I arrived to Strasbourg without incident! The Lufthansa flight from Dublin was probably half full, it was a smaller plane than I was expecting, but business class still was with it for extra perks and service. I decided to try to take both my bags as carry-ons, which I managed to get away with thanks to a cooperative security person and an eager to please flight attendant, who also insisted on pouring me 3 glasses of sparkling wine in addition to giving me an unopened bottle of red wine as we were deplaning. It was lucky that I didn’t have to check a bag because the bus shuttle was on the far side of the Frankfurt airport, and it took 20-30 minutes to walk there at a brisk pace. Immigration control went smoothly; the German authorities only checked my passport card and did not ask anything pertaining to COVID testing etc. My friend O had explained in detail where to go to catch the bus, otherwise I probably would have gotten lost… the signage is quite lacking. Had I missed the 1:00pm bus, I would have had to waited for hours until the next one due to limited service. Thankfully I got there with 30 minutes to spare. The drive to Strasbourg took about 2.5 hours due to rain and traffic, but by the time I arrived the weather had improved. My friend O was waiting at the stop, and after I collected my luggage from underneath, we caught a short city bus right away to her neighborhood. Again, no checking on COVID testing etc. Honestly I don’t think it could have gone much smoother.
My friend O and I caught up over a bottle of sparkling wine and some hors d’oeurves, then had dinner, followed by some digestif (cognac and pear brandy) and some sweets.
The view from the guest room window:
The boulangerie right just down the block from my friend O’s apartment:
For dinner, my friend O cooked a small turkey with apples and vegetables… It turned out three flavorful and moist (paired with some very nice Alsatian wine):
