Luxembourg, Trier and the Alsace

Well I'm finally back from another long and grueling class field trip. Oh joy. This time we went to Luxembourg, Trier Germany and the Alsace region in France including Strausbourg.
Wednesday night we got into Luxembourg pretty late, and we had a really early start in the morning so I just went to bed. In the A.M. we had "classes". First we went to the European Court of Justice and sat in on a trial....I have to admit, it was a pretty funny trial considering it was about the "vaginal injection of progesterone into German cows." Not something you hear about everyday... After lunch, we went to the European Investment Bank--an institution that invests in structural and scientific things to improve Europe. After a bit of a rest, we took a walking tour of Luxembourg. The city is SO beautiful. It is built into mountains so there are all these really deep gorges and valley that looked really nice with all the fall colors. We saw all the historical sights to see and then had to evening free to ourselves.
The next day we left to go to Trier in Germany. It is the old capital of Gaul and so it was full of really cool Roman ruins. Throughout the day we got to see Roman baths, an old city gate called the Porta Nigra, the oldest remaining Imperial Palace from the Roman days and an old gladiator ampitheater. It is also where Constatine (the "father" of Christianity in Europe) had alot of influence. There was a beautiful cathedral there which housed a holy relic: The Tunic of Jesus Christ. The story goes that Constantine's mother Helena went on a mission and found the relic. It is actually believable considering she would have done it only maybe 100 years after his death. The church was beautiful and although you could only see where the relic was held it was still a very awe-inspiring place.

We spent the night in a French town called Niederbrann in the Alsace region. The town was a ghost town baisically (except for a casino) so there wasnt really much to do that night. The next day we headed to Strausbourg where we stayed for the remainder of the trip. On our way there we stopped at a few places including one of the Maginot Line bunkers. We also went to the Struthof concentration camp---the only one ever built in France---which was mostly used for French P.O.W's and resistance fighters but which still caused alot of death and suffereing. It was a very haunting and moving place to be. Lastly we went to the Saint. Odille Convent which had beautiful views of the Alsacian plains you could even see as far as the Black Forest in Germany.
We arrive in Strausbourg later in the evening and I went out with a view people for dinner. I had a traditional Alsacian dish called "Choucroute" which is baisically a big pile of sauerkraut topped with every pork product you could ever imagine. While it was delicious, i think i am done with pig for a long time.
The next day we went to the Haut-Koenigsbourg castle, it also had really nice views but it was a bitter cold day so I wasnt really enjoying it too much. We also went to the town of Riquewihr...an Alsacian wine village which, although commercial, was really really cute. We walked around the town, which was surrounded by miles and miles of vineyards and in the afternoon we did a wine tasting which was really nice. The region is famous for Riesling, Pinot Gris, and a wine called Gewerstraminer which is a special grape not found anywhere else and it is a sweet aperetif with kind of a spicy kick to it. It was all a nice way to end the day.
On Monday morning we went to the Council of Europe, a human rights policing body in Europe, before heading back to Brussels. It was another draining and exhausting week which makes me want to be antisocial for a little bit. Luckily I don't have to work at my internship this week. Once a month the parliament goes to Strausbourg, and so the building in Brussels isnt open to limited passes which is what I have. It is perfect timing for me to have these days off because i am leaving for my fall break on Thursday! AHHH! SO SOON! I am going to Spain, Portugal and Italy and I will be gone until November 3rd. I am really excited!!! But the travel plans are a bit shaky so that is my only concern....wish me luck!

Love
Cristen