Viking Cruise #26: Strasbourg, France: Dachshunds, Gutenberg, Bakeries

Today's blog continues the walking tour of Strasbourg, France and you'll meet a Dachshund, bakeries and other places the city is known for.

A CITY OF SECONDS - We learned that Strasbourg is second (to Paris) in a number of things. It's got the second largest library, synogogue and cinema in all of France.

ALL ABOUT DACHSHUNDS! - As dog dads we loved seeing dogs out and about. As Dachshund dads, we were even happier when we saw this little guy!  Dachshunds are a German Breed (and since this city once belonged to Germany, there's still a lot of Dachshunds). The dachshund was bred in Germany hundreds of years ago to hunt badgers. "Dach" means badger and "hund" means dog. The three varieties of dachshund, smooth-, wire-,and long-coated, originated at different times. The smooth was the first and arose from a mixture of a miniature French pointer and a pinscher.

 YOU LIKELY KNOW HIM... THE GUTENBERG MONUMENT - If you don't know the name, Gutenberg, invented the Printing Press. That said, you may have heard of the Gutenberg Bible- which he, of course, had printed. In downtown Strasbourg, there's a statue of Gutenberg, created by French sculptor (Pierre-Jean) David d'Angers in 1840. It's bronze on a granite base, with four bronze relief panels. If you don't know: Johannes Gensfleisch Gutenberg was born in Mainz on the River Rhine. But it was in Strasbourg, between 1430 and 1440, that Gutenberg made his first attempts at printing with movable type.

GOOD PRETZELS - We walked by a bakery called Woerle, and saw stacks of fresh, hot pretzels in the window, so we tried them. They were awesome! 

WHAT IS "SHOP FOR GEEK" - Our tour guide mentioned that there in Strasboug, Superhero graphic novels are all the rage. He pointed out the "Shop for Geek" - so after the tour we went back to the store. Unfortunately, there were no graphic novels there. Instead, it sold superhero video games and toys. So, if graphic novels are popular, they were being sold in a different store, darn it! 

NEXT: German Dinner Night and Briesach