Cold warm feet

by Abla F (Ghana)

I didn't expect to find France

So here I was onboard a flight to France and I was just two hours away from starting a whole new life with people I had no relationship with in a different country and on a different continent. My heart kept racing out of fear and happiness at the same time because I was about to begin a whole new life journey in a foreign land. Finally, I arrived in Strasbourg with my mind psyched to make the best out of my year abroad by fulfilling the promise I made to myself to learn the French language. I also decided to just let go of all my fears and have an open mind for an adventurous journey. My initial thought about Strasbourg was a simple little town with medieval structures containing a lot of history. As time went on, I began to appreciate these structures and understand the stories behind them. I also realised that the interior of these buildings is actually magnificent compared to the general outlook of the building. One of these structures is cathédrale notre dame de Strasbourg. This structure has a gothic architectural style. It was constructed from 1176 to 1439. The cathedral is extremely huge with thousands of figures of art crafted all around the building by skilled masons and artisans centuries ago. The thing that amazed me the most was how attention was paid to every little detail on these works of art and how they were perfectly crafted. My friends and I decided to use our winter break to explore France instead of flying out elsewhere for a vacation because we had a tight schedule with classes and assignments during the semester. We took a road trip to Colmar to satisfy our curiosity about seeing snow since we had not seen any before. After some time on the road we arrived on top of a valley. It was one of the most beautiful places I had seen. It was like every element was specifically arranged with accordance to the environment. We climbed further up the valley towards a forest. The view was just like a picture out of a frame. Right in the middle of the snow valley lies a lake with snow sprinkled at its tips and a forest surrounding it. The white clouds in blue skies and the other valleys further away gave this scene a magnificent background. All of the elements were working together in harmony to create something beautiful just like a work of art. My friends and I played in the snow, made a snowman, threw snowballs at each other and just laid down on the snow enjoying each others company. In all my years I never imagined that all the pictures I had seen about nature would come to life right before my eyes. This trip was long but totally worth it and it will continue to linger on my mind for a long time.