There must be a word for what I experience in life…”Amor novarum urbium,” in Latin, perhaps, or “Neuenstadtliebe,” in German, a word that describes the euphoria I feel when I have the chance to explore a new cityscape. After a very long hiatus, I was able to experience this truly transformative emotion once again on a recent trip to the ancient city of Strasbourg, France.

View of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Strasbourg built from 1015-1439.

So why Strasbourg? you might ask, as well you should. It turns out there is a biannual European Youth Event which a group of students from CODE University wanted to attend, but the school requirement was…they had to have ten people and they had to have a faculty “sponsor.” As said sponsor, however, I was not allowed to attend the conference, which meant, oh heck, that I just had to wander about the town for two days. Which I gladly did. And the photos below will give you a little hint why, starting with…

Lexical stew

If you have been reading this blog for some time, you may remember that one of the things that makes cityscapes particularly compelling to me is when that space is what I call an “edge zone,” a location where any number of cultures, languages, or civilizations collide and intermix. It’s part of the reason I love Berlin so much (old and new, East and West, high art and graffiti, so on and so forth), and now I’ve found another city which truly straddles two distinct cultures and creates its own unique environment between France and Germany, as evidenced by the two languages embedded in the city locations themselves.

Yes, of course I went to the city museum and yes of course there’s a long and fractious tale to be told, but I’ll sum up 2500 years on steroids so I can get to other news. Here we go: Gauls – Romans – Saxons – Franks – Catholic Bishops – Protestant reformers – France – Germany – France – Germany – France. (More or less.) The museum gave me the chance to channel my inner medieval warrior, but I gotta say that hat really hurts and I would have probably died a painful death regardless:

Maybe a feather would help?

Fun historical fact: Johannes Gutenburg of printing press fame, was actually a very interesting character. While he was born and died in Mainz, Germany, as a young man his family was expelled from there due to an uprising against the nobility (of which he was a minor member) and they moved for a time to Strasbourg where his mother had roots. There allegedly he trained as a goldsmith, made polished metal mirrors, and perfected his work with moveable type, based on some research he had done entitled “Aventur und Kunst (enterprise and art).”

Nearby, a bookstore keeps the tradition alive for current lovers of the printed page:

Enough of the heavy stuff. Time to tour the place. Strasbourg is simply a lovely, lovely town, mixing, somehow, the best of France and Germany both in the architecture and in the street life. The city is small but has distinct neighborhoods and not only is extremely walkable but also has an easy-to-access public transport system (gosh, I sound like the Chamber of Commerce). After the museum, I paid my respects to the cathedral, where I saw two remarkable items. First is the famous astronomical clock, this incarnation dating from 1843, with predecessors from the 14th and 16th century:

Waiting for the moving parts

The second was a moving memorial to Americans who liberated Alsace in the Second World War. I hadn’t realized this and the site was quite moving for me:

The center of town, the area on which the original Roman fortress was founded and which is now home to the cathedral and the main city square, the Place Kléber, is now a World Heritage site known as the Grande Île and is surrounded by rivers and canals, making foot navigation a bit difficult but adding to the delightful views. Here are a couple watery perspectives with differing architecture:

The area near the Petite France quarter…

..but mostly I just enjoyed viewing the little shops and restaurants, most unique and charming, as in this example of cheeck-to-jowl dueling cuisines:

I ended my tour at the above-named Place Kléber and enjoyed an antiquarian flea market:

…which included a talented young leather craftsperson, who of course seduced me into obtaining a couple small items:

As the days were long and hot and dry, I quickly learned to enjoy the local beverage spin on the ever-present Aperol Spritz; this the Lille and Tonic. Quite tasty, but not quite a substitute for Mother’s Milk:

A final shot, this of the train station where the older building has not been replaced; rather it has been surrounded by a glass enclosure which allows it to look both classical and hip. This plaza, near our hotel, was buzzing nearly 24 hours a day – joyfully, excellent thick windows and drapes gave us no problems with noise or light:

Au revoir, Strasbourg – I’ll be back as soon as I can. Preferably in the winter, when I can better enjoy your fabulous but somewhat rich and heavy food…..