Colmar (21/02/17)

I left Krakow to go to Strasbourg for my second semester right after my trip to Lviv. After getting used to the city, the uni, and meeting the new euroculturers we decided to head to the nearby town of Colmar. We took a train and in about half an hour reached the destination. The walk from the train station was about 10 mins to the beginning of the old town and we decided to just wander around and look at the beautiful buildings. We started our through Rue des Marchands, already walking past the typical maisons á colombages, or timber framed houses, which are ever present in Alsace, the region around there. From there we took a lateral street and reached the Place de la Cathedrale with at its center the large St Martin's Church the largest church in town though not the cathedral as the city doesn't have a bishop. We entered, and visited its Gothic interior which was quite unadorned due to the destruction suffered during the French revolution. We exited the church and continued on, reaching the Place de l'Ancienne Douane with the Schwendi Fountain at its center, dedicated to a military commander by the name of Lazarus Schwendi. Facing the fountain stands the old custom house in a gothic/rensaissance style. Not far ahead we reached the covered market; with lots of food stalls and small shops to buy from. After a brief stop there, we regrouped and, as we exited finally reached the famous Petite Venise. Named so due to the presence of the canals from the Lauch river flowing through the area. We admired the picturesque houses reflected on the canal and then walked further into town. We were getting hungry so we decided to look for a place to eat, after looking into a few places, and a phone call to a friend by one of the members of the group we ended up having lunch at the Bistrot Gourmand. There we all had different kinds of salty crepes which tasted really good. Feeling full we walked a little more, first through Rue des Clefs and then to Place des Dominicains with its church which was closed. At that point we were wondering if to continue on or not, a few people wanted to leave and as it started to rain we all decided to head back to the train station and eventually back to Strasbourg.

View of the back of St Martin's Church

Petite Venise

Another part of the Petite Venise

Timber framed houses