in daylight and find my way around. Hopefully, I will have some pictures to put up after our excursion today. Miss you all very much!

Rachel

Yay for France

This is just a test to make sure I know how to use this blog thing!