French wine and German Chocolate

For the 3rd weekend we had a difficult time deciding where to go and what to do. At first we tried to go to Paris but when we went to make train reservations all the trains were booked. Half of us decided to go to Hamburg, but I wanted to either stay in Bonn or go to France. We had France on our eurail pass so we really wanted to use it. After doing some research and looking up train times we decided our best option was to go to Strasbourg for the day on Saturday. We got back to Bonn late Friday night from our excursion in Norderney then promptly turned around and caught the train to Strasbourg at 5:30 am. When we got there we didn't really have a plan or know of anything to do so we visited the tourist information office. That's one thing I've learned to accept on this trip, I have to be a shameless American tourist. We got a map and some information on things to do, so we headed to the city center. There was a giant market going on so all the stores were closed and there were tents of merchandise lining the streets. It was really cool, I was able to get some really cheap clothes. We ate a late breakfast, early lunch at a cute little cafe. I had some quiche that was quite good. After looking through our brochure of things to do we decided to go visit an old wine cellar that was built in the 1300s. It was located underneath a hospital. We found the hospital no problem, it was really big and very old hospital too. There was a sign for the pharmacy that was founded in the 1500s. The wine cellar however was not so easy to find, we just kind of wandered around the hospital courtyard until we saw a staircase leading down under the hospital so we decided to walk down it to see where it went. And voila! We had found the wine cellar. It was very cold and damp down there, it felt really nice. The wine barrels were huge and some of them were very intricatly decorated. There were still a couple that were dated from the 1400s and the 1500s. It was really cool. I was really fascinated. I was so inspired I bought 3 bottles of wine. I got a rose, a pinot grig and a pinot noir. They weren't very expensive and the bottles looked really neat. After that we decided to wander around some more and we went to the cathedral, which was gorgeous- of course. There was a dance recital going on outside, which was fun to watch. When we went inside the cathedral we noticed that there was a couple that just got married that were leaving the church. It was really sweet. I wish I could get married in a giant gothic cathedral. How amazing would that be?! After that we went and got tickets for a boat cruise around the canals. The tour took us around the canals that circle the city center. We actually got to go up in one of the locks to get to canals that were different levels. I thought that was really neat. I hadn't done anything like that before. We learned a little about the history of the town and got a nice tour of everything. We did some more souvenir shopping after the tour and then wandered over to la petite France, which was the most adorable little section of town ever. We took a bunch of pictures and then found a nice little French resturant that was located on the canal to eat dinner in. The food was just the right amount and was delicious. By the time we were done we had a little more time to do some last minute shopping and then we caught the train back to Bonn. On Sunday we decided to sleep in, which was much needed. In the afternoon all of us that didn't go to Hamburg decided to make a trip to Cologne to see the chocolate museum and just hang out. When we got there we went and ate a cute little cafe for a late lunch then headed over towards the chocolate museum. There was some sort of african festival going on around the chocolate museum and then we found the Cologne Sports and Olympics museum right next door, and of course, since the olympics are happening now we had to go in. They had lots of neat stuff and we were able to sit down and watch the olympics. It was the first time I had been able to watch any of them so I was really happy. We felt all cool watching the olympics in the olympics museum. After that we went to the chocolate museum. It was amazing. There was so much chocolate and we got to have some and see how it was made. I really enjoyed it. They had all sorts of weird chocolate stuff in the gift shop too. I didn't buy anything though. I had too much candy from the Haribo store. We ended our day by sitting on the steps overlooking the Rhine and watching a group of street performers dance while we all shared one of the bottles of wine I got in Strasbourg. It was a nice relaxing way to end a pretty relaxing weekend.