I start my last day quite leisurely. For breakfast, I've picked a café that offers avocado toast.
It's already warm enough for shorts and a t-shirt, just under 22 degrees at 10:30 AM. I wished for such a delightfully summery day! Café Glow is diagonally across from the French cooking spoon. The waiter seems a bit gruff, but I won't let that discourage me and order matcha and my avocado toast.
Unfortunately, it seems that culinary luck has abandoned me: For €6, I get a very aesthetic but also very small glass of watery matcha, and for €15, a slice of bread with such thin avocado cream on top that I can see the bread through it. The cream is certainly mostly crème fraîche or something similar, judging by the taste and color. No real avocado, and everything seasoned with balsamic vinegar to the point of being overpowered. Who puts balsamic vinegar on avocado toast? 🙄🤦
Do you see the ratio of cream to bread? 😭
Maybe I'm being too sensitive, but a bad meal really dampers my mood 😭
There's only one solution: quickly create a lovely moment so I don't spiral into frustration. So here I am, sitting on a bench under the plane trees on one of the numerous bridges in the city, digging out my paint box and starting to paint. Now and then, people stop and look over my shoulder, but I'm so immersed that I only notice it peripherally. About an hour later, the painting is done - and a new plan is made.
Painting under the plane trees
If the first breakfast was so disappointing, I'll just go for breakfast again! Quite clever, right? 😅
I still have a few insider tips on my list. A little further down the street, just before turning towards the Malraux peninsula, there's a café called Madame Julia. I saw in a YouTube video that they are said to have thick, fluffy pancakes. They mentioned a long queue and waiting time, but when I arrive, I'm lucky and get seated right away.
The waiters are all super friendly and attentive (and all very handsome men, is that part of their business model?). I order the house special pancakes, with berry sauce, fresh fruit, and whipped cream, along with a smoothie.
Second breakfast!
Folks, what can I say? If this keeps up, I'm going to be sweetened up. It's just really delicious! My inner food critic is now happy again, and so is the rest of me.
On the way back, I leave my phone in my pocket and follow my instincts. They lead me through the grounds of the Hospital Civil, and I'm amazed at how many of the hospital buildings in the complex are actually quite old, one might say historic structures. I wonder if they still pull teeth with pliers there? Oh my...
This is a hospital building! The doctor would be suspicious to me
At the hotel, the bag is already being packed (my favorite way to play Tetris), and then I spend time with my beloved retirees from the Thursday Murder Club (absolute reading recommendation at this point). There's nothing left to do until the evening, which is good because my body doesn't want to anymore.
I made a reservation for 7:30 PM to properly celebrate the last evening of the vacation: I'm going to the Korean place!
Maybe I feel a little lonely after a week of traveling alone (it has been a while since I traveled alone for an extended period!), but I am very grateful that two older American gentlemen are sitting right next to me, chatting the whole time. At least I have something to listen to
They serve Japchae 잡채 as a starter, glass noodles made from sweet potato starch with vegetables and beef, then Bibimbap 비빔밥 (literally: mixed rice) as the main dish. Delicious!
Full and satisfied, I stroll to the Barrage Vauban bridge, which is actually illuminated. A lovely farewell from a wonderful vacation here in Strasbourg!
I'm sitting in the hotel breakfast room, in the background there's an acoustic version of 'As long as you love me' by the Backstreet Boys 😍 and I'm about to check out and stroll to the train station.
Thank you for accompanying me on this journey - I might be alone on site, but I'm not lonely thanks to your many comments and feedback! ☺️🫶
Farewell, Strasbourg!
At a glance
Automatically extracted from the post
Length of time
1 Day
Weather
Summer · 22–22°C
Accompaniment
Alone
Mood
CulturalCulinaryRelaxing
Highlights
Frühstück im Café Glow
Malen unter den Platanen an einer Brücke
zweites Frühstück im Café Madame Julia
Abendessen mit Japchae und Bibimbab
beleuchtete Barrage Vauban bei Nacht
Equipment
Farbkasten
Topics
CityEatCultureArchitecture
Cost
Matcha und Avocadotoast im Café Glow€21
Frühstück im Madame Julia€0
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