bastille day

yesterday was bastille day. which meant we had no class. which means we have way too much class the rest of the week.

last night we headed into the center of town to watch the fireworks. it felt like the entire city was out on the streets. the fireworks were cool and reminded me of how we basically missed the fourth of july and how i like to sing patriotic songs like god bless america and america the beautiful. it also reminded me of setting off fireworks in cupertino last fourth of july, which was incredibly fun. and slightly dangerous. it seems like every year the fourth of july is more and more bizarre. one can only imagine what next year will bring...

maginot line

sunday, we took the car up through northern alsace. we went through towns famous for pottery and then ended up in hatten, where we visited a museum/fort of the maginot line. the 3 euros we spent made for a much larger experience than we had anticipated.

baths-baths

saturday morning, we rented a car and headed off to baden-baden, a resort town in germany. when we arrived, we hiked around the alte schloss.





we had a great german lunch and then off we went to the baths, which were incredibly relaxing. the three hours we spent there just flew by.

we tried to go to the casino, but were not dressed well enough. but through the glass doors, it basically looked like casino royale. lucky for us, outside the casino was some kind of summer concert with really good food.

oh, and our car is super cute.

velocation.

on tuesday we rented bikes. 20 euro for the whole month. basically, the best possible transportation. it's so flat and biker-friendly here in strasbourg, and it doesn't even matter that the bike is a one speed :)

i only live about 5 minutes away from school by bike, which, for the most part, is a pleasant way to start the morning. however, it's so hot and humid here that after the 5 minute ride, entering our stagnant classroom is miserable.

last night i watched no country for old men with lisa. after she left my room, thunder and lighting hit. thank god. unfortunately, i still had to wipe the sweat off my body this morning. you know, because even though it's rainy and coolish outside, the air in every building is stagnant. i don't understand how europeans seem to be comfortable with non-moving air. i'm not even talking about air-conditioning, but, come on, get some vents open and moving air!