Monday, July 25, 2016

Traveling In Europe With a Moose

IMG_20160719_191118630_HDR

I just got back from traveling on business to Europe (Germany and France).
I traveled with a moose.  "A moose?", you ask.  Yes, a moose. My granddaughter was given a plush moose by  my son and daughter-in-love as a souvenir gift when they recently came back from a trip to Sweden.
She put it in my suitcase to take with me on my business trip.
I flew into Frankfurt Germany and took 3 trains to Strasbourg France (The capital of Europe).
Here's a Map showing the train route:

We walked around Strasbourg, here's a short video showing the Cathedral (more about that later)

VID_20160718_195636451.mp4

This moose is such a great traveling companion! Moose reads the maps, helps with directions, carries my bags, finds the best places to sit and the most comfy side of the bed for me. Moose watches my bags for me, and is a great translator because this moose is conversant in many languages. Many people enjoyed seeing me take photos with the moose. Some people from work even suggested some pictures that I should take with the moose. Someone on the customer team said that the moose needed a traveling friend: a cigogne. This is the White Stork which is the emblem of the Alsace region of France where Strasbourg is located.
Here is the moose helping me with directions:
IMG_20160720_082444674_HDR
Moose helped me know when to cross the street too! Here the Moose is telling me to wait for green:
IMG_20160720_185255612_HDR
here we are outside the Strasbourg train station
IMG_20160720_192901237
inside the train station
 IMG_20160720_192838815
on the local train (Thanks to my manager for taking this photo for me)
 IMG_20160720_202306901
Here the moose is helping me order the local traditional dish of pork with sauerkraut: Chouchroute garnie
IMG_20160720_205028712
Here's what that dish looks like:
IMG_20160720_212845412
While walking about Strasbourg, my manager's manager kindly took this photo of me in front of the cathedral
IMG_20160718_195809380
Later in the evening, we saw this light show on the side of the cathedral. You can see fish and a whale in this sequence:
VID_20160720_230438301.mp4
The moose helped me with the train schedule. Here you can see the board that shows how the trains are configured so you can figure out where to stand on the platform and if you have a reserved seat where it is on the train.
IMG_20160721_191713146
Another train ride:
IMG_20160721_182113573_HDR
And, here is moose watching my bags on the train
IMG_20160721_193313088
The Frankfurt Train station:
IMG_20160721_211608443 IMG_20160721_211544079 IMG_20160721_215514079
The hotel gave me a room key that said that their low prices are "Lower than a sausage dog taking a lie down" - which is quite funny since our dog Toby is a dachshund.
IMG_20160721_224145879
Look at this huge signboard at the Frankfurt airport!
IMG_20160722_085631360
When I saw this opportunity in the airport to pose with a hot air balloon, the moose wanted to take a selfie with me
IMG_20160722_095144069_HDR
And, in the plane, the moose found this comfy seat for me. We both had a great trip and a good ride home.
IMG_20160722_105643353
What do you think of the moose?

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I am sure Moose enjoyed the trip with you! Some of the pictures seem very familiar as I've been to Strasbourg and Frankfurt last April - now your photos are making me nostalgic! Glad that you enjoyed the trip!

Unknown said...

Looks like a productive trip, thanks for sharing Henry. When I traveled to Europe after college, we brought Bert (of Sesame Street fame) with us and he appeared in more photos than we did : )