Strasbourg France Sept. 2017

Strasburg France lies in France right on the western border of Germany.

Below, you can see the steeple of the Catholic Cathedral - Notre Dame of Strasbourg

 Below is a picture of the medieval bridge with the cathedral in the background.

 One of the canals from the Rhine

The statue of Liberty was a gift from France to the United States in 1886 so when we drove thru France we actually saw if quite a few times.  We were driving around a "round about" and I snapped this from the back side of it.

Oh my goodness.....Strasbourg is just charming!  Here is a bit of it's history...........

Strasbourg became a French city in 1681, after the conquest of Alsace by the armies of Louis XIV.  In 1871 after the Franco-Prussian War, the city became German again, until 1918 (end of WWI), when it reverted to France.  After the defeat of France in 1940 (WWII), Strasbourg came under German control again; since the end of 1944, it is again a French town.  In 2016, Strasbourg was promoted from capital of Alsace to capital of Grand Est.

Strasbourg sits on the Rhine and is the second largest port on the Rhine.  This is just a small portion of the Rhine running thru the city.  

This is actually a house where someone lives.....how quaint is this?!

As we walked thru the city and over bridges I felt as though I was taking the same photo over and over.....it looks like this all over the city......we just loved it!

This also is the smaller portion of the Rhine River.  (From Wikipedia)...Strasbourg is immersed in the Franco-German culture and although violently disputed throughout history, has been a cultural bridge between France and Germany for centuries, especially through the University of Strasbourg, currently the second largest in France, and the coexistence of Catholic and Protestant culture.

I have appreciated my friend Jill so much, she and Don have been so great to us since we've gotten here.  I love spending time with her.  They will be leaving in April after they extended their mission by 3 months. 

All the store fronts were so cute, I took this just as we were leaving.

Town square

I will definitely go back to see this city again.  Here's Tony with Jill to his left.   This was an outdoor market on this street where I bought a scarf from France!

The Cathedral of Notre Dame of Strasbourg:   Below is the Catholic Cathedral Notre Dame of Strasbourg constructed in 1176-1439.  This city was taken over and occupied by the Nazi's from 1940-1944 and then the air raids from the British and American forces almost demolished the city.

Jill in the Cathedral of Notre Dame - Strasbourg

Below are the busts of the Apostles from the "high alter" of 1682 along the semi-circular wall closing the choir, wood, 17th century.

The enormity of the building is amazing!

The church houses the largest Astronomical clock in the world.  It originated from 1352-1354 and was rebuilt in 1838-1843.  There is a little shop off to the left where I bought a manger scene for Christmas.  You just can not get a real feel for how massive this Cathedral is!

The outdoor market with the church of Notre Dame Strasburg to the right.

Looking good in his hat!

I just loved all the window fronts

Look at the Ivy growing on the building and the fall colors are beginning to change

One of the things I've always wanted to do was go to France and eat at a little cafe in the square....well, here it is!  Take that off my bucket list!

One of the many bridges we walked over

Loving the charm!  The architecture is so different from anything in the U.S.  Houses are attached, roofs are all different sizes, shapes and heights.  Cobble stones line all the streets everywhere which are not easy or comfortable to walk on but they are so charming!

Jill and Don were walking ahead of us .... I asked them to turn and snapped this......Look at all the different tutor homes.....charming

Cars actually drive down these small streets.  I have no idea where the home/apt. dwellers park because we didn't see any parking anywhere and there were no parking garages.

Sewing store

September 2017 Bern Switzerland

It was time to go have a fun weekend with the Roberts.  Jill and Don took us to Bern which is a city just west of the center of Switzerland.  It's a beautiful city.  The city was originally built on a hilly peninsula surrounded by the Aare river, but outgrea natural bounderies by the 19th century.  A number of bridges have been built to allow the city to expand beyond the Aare River. 

The structure of Bern's city centre is largely medieval and has been recognized by UNESCO as a Cultural World Heritage Site.

Car ride..................to Switzerland and France!

  We stopped at a little restaurant just by our hotel for lunch

We had a wonderful afternoon at the Swiss Temple with Jill and Don and had a young missionary take our photo.  We also bumped into a couple that we had met at the MTC who are serving in Italy.  

  

The countryside is so beautiful, I had to take this picture from the car as we drove past this beautiful farm.

 The streets and buildings are old but just so beautiful and quaint, like right out of as story book.

Since the 16th Century, the city has had a bear pit, the Barengraben.  The currently four bears are now kept in an open-air enclosure nearby and two other younger bears, a present by the Russian president, are kept in Dahlhozli zoo.  Here, Jill is just outside the bear pit and we were watching the two young bears.  I felt a little sorry for them and felt they should be in the wild like all the other bears instead of in a bear pit........

Jill Robert's and me.

All over the city we found these St. Bernard dogs that are painted.

 Just thought this was cute

 I took this picture from a bridge.....pretty

 Jill and I were walking ahead of the guys and I turned and snapped this picture.

 Just a pretty street just off the main square.

 All these cheese blocks are incredible!

 Outdoor market.......BREAD

 Just another St. "BERNard"

 Below is the Federal Palace, (Bundeshaus), built from 1857 to 1902 which houses the national parliament government and part of the ferderal administration.

I think this building below is the town theater but not sure....

 This was probably my favorite little find in Bern.  As we walked along the streets they have these things that look like "storm cellers" .....  when they are opened they decorate them and make them inviting and make the passerby feel a little curious to go "down" and see what is in there......they are beautiful shops down there, all kinds!  So quaint!

 We walked thru this little market in the middle of the town square.

 Jill eating a wonderful pretzel!  She was on the look out to buy a Swiss Watch!  She got a really nice one.  I may have to do the same before going home.

The train that came really close to Don and Tony......as they looked at the Clock.

Perhaps the most famous sight in Bern is the Zytglogge which means "time bell", an elaborate medieval clock tower with moving puppets.  While we waited to see the tower bell chime, Don and Tony were almost hit by the train that runs right thru the town.

Albert Einstein lived in a "flat" at the Kramgrasse 49 (name of street) from 1903-1905.  This was the year he worked out his theory of relativity while he was employed as a patent examiner at the patent office.

 You can see a photo of him above in the window sill....showing where his flat was.  Below is the plaque on the wall downstairs.