Europe 2012 part III - Zweibrucken, Starsbourg and Stuttgart

So, let's continue the journey :)

Initially, the plan for the Germany portion of the trip was: go to Trier for the week-end, come back to my aunt's place on Monday and go to Saarbrücken, on Tuesday - Strasbourg, and starting from Wednesday, visit my dad's friends and join them on their vacation. However, you know how plans go awry... Especially with dad whose attitude is pretty much "We'll see" LOL. Before going to Trier, we had already revised it to be: Strasbourg on Monday and Saarbrücken on Tuesday so we could meet up with my cousin O. LOL, in the end, it was: Zweibrücken on Monday, Saarbrücken on Tuesday and Strasbourg on Wednesday :) I's almost a 3 hours drive to Strasbourg from my aunt's place and they figured it'd be a bit too tight as we came back from Trier at around 11am. Also, one of my dad's friend turned out not to be available, so we delayed the reunion. All in all, it worked out really good in my opinion LOL.

In Zweibrücken, we actually didn't visit the city... I don't even know if there's any big touristic thing to see, but probably given it's Europe LOL. The reason we went was to visit the Rose Garden :) It sounds a bit boring, but seriously, it was the perfect activity for the day. Something relaxing to do, no rush... And the flowers were beautiful :P I probably went a bit overboard with the pics, but the flowers were really pretty! And on our way home, we stopped by an outlet shopping mall. However, my sister and I were good girls and didn't go crazy :P

  

Beautiful flowers. The white ones look like butterflies!! Is that what you put in butterfly gardens? Also loved the colors!

I had to put the two pictures below of my sister reading! LOL, it's so rare! She's more of a TV person, but from time to time, she gets sucked in... and that's exactly what happened! She had started The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan that morning and was totally engrossed :) So our roles switched around and while I goofed around, she read... If you wonder why I didn't do the same, well my e-reader ran out of juice ^_^;

Me goofing around and my sister reading.

I love that patch of flowers! My parents with my aunt and uncle, in order of height LOL. It looks so zen.

So on Tuesday, we went to Saarbrücken where my cousin joined us. He actually lives in Trier, not far from Mrs. E at all. First order of business was to buy train tickets back to Paris for my sister and me, since my parents were staying a week longer. Ha, the joy of being retired LOL. We actually didn't do much that day and didn't visit the city... We mostly stayed in the downtown area which is very commercial. My cousin told me Saarbrücken was another university town and is mostly good for shopping. From the postcards I bought from Saarbrücken, there are a few places it would have been great to visit... Perhaps next time I'm on my own :P

Meeting up; finding info on the train schedule.

Waiting to buy the train tickets; the Saar river.

That white building in the background is where my father used to live in college.

Walking to the old part of downtown; center of Old Saarbrücken 

After two relaxing days, we put on our sneakers again for an one-day trip to Strasbourg, France. It also turned out be the nicest day weather-wise that we had so far :) Really happy because I think you need the sun to really bring out Strasbourg :P And for the first time of the trip, we were truly tourists with nobody who knew the city well along with us. I thought it was fun to find our ways, but I have to say, it was easy. Everything is really quite in the center of the city LOL.

Welcome to France! The speed limit varies depending on the weather! Still faster than most NA highways :P

Upon arriving, where are we?! Oh, we'll walk to the train station. View from a bridge.

Église St-Pierre-Le-Vieux; Place Kerber; some German houses - love the architecture :)

Place Gutenberg; Strasbourg Cathedral; the inside

By the way, did you know there is 17 churches in Strasbourg?!? LOL, we did not visit all of them. We mainly stayed in Strasbourg centre. We did take a bus ride to explore the city; however, I have to say I didn't enjoy it as much as the others I had taken during this trip. Basically because there is a lot of things to see higher up and you could not get a good view from the low bus/train. Also, it had a glass top over us, but the glass  was not clear so it was hard to see and it made the inside very, very warm :( However, it did show us the way and what spots we wanted to explore further... which is what we did LOL. I really enjoyed Strasbourg because it was very walkable and very pretty. I'd love to return again in the future :)

In the bus ride.

Used to be a prison; faraway shot from Strasbourg Cathedral.

Palais du Rhin - gotta love Europe for its palaces LOL.

A street of Strasbourg; having fun :P

Isn't it pretty? Best view of Strasbourg; restaurant where we ate

Maison des Tanneurs - very old building; nice view of the canal; Strasbourg is known for its colored houses

One last pic of Strasbrough; on the way home

After Strasbourg, we headed to Stuttgart to visit my dad's friend. He actually lives in the suburbs of Stuttgart, so we had to take the train/metro to go into the city. And wow, Germans are strict!! While we were on the train, we saw three different controllers who checked that everyone on the train had a ticket or a pass! So different than in Paris where we saw so many jumped over gates LOL.

Taking the train to Stuttgart

Train station; oh, German specialty - pretzels!

Saw so many ducks in Germany, they were so cute! Opera house

Back of the New Palace; Prince palace

 

Statue with a visitor; Schlossplatz; fountain in front of New Castle

I have to say, I did not expect Stuttgart to be so pretty! All I knew when coming in is that Stuttgart had Mercedes-Benz and Porsche manufactures. I was expecting a very industrial city, but turns out it has a lot of old buildings and pretty architecture! LOL, above is a picture of a statue with a little visitor :P In Paris, I saw some statues with sticks over the head... I can't remember if it was in the Jardin du Luxembourg or at Versailles, and my sister and I wondered why. Now, we have our answer :P

A statue in Schlossplatz; view of Schlossplatz from above; Collegiate Church

Stuttgart town hall; station for Mercedes-Benz museum

I really liked Stuttgart and I wished we had more time to explore the city. We were really in the center of it and I know there's a lot we have not seen. Next time, next time :) One thing I'll definitively do is the Mercedes-Benz museum! I'm not into cars too much, but I heard their exposition is very interesting. Also, did you know that the Mercedes-Benz manufactures span about three train stations?!? Anyway, this visit gave me a taste and I definitively want more!! LOL.

This is it for today. There'll be another post, so stay tuned!

Europe 2012 part II - St. Ingbert, Luxembourg and Trier

Hello everyone :)

How are you doing? Olympics is occupying a lot of my time LOL, but I've been sneaking some reading here and there. Luckily for me, I have not been so busy at work. However, I'm still not back on my game when it comes to blogging. I wish to start reviewing books and blog-hopping... but seems like my brain is still too exhausted to think (part of it is due to waking up early every day to watch the Olympics ^_^;). So I guess I'm going to take it easy... So instead of a review, you get more pictures of the trip! :P

So the main purpose of our trip to Europe was not Paris, but Germany. Why Germany? Well as you know, I have an aunt - my mother's sister - living in Germany and it's been 10 years since we last saw her and her husband :) So our main purpose was to visit them :) However, that's not our only link to Germany. In fact, my parents met in Germany. My father left Vietnam at the age of 18 to go study in Germany. He and my aunt were college friends and while visiting my aunt, my mom met my dad. They had a 4-years long-distance relationship till my dad moved to Canada to get married :P Lucky me, right? And yes, that is a picture of my dad not long after he arrived in Germany. In those times, it was critical for my dad to excel in his studies, because otherwise, he would have been enrolled in the military. Then, he had the chance to go study abroad and jump on it. He was not alone though, two of his buddies also went :) They are still living in Germany and we also visited them :)

So from Paris, we rented a car and drove to my aunt's. She lives near the border, so the trip wasn't that long, only 4 hours :) We got a Chevrolet Cruz. My dad was so disappointed to be in Europe and drive an American car LOL. Oh, before my next trip to Europe, I need to learn how to drive a manual car... Renting one is so much cheaper than an automatic! As it was, my dad was the designated driver for the whole trip...

Our rental car. On our way to my aunt's, border straight ahead!

My aunt lives in a very small town called Sankt. Ingbert, twenty minutes out of Saarbrücken. Actually, when I was in my teens, about 15 years old, my parents sent me to my aunt's for three weeks :) The town is very small and quiet... and well, that hasn't changed LOL. But I like the atmosphere... it's very calm and it's the kind of place where you go to the market every day and can walk to almost everywhere. And something I didn't remember is how people greeted everyone on the streets, even if you don't know each other :)

Downtown of St. Ingbert

If you go to Germany, you have to eat their wursts (sausages)! It's a must :P So that's exactly what we did on our way back home, even though we were not hungry LOL. This stall has been there for decades... and it's still has yummy as ever :P

We also did a day-trip to Luxembourg, which is a really small country nestled between France, Germany and Belgium. This is also where my cousin O is working... although not on that day. It was okay though since we were meeting him later for supper :P That day was rainy, but we were not surprised since my sister was with us and well, that's the story of her summer LOL. We visited downtown Luxembourg which is very pretty, but not outstanding... Luxembourg is also divided into Haute-Ville and Basse-Ville (High- and Low-City). We pretty much stayed in Haute-Ville... and we went to explore the Casemates... Basically, Luxembourg used to be protected by a fortress which was build on the Bock which offers natural fortification.

Downtown of Luxembourg

Casemates - yep, we're going down!

Views that you get from the Casemates! Awesome, right?

However, the inside is very primitive and small... Those stairs were tiny!! People were really small then!

Views of Basse-Ville.

Luxembourg's emblem and some landmarks

See the picture above where my sister is sitting looking bored? Well actually, she was hungry and as a result, very grumpy LOL. We had food, but left it in the car... so we fed her with a classic: McDonald's! I like that McDonald's adapts its menu depending on its location. I don't think we have any chicken sticks in North America, right? Oh and did you know that McDonald's in Germany serves bubble tea?!?

Food!! LOL, my sister was not the only one being hungry :P

McDonald's chicken sticks... I still prefer McNuggets LOL.

I have to say, I wished we had had a bit more time in Luxembourg. There are some landmarks that we didn't get to see and I would have liked to explore the Haute-Ville a bit more. At the same time, it was really rainy... And the souvenirs in Luxembourg aren't great... It seemed to be to be very dated ^_^; However, regular shopping looked good! Leaving Luxembourg, we went to Trier to meet up with my cousin O and have supper.

My cousin O with maple syrup - yes, he's very tall LOL. Having dinner - not very long after McDonald's ^_^;

The next day, we went to Trier to visit my dad's foster mother. Basically, when my dad came to Germany at the age of 18, he enrolled in a program where he was welcomed into a family for a month - to get accustomed to the lifestyle. After his month was up, my dad asked if they could take in his friend... and since there was only a couple of months till university started, she told my dad to stay on. Mrs E and her family basically took on three Vietnamese youngsters and they became a family :) So every time we go to Germany, we visit her. My parents are actually planning to go back to Germany next year to celebrate her 85th birthday :)

Toasting our reunion!

Her house back then; her house now

Mrs E. was very happy to see my dad again and so was my dad. For the occasion, she made a cheesecake - knowing that it's my dad's favorite :P So we had lunch and dessert... but turns out in Germany, they usually have coffee and cake at around 3pm... but we were sooo full!! LOL. Still, we each ate a small piece. Then, Mrs E. asked my sister a question - in German of course. My sister thought Mrs E asked if it was good, so she answered yes. Turns out Mrs E asked if my sister wanted a second piece... and second piece she got LOL.

Cheesecake. Too much cake!

Mrs E lives close to Trier, which is probably the oldest city in Germany. It was there during the Roman Empire and as such, still has some ruins... So we went to explore them :) We walked, but we also took the little train :) I think that's a really good way to explore a city, figure out what you want to see and then, walk there.

Porta Nigra - front and back.

On the little train

Cathedral of Saint-Peter (der Dom) and right next door, Church of our Lady

Palace of Trier

One of what I really wanted to visit in Trier was the ruins of a Roman bath. It looked so small on the outside, but what you don't realize is so much is underground!! We went down... but it was very small and tight and LOL, I was pretty happy when I saw the arrow indicating the exit! LOL. I joked with my parents that we could show some of the pictures and say we've been to Rome :P

 

Pretty awesome right? One last post to come soon!