Last Day in Strasbourg

We were not due to the cruise ship until after 6 pm, so checked out of the Adagio Hotel and tooled around the city. Weather was in the lower 80s. Took a second trolley ride (first one days before was to the older part of the city) to what’s called Neustadt (noy-stat), or New City, the area build by the German imperial rulers in the late 1800s—all neo-classical, impressive administrative structures and lovely large homes and apartment buildings on tree-lined streets—some easing into the Art Deco (Jugendstil) era of the early 1900s. The Botanical Garden is at one end; I tried going there the day before, walked forever, then discovered it wouldn’t be open for another hour and a half. Jan slept in that day and was under the weather for our last day, but rallied for another city tour, this one by boat. No open bathrooms, but tourista struck and we got a necessary dispensation. Ha!

We had been denied entrance to the Bartholdi museum in Colmar for not having an EU certificate verifying our vaccination status. The American cards were denied. So, that last day we also went to the American Consulate near Neustadt to find out the process. The US representative spoke to us via the intercom at the entrance and said she would email me the form and instructions for a health professional to fill out. We went to an Apotheke (pharmacy) near our hotel. Initially reluctant, Madame Pharmaciste told us to come back in the afternoon. During that time she would find out what she needed to do. After our river tour, we returned and got very official-looking papers with QR codes on them They worked on the ship that evening. Here’s hoping they do so in Italy and later in France. My name is spelled wrong, but Madame P said it didn’t matter, only the code does! She was lovely and accepted no payment, though she must have worked on the project for up to two hours that day. Formidable!