We checked out of the hotel and walked to Parliment. B had to work for a few hours, but her colleague / our friend N was free, so we met N in front of Parliment. She and I caught a bus into the center of town where we boarded one of the tour boats that provides hour-long cruises along the canal.
Some of the very old buildings along the canal in Strasbourg.
This area of Strasbourg is called Petite France.
A look back on what we passed...
It was good to spend some time with N. I'd met her on a previous trip to Vienna, when B asked me to accompany her to the interpreter's school to play the role of someone giving a speech. N, then a student, interpreted the speech into German as B listened and later offered pointers.
Then on this visit I met N's parents and her brother and have really come to enjoy the company of my new friends. It was a good way to spend my final few hours in Strasbourg, cruising along the canal for a last glimpse of this charming town.
People enjoy walking along the canal.
This man and his dog had different ideas about which direction to go.
The boat takes you past the European Parliment buildings.
One of several churches you see along the canal.
This is one of my favorite buildings in Strasbourg.
Notice the Weeping Willow tree on the left---
Notice the Weeping Willow tree on the left---
Here's another view with the tree in closeup, some students enjoying the sunny morning.
Notice the student in the striped shirt laying in the fold of the tree where it's horizontal.
Notice the student in the striped shirt laying in the fold of the tree where it's horizontal.
I bet hundreds of people have done this over the life of the tree.
After our cruise N and I stopped into a sandwich place, then caught the bus back to Parliment. We visited while she waited for the bus to the train station, and I waited for B to emerge.
There was some concern on B's part that she might have to stay later than she should, which would have made our return trip kind of sketchy...but she emerged on time. We caught a cab to the train station, took the train to Stuttgart, and there B did some shopping while I sat in a Starbucks answering email and sipping a green iced tea, watching the shoppers of Stuttgart stroll by with their bags of merchandise.
We took the train to the airport. The flight left on time and arrived early and we were back at our place in Vienna by 9 PM, me wondering if the time in France wasn't just a dream. But I think that about almost everything I experience.
The Strasbourg central train station, where we always begin and end our visits.
