More, more, more….Culture!

I stole the title from a dance show we saw last week, called “More, More, More…Future!” So Tuesday night we went to the Maillon theatre (known for being the socialist, anti-conservative theater in Strasbourg) to watch this African dance show that had sold out. It was sort of good, but way too long. The idea was nice and attractive: a dance that symbolized the demise of African nations and the persistence of poverty. To illustrate that they had costumes made out of bags. It was a good concept, but it was 2 hours of the same concept and that is just too much.

Friday I went to Colmar, one of the bigger ‘cities’ in Alsace. I guess it is big enough to be more than a town, but regardless of the size the town is charming. Only 13 Euros round-trip away and I found myself in a very historical city with amazing architecture. The houses are more provincial than in Strasbourg, so it is easier to appreciate the typical Alsatian architecture. The centreville is just charming, it’s much like La Petite France in Strasbourg but it encompasses much more than just a few blocks. It also has, to my surprise, La Petite Venice. Well, don’t expect it to be like Venice, but the scenery is just lovely with all the little restaurants around the canals. The other nice thing is the it hosts one of the most important pieces of Catholic art: Le Retable d’Issenheim. I love that fact that it is just in the simple town museum, entry free of charge for me, and only people who are well informed go look at it. Unlike the Monalisa, which is the size of a paper napkin and is made much too fuzz about. It was a nice daytrip all together.

Saturday night we had another Soiree Crepes at Malou’s. I wish we had one every weekend. I could just eat crepes everyday. This time we had crepes with pesto and cheese followed by the typical assortment of sweet crepes with nutella, etc. We had such a nice evening!

Sunday, OH MY GOD. Sunday we went to Caracalla, one of the natural thermal baths in Baden Baden. Thank you Scarlett for suggesting it. It is just one of earth’s natural gifts to man that are a big part of German culture, so why not? For two hours we hopped from one thermal bath to the other: freezing cold, warm, very hot, average cold, Jacuzzi, pool, waterfall, massage jet. It was just heaven. Totally worth the trip. Afterwards we went to this really nice restaurant, very Vienna-like, and of course I had the apple strudel because it is the one pastry Germans do really well.

We ended the day by going to the Frieder Burda Museum and saw this temporary exposition by a disturbed East-German man who draws people upside down. It was hilarious trying to understand why he does paintings the way he does. We ended up making up his life according to how we thought it made sense from his paintings. I mean come on; no one really knows what goes on in artist’s heads when they draw.

Naturally today I am beat. I shall rest until heading off to Geneva to celebrate my birthday in family.

Cheers!