My lovely husband and I celebrate our birthdays 3 days apart, so last year we decided to start a tradition of going somewhere to celebrate. Last year it was Rome, and this year - Strasbourg! I had always wanted to see the Christmas Markets of Strasbourg, so Chris agreed and off we went. We rented a really charming Air BnB apartment, which was the perfect base for our weekend adventures.
(Sidenote - I had a great birthday on Thursday. Chris made me chocolate and orange cupcakes with an apricot filling - they were really delicious. At work in Bern, my colleagues had decorated my desk and left me a gift and a card, and Chris and I had Chinese take-out for dinner. All day I received lovely messages and phone calls, cards in the mail and some great gifts. Chris got me an ice-cream maker - an inspired gift. I felt really loved and really grateful for a wonderful network of friends and family all around the world).
Our journey on Friday took a little longer than we would have liked as we hit some traffic on the way and got delayed at the border going into France, but we found a spot to park the car and headed over to the apartment. After some quick introductions and instructions we walked around the corner to a steak restaurant and proceeded to have steak and cocktails for dinner (food is definitely cheaper in France!) before doing our first quick walk-around the city. The markets were already closed for the night which was actually ideal as it gave us a chance to see some of the Christmas lights and beautiful buildings without too many people around.
On Saturday, our phones told us we walked 18km and although I think we walked a little less than that, we sure did walk a lot! We zig-zagged all over the city and through all of the markets. In the morning we stumbled upon this really cozy tea room and had coffee, croissants and baguette with butter and jam (when in France) and then continued to eat all day - hot wine (both red and white!), hot blueberry juice, a beignet, a crêpe, poêle (a typical dish in Strasbourg - a type of potato noodle, bacon, onion, and cheese, served with some sausages).... a nap at home....then more market visits and dinner - french onion soup followed by chicken in a Riesling sauce for me, and cordon bleu for Chris. We timed dinner really well as when we walked out, there were queues outside most restaurants.
Sunday morning started with birthday cake for Chris - I knew we would be somewhat limited in our Air BnB apartment, so I took a mix for a microwave cake that you cook in a mug plus some candles along with me! I also bought ingredients with me to cook one of Chris' favourite breakfasts - pancakes, bacon and maple sirop. He opened his gifts, and we packed up the apartment. We had one last hot wine before lunch (we really did spend most of the weekend eating!). We ate in a restaurant we had seen on our walks, and the burger roesti on the menu caught Chris' eye - so that settled it! I had a platter of three different types of roesti - all very delicious. We had one more crêpe and a last stroll through one little market on our way out.
Strasbourg had put extra security measures in place because of the attacks in Paris. Unfortunately Strasbourg had received some threats too - so the markets were all running on reduced hours, and apparently there were a lot less people visiting the city (although to us, it still seemed really crowded!). I am grateful we had a safe visit, and I hope it continues that way.
