Excursion to Strasbourg

From Heidelberg to Strasbourg (German name: Straßburg) it is just a 2 hours drive by bus. Some students didn’t even realise that we had just crossed the French-German border. Especially the American students were fascinated by the idea of travelling across different countries without security controls or passport controls. 

After arriving in Strasbourg heaps of street vendors “welcomed” us with a huge range of knick-knack articles like watches, selfie-sticks, belts and some extraordinary umbrella hats. We should have bought those funny umbrella hats because suddenly heaven opened and it started raining. Instead of that some students spent their money for some typical French pastry. After it had just stopped pouring down the whole group was heading towards “Au Brasseur”, a French restaurant in the picturesque and historic Old Town of Strasbourg. There we had different variations of Flammkuchen (a regional, both German and French type of “Pizza”, topped with onions, ham, sauerkraut, mushrooms etc.). 

Afterwards, still stuffed with Flammkuchen, we hit the road to the European Parliament, also located in Strasbourg. Its “Louise-Weiss building” was completed in 1998 and is used by parliamentarians for the monthly sessions of the Parliament of the European Union. The building skin is a huge face of glass, symbolising the democratic transparency of the European Union. Inside we learnt how European Parliament works and how decisions are made there. The guide was impressed that our international students were able to answer all the questions about the EU flags, capitals, member states and some other facts – thanks to some lectures at SRH. 

 

 

In contrast to America, the European Parliament has to deal with plenty of cultural differences between its member states (e.g. language). Therefore every debate is translated into every of its official 24 languages. After a long and interesting day in Strasbourg we headed back to Heidelberg. It was very interesting to see the combination and mixture of German and French culture in Strasbourg and to learn something about European politics – not only for the American students but also for the European participants of this excursion.