Day 26: Next Stop...Strasbourg, France

My flight to France didn't leave until the afternoon, so I decided to use my morning hours to see the city one last time.  As I mentioned before, I have absolutely fallen in love with Budapest.  If you get the chance to visit this city, don't pass it up.

Since I was at a different hotel in a different location, I decided to explore that area.  First up, before walking around anywhere, I needed some breakfast.  I stopped in to this cafe, just up the street from my hotel.

I ordered a coffee with milk, which was perfectly presented in a clear glass.

For food, I ordered eggs sunny side up and French toast.  It was a lot cheaper than eating at the hotel, and I was able to get eggs just the way I like them.

From here I walked towards the Danube.  One the way I took a picture of this, which I think is used for theater or music performances.  It wasn't really clearly marked, but that is what it appeared to be used for.

My next stop was into a bakery called Prima Pek. 

Everything looked so good, but I settled on a small chocolate croissant.  I would have taken a picture, but I put it in my purse and it got smashed.  At least it still tasted good when I tried it on the plane later in the day.

After the bakery, I kept walking towards the river and on to Margaret Bridge.  This is the bridge that connects on to Margaret Island, which is a natural island in the middle of the river, and is used as a recreational park area.  You can see it here just across the water way.

I really liked that the public transport system uses the bridges too and can bring people back and forth between Buda and Pest.

Here is the bridge leading on to Margaret Island.

Since it is used for lots of sporting and leisure activities, you can find various sports courts and fields, and even a swimming pool.

After my short walk on the island, I went back to the hotel and headed to the airport.

I was actually really impressed with the airport.  It didn't seem all that busy, and it was very clean.  There was a lot more than I expected once you cross through security.  I wanted to take more pictures of the food in the food court, but an employee stopped me and said no photos.

I decided to get some lunch at least since I didn't think I would be getting anything on my flight, which was only 1.5 hours.  I recently had a craving for both lemonade and pizza, so this lunch worked out perfectly.

I have never been to the Czech Republic before, so this was my chance, even if it was only for a 2 hour layover there.  I was flying Czech airlines, so I naturally had a layover in Prague, the capital city.  I really do hope that I get to go back one day and visit the city.

Shortly after take off I realized we were flying over Margaret Island, so now you can get a better idea of how this island is placed in relation to the city and the Danube.

Even though this was a short flight, we were served crackers and beverages.

Well hello Prague!  My goal here was to drink some beer.

Therefore, I was successful!  Plus, I got to enjoy this with a pretzel.  Yum!

After hanging out for a little bit, I headed over to my gate.  Too bad my flight was delayed by a half hour, but as long as it wasn't cancelled, I really can't complain.  This flight was to Strasbourg, France.  Wondering why I picked this location?  I am meeting up with someone here, and someone some of you may know or at least recognize the name.  I'm keeping it a secret for now, but let's just say there is a blogger meet up coming up soon and we have lots of fun stuff planned.  Curious?  I'll let you know soon, I promise.  Well, we picked this area because it gives us a chance to taste good wine and eat good food, and it is not too far of a trip for her.  Haha, I know you are curious now.

Now to change the subject...look at this plane!  So tiny!  I think this may be the smallest one I have ever flown on.  It was actually the same kind of plane for my flight to Prague.  This was the one I flew on to Strasbourg.  Thankfully it was a short flight.

I was happy to arrive at my hotel while there was still light.  I picked Hotel de Rohan because on the website it looked so cute and it was a good location, right next to the cathedral.  I was so happy to find that it is just as charming in person.  I am not sure if you have heard of Strasbourg before, but it is well known in Europe as an international city because this is where the European Parliament is located.  It is right by the border of Germany and is the capital city of the Alsace region of France.

My room is small, but since it is just me, it was actually not too bad.

After dropping of my bags, I decided to walk around town before it got too dark outside.  Like I mentioned above, I was staying next to the big cathedral in town, which is known as Cathedral Notre Dame Strasbourg.  This thing is HUGE, and I do mean that with all capitals.  You can see how big it is just by looking at the tiny people walking in front of it.

The square where the Cathedral is located is very cute.  So French!  I love strolling the little pedestrian streets.

Here is  the cathedral from head on.

Couldn't resist a shot of this store because I just took my family into the one we passed by in Madrid.

More pictures of the area.

I love this building.  I got to look at it all through my dinner.

Chocolate shops!

You can take a boat ride around if you like, but I wasn't sure if they were open or not, and I needed to get some dinner.

While walking around, I spotted this.  Sushi is certainly popular everywhere now.  Of course this is the one thing I am trying to avoid while visiting these countries because I can get this any time I want at home.

I was just loving these views.

I finally decided on Le Grubber.  The menu looked good, there was an open patio table, and the place was busy.  I figured that was a good sign.

For a starter, I ordered goat cheese and mango wrapped in smoked salmon.  Amazing!  Unfortunately I filled up too quickly and still had one more dish coming.

Since they brought out bread, I at least gave it a try, but I knew I was too full to eat much more.

So when my next dish came out I almost died.  I was not expecting it to be this big.  This is potatoes covered in munster cheese.  Strasbourg is in the same region as Munster, so there was a lot of it here.  Munster happens to be one of my favorites, mostly because I ate it a lot as a kid, so I still really enjoy it and it reminds me of my childhood and college years.  So this was potatoes covered in munster, and then the waiter flambeed it.  He poured some alcohol on top and lit it on fire.  It was very, very good, but I couldn't eat it all.  I felt so bad because the poor server asked what he should tell the chef when he brings back a mostly uneaten dish of food.  I told him to tell the chef I am a small girl that just wanted to try a few things out and I got too full.  But, I told him to make sure the chef knew I did enjoy what I was able to eat of it. 

After dinner I was happy to head back to my room and get some much needed sleep.

QUESTIONS:  Have you ever heard of Strasbourg?  What is your favorite kind of cheese?  What is the most charming city you have ever visited?