Wendy's Platter…travels

October 16, 2025

We now have another favorite city (watch out Paris and Brussels!): Strasbourg, located in the Alsace region just a stone’s throw (across the Rhine River) from Germany. Strasbourg is a little less than an hour from our Airbnb in Ribeauvillé. It was our intention to make our Strasbourg visit a nod to Oktoberfest, a tradition in the Scanlon-Hill family that includes as a starter lots of sausages, homemade pretzels, and plenty of beer. Strasbourg, though technically French, promised some Oktoberfest festivities, so we went in search of beer and pretzels.

The half-timbered houses all have different uses of the timbers and create a game as you follow one timber up to see if it has been notched or whether it is a full timber. Nick and I enjoyed playing the game. In the bottom photo, lots of young adults were sitting on the dock, eating, drinking and just enjoying the fine October day.

The old city was one picture postcard after another. Nick was patient but wondered if we could take possibly TWO steps before I took another photo. I tried, but found the best way to placate him was to find our first beer and pretzels. It was a bright, sunny October day, with just enough nip in the air to remind you we are in the throes of autumn.

The center of Strasbourg’s old town is pedestrian only, allowing everyone to wander without worry of city traffic. Although the town was filled with families and tourists, it was just the right amount of folks, all with the intention of admiring this beautiful city and beautiful October day. We wandered the streets, stopping for the occasional beer, and catching different views of the magnificent Gothic Strasbourg cathedral. The initial building started the year 1015 with construction continuing on and off until it was finished in 1439.

It is nearly impossible to explain the power of the cathedral. Given that it could be seen for many miles on the flat plains that surround Strasbourg, it is understandable that its presence has inspired writers for the past millennium.

Aside from the sheer magnitude of the edifice, the bell towers allow the sounds of the bells to be heard for miles around. Across the plaza from the cathedral is the Palais Rohan, now a museum. We couldn’t help but think of our Rohnan (Douglas) and Rowan (Beavitz), both of whom need to check out “their” chateau.

Spending the day in Strasbourg we were serenaded by the bells several times through the hours. The canals and locks add another dimension of beauty with small boats, small tour boats, and water taxis adding credence to its nickname as “Little Venice.”

Wanting to tick off a couple items on our culinary Oktoberfest list, we stopped at a café hoping to get some sausages. We didn’t want much food, just something to go with the beer. When I saw sausages and spaetzle (German egg noodle/dumplings) on the menu, it was perfect. Nick and I would share it. When I tried to order it, the waiter pointed to the menu. It was the kid’s menu! I looked at the waiter and said I was very old and like a child (all in French) and could I order it? He disappeared into the kitchen and got the OK. It was just what we wanted…not haute cuisine, but Oktoberfest fare.

The kids plate that they served to the two old farts. And here’s Nick acting like the kid.

As we started to look for our car, we realized that tents had gone up in one of the plazas. It was a culinary homage to fall. There were large wheels of raclette cheese being melted into small pots to be served with breads…think almost like fondue. In addition, there was “vin nouveau” which is a wine fermented just after the harvest (which was just a few weeks ago). It was almost like drinking fresh hard cider, but with grapes and a little kick from the alcohol.

Our original thoughts for this 100 Day Euro trip was to keep it simple, a month here, a month there and few side trips and voilà! However, we very quickly found ourselves wanting to add more stops…I mean we’re already in Europe, and Europe is small compared to the U.S., so what’s the harm of adding a few more stops. Suddenly we had more than a dozen countries and a budget that was not amenable to a fixed income, retired couple.

We went back to the original plan, cut down on the number of countries, and limited our stays in any one place to a minimum of a week up to a month which allowed us to take advantage of longer stay lodging prices. Fine, it helped, but then we got to Alsace, and both Nick and I couldn’t help but hear the siren song of sneaking in a couple more countries.

On Sunday, we headed to the Black Forest in Germany to visit an outdoor cultural museum, Vogtsbauernhof, where houses and farm buildings from the Black Forest have been preserved or replicated to give a sense of life in the Black Forest over the last 500 or so years. Most of the buildings were “byre-dwellings,” where livestock, hay, and living quarters were combined into a single building. Generally built into a hillside, the top floor contained hay for the livestock; the bottom floor was dedicated to the animals; and the middle floor contained the living quarters. There were several variations on that theme, but keeping all of the inhabitants of the building happy seemed like the goal.

In the top photo, the large dwelling was a byre dwelling with quarters for livestock and a farm family. The top floor was accessible from the hill behind and was filled with hay. In the bottom photo is the traditional fashions for the Black Forest locals. Note the hats on the women: the red bobbles means you are unmarried, the black signifies a married woman.

In addition to the byre dwellings, the outdoor museum contained flour mills, blacksmith forges, saw mills, storehouses, a small chapel, and other buildings that had been saved and moved or replicated to help define the lives of the Black Forest inhabitants of the past several centuries.

Trying to get one more German meal under our belts, we stopped at a remote restaurant on top of a pass. We were the only ones there, and the host was very cordial. Almost before we sat down he brought out a liter of beer for each of us, and then, at our request, suggested we try the Wildgulasch vom Hirsch mit Späzle, Kroketten und Preiselbeeren (wild deer goulash with spaetzle, potato croquettes and a poached pear with cranberry relish), which we shared.

It was a well-seasoned, dark, rich sauce with tender, slow-cooked venison. The spaetzle was not in the usual dumpling form, but rather in a noodle format. I didn’t quite understand the need for the small sausage-shaped potato croquettes as the spaetzle was plenty of carbohydrates, but then we were in Germany, I suppose potatoes had to be on the plate. The poached pear was the perfect offset to the richness of the venison. An absolutely delicious meal!

We drove west into the sunset back to Ribeauvillé, knowing that the next day we would be leaving Alsace early in the morning. But I would be going home…an explanation in my next entry.

©2025 Wendy Platt Hill

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