Friday afternoon, after surviving my first art history exam, I spent two and a half hours at the Museum of Art and History of Judaism. It was really quite interesting, and since I had nothing else to do, I just took my time and learned as much about Judaism as I could retain. It was cool, because there were personal narratives of people from all over the world talking about what it's like to be Jewish where they live. So there were a lot people from France, but also Jews from Israel and Northern Africa and Eastern Europe. Some of them talked about how they're very religious and some are more spiritual and some are more cultural. Others define themselves as Jews and others said it was just a minor part of their lives. There were some expositions on Jews in Jerusalem and how they deal with daily conflicts and racism, and it was very eye-opening. It reminded me of my dear friend Alex, studying in Jerusalem for the semester.

Later that night I went to a bar called Footsie, which is where drink prices change like the stock market. It's kinda cool, but it was a tad disappointing, because the prices don't change that much, and they didn't have a lot of variety. I was hoping to have to really gamble for things, but I totally didn't. Oh well. I learned that Porto is good.

I may have stayed out a little too late, because the next morning, I missed my train to Strasbourg. Oops. Go me. I was literally stamping my ticket a few feet from the train when it pulled away. Sigh...

But good news! The next train was less than an hour later, and I actually made 9 euros, because the next train was 12 euros cheaper and there was a 3 euro charge fee. Woot! Don't know how I lucked out on that one... but I'll take it!

Also, on the metro on the way to the train station, I had a very interesting confrontation. A man asked why I was in such a hurry at 7am on a Saturday morning. He didn't seem too creepy/homeless, so I answered. I said I have a train to catch. And he said, oh... where are you going? I said I was on my way to Strasbourg, and he said, that's great, will you send me a postcard? And I laughed and said sure. He chuckled too and pulled out a pen. He took my metro map and wrote his address on my map! Then he kissed me and said, I can't wait to hear from you, and walked away. What in the world??? Oh, French men.

So I took the two-hour TGV to Strasbourg, and I arrived at about 10:30am. It was only about a twenty-minute walk from the train station to the center of the old village, so I started there. I went to the tourist office which is right next to the cathedral to see if they had any good information. They kindly informed me that the astronomical clock in the cathedral would not be viewable on Easter, so if I wanted to see it (which I did), I would have to do it today. So I immediately went back to the cathedral to buy a ticket. I walked around inside the cathedral for about twenty minutes or so, and then I went back to the clock to wait for a short twenty-minute film to start. It was not that informative/necessary, but it did tell us what to look for when the clock struck 12:30pm. The clock is huge, and it has little angels that ring bells and a rooster that crows and the twelve apostles are blessed by Jesus. It's about a five-minute shindig, and I think that's why they only do it once a day, so as not to run down the mechanics on the really, really, really old cathedral. It was cool, and I'm definitely glad I saw it. Then I climbed up approximately eight billion stairs to go to the top of the cathedral. My legs are still sore. And then the view was ultimately disappointing. The view from the Duomo in Milan was way cooler, and I definitely didn't climb up as many steps. Oh well. C'est la vie.

Then I decided to try a Strasbourg specialty for lunch, so I had a tarte flambee. It's kinda like a croque monsieur with a layer of cream... except that this layer of sour cream is at least one centimeter thick the whole way through. It was absolutely abominable. I couldn't eat it. But then I made myself feel better by going to this biscuit place, where they had specialty biscuits (cookies). I tried about six different kinds, and I went back the next day to buy my favorites (raspberry, almond, and chocolate) for my host family. Delicious!

Then I decided it was freezing, so I was gonna spend the rest of the afternoon inside. I went to Palais Rohan, where there are three museums: Decorative Arts, Archaeological, and Fine Arts. I spent about an hour in each, and I got in free, so of course it was worth it. I actually learned a fair amount in each. Ask if you wanna quiz me.

Then I took a bus to a park called l'Orangerie, which was actually very small, and again, it was freezing, but there was a miniature zoo there. I randomly stumbled upon ostriches, wild goats, lynxes, monkeys, peacocks, chickens, lemurs, parrots, parakeets, cockatoos, flamingos, ducks, and geese. I'm really not sure why they're there, but it was something to do. I also witnessed a very happy wedding from a distance. I heard all these cars honking, like crazy mad people honking, and they didn't stop, so I figured it was a procession of some kind. Then they all pulled into the park, and a band got out with drums and brass, and they played all kinds of funky music, and they all seemed to be having such a great time. Then I saw the bride in her beautiful white wedding dress, and she seemed so happy. And I thought, that's gonna last.

So I went back to the town, and I found a cute place called l'Epicerie, and I had an aperitif (a kir) and a bowl of beef broth. I was freezing at the point, so it was very necessary. Then I went to dinner, and that was the first time that it really sucked to be traveling alone. In French, when you wanna ask for a table for one, you say 'toute seule,' which means 'all alone.' So that's a depressing reminder that you're eating all alone. Oh well. I had an amazing dinner. I started with grilled vegetables, and then my main course was beef with mustard sauce, mashed potatoes, green beans wrapped with bacon, breaded cooked tomato, and fries. I'm not sure why everything comes with fries in France (especially when I already had mashed potatoes), but I ate them! It was amazing. Then I had apple tart for dessert, and I drink a local white wine, which was a little sweet, and I always like sweet. I was quite satisfied.

I took a bus to the hostel, and when I arrived at my room, I couldn't get the door to open. It took me awhile to realize that whoever was in the room probably had bolted the door. So I had to knock and wake her up, but I didn't feel that guilty, cause she should know not to do that. Anyway, I started speaking to her in French, cuz that's what I do when I'm in French, and she just stared blankly at me. So I thought, okay, maybe she speaks German, since I was so close to the German border, and everyone seemed to speak only French or German. I discovered the next morning that she speaks English! Blahh... oh language barriers... nonexistent ones, that is. It was very interesting though that all the French people thought I was German instead of American. In Paris, everyone knows I'm American, but I guess I'm blond enough that I can look German, too. Also, at restaurants, I could overhear families who were clearly speaking German the whole dinner, but they spoke fluent French to the waiters. I was like, I wished I had grown up in Europe, because I would know like at least three languages. Lucky ducks.

The next day, it was snowing! I hadn't seen snow since I left Boston in January. So I decided I wanted to be inside again, and I went to the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art for about two hours. It was cool. I saw a lot of trash, quite literally, and plain white canvasses. I just love modern art. I think my favorite was an exposition called Empty Space, and it was quite literally a room with nothing in it. I was like, right on, man, love empty space.

Then I went to a cute little area called La Petite France, which is kinda like a little Venice, because it has lots of little canals and waterways. The streets were cute little cobblestone paths with sidewalk cafes and a few accordionists. (Not many, recall that it was both snowing and Easter.) I wanted to explore, but my hunger and the thought of dying as a frozen ice cube convinced me that going into a restaurant to eat might be a better choice. So I ate at an adorable little French-German place. I had a delicious duck salad, and I even drank coffee... which, you know, never happens. It was kinda sad to see all the big families having huge Easter brunches while I was sitting all alone. Oh well.

Then I took a long walk back to the cathedral, because I was going to the Easter music concert at 3pm. That was fun. There were two pieces by Haydn and one by someone named Buxtehude. It was very nice.

Then I took an earlier train back to Paris, because there was nothing more to do, and I was cold. Also, I wanted to eat Easter dinner with my family. They made me foie gras, which is apparently duck liver smashed into a nice pate. Mmm. It was actually very good, and I didn't ask what it was until after I finished eating. Which was good, because I asked for more, and they told me to finish it all. So I did. Excellent choice.

Now I have a ridiculous amount of work to do this work, but I'm going to Venice this weekend with five of my friends! It's gonna be awesome! Wish me luck!