On Monday April 29^th, we woke up in Kehl, Germany which is just across the Rhine from Strasbourg, France which was our destination for the day. We started our morning with a bus tour around Strasbourg, which is the cultural capital of France’s Alsace region. The stork is the symbol of both Strasbourg and Alsace, and we saw many nests and a few storks! The city was French. Then German. Then French. Then German. Now French (since liberation in 1944)…who knows what tomorrow will bring… Strasbourg is a beautiful mix of French and German influences (and some Roman from the very early days); it is the seat of the European Parliament (2^nd largest democratic electorate in the world after India), and one of the four capitals of the European Union.

Viking hires local guides in each port – people who are natives or long-time residents and know the area extremely well. We had one of our favorite guides in Strasbourg – a native of Egypt, he moved to Strasbourg to finish his education in Ancient Egyptian languages and culture, and was a professor at the University of Strasbourg until his position was eliminated…now he gives entertaining and informative tours! His name was Sabr, so our group was the “Sabres” which was a great nod to our favorite Buffalo hockey team!

After our bus tour, we had a walking tour through La Petite France (the “Tanners District”) into Old Town and Cathedral Square. Strasbourg is basically an island, surrounded on all sides by the Ill River. It is just a delightful city, so full of interesting architecture and colorful buildings.

We spent quite a bit of time in the Strasbourg Cathedral which was completed in 1439 and is constructed from sandstone – the color variations in the building are absolutely gorgeous. It was the world’s tallest building from 1647 to 1874, and is currently the 6^th-tallest church in the world. It has just one spire, which is not what the architect intended. It has many original stained glass windows from the 15^th century – many of the windows were removed in WWII; the Monuments Men found them in a German salt mine and returned them to Strasbourg.

One of the highlights in the cathedral is the astronomical clock which was built in the 1840s. In addition to the time, the clock shows the day of week, month, year, zodiac sign, moon phase, and position of several planets. We were there to see the quarter-hour movements of the clock. Really impressive piece and definitely a crowd favorite! The cathedral was the 2^nd most visited in France, but jumped to first after the fire at Notre Dame in Paris.

Our walking tour ended at the Cathedral and I went directly to the side entrance to start the climb to the Cathedral’s platform and guard house. Mark wasn’t interested in the 330-step climb, so I headed up alone. It’s mostly a steep spiral staircase to the top; I was grateful there was no one behind me, so I could take my time, stop for pictures on the way, and catch my breath! It was definitely worth the effort for a panoramic view of Strasbourg and an up-close view of the flying buttresses and the spire.

Historically, the ’walls’ served as a visitor log; there are names carved everywhere. That practice was banned and now visitors can sign a ‘digital’ visitor log.

After I descended back to ground level via another spiral staircase, it was time for lunch. We found a cute little sidewalk café (fortunately the weather was beautiful and perfect for us to eat outside) near the Cathedral and I just had to order crepes – one savory and one sweet! When in France…

Take a listen to the cathedral bells that we heard while eating…(make sure your volume is up!)

After lunch, we continued exploring Strasbourg on foot, walking to the Place de la Republique to see the Palais du Rhin and Monument aux Morts, and then just wandering the streets to enjoy the beautiful architecture and overall wonderful vibe of the city. It reminded me of Paris in many ways, but so much cleaner!

We met up with a guide at 2:10 to head back to the ship; Viking ran shuttles all afternoon so people could stay in Strasbourg as long as they wanted and still have easy access back to the ship. One last selfie before we left this wonderful city…

We enjoyed watching this carousel while we waited for our return shuttle…

Dinner was a traditional German menu, including pretzels which we were told are NOT to be dipped in mustard. I guess it’s like putting ketchup on a Chicago hot dog. I could do without the sauerkraut, but overall it was tasty! Several staff members were dressed in Lederhosen and Dirndl. Fun!

After dinner, we saw that we were heading into a lock, so we went to the top deck to watch. It was incredible to see how close they get to the edge – maybe an inch of space.  We had been warned that if it was a lock that went up (vs. out), to run for cover unless we wanted a shower, so we watched the final part from inside! Fascinating! And amazing to us that we went through several locks without ever realizing it – so smooth and quiet.