Colmar has been going around my head since I stumbled upon the photos of this amazing town. Unfortunately, the quick glance at the map, brought me down to earth. Apart from the fact that Colmar is situated very close to the border with Switzerland and Germany, its location isn’t convenient in view of the lack of cheap flights. Nevertheless, the New Year brought me new possibilities. When I was bored waiting for the flight at the Riga airport I found budget tickets to Basel. As it turned out later the flight was the tip of the iceberg. Taking into account that Swiss franc exchange rate was directly proportional to the amount of the places to visit, the organization of the trip wasn’t an easy task. After spending several long weeks on searching the internet, reading guides and analyzing the length and breadth of the map, the compromise was reached. The effect – 3-day itinerary, 1700 km to travel and little time for sleep… My happiness connected with the accomplished task didn’t last long because just before the departure I realized that Basel is not that far from Colmar. The plans are subject to change just as the amount of the sleep.  I couldn’t resist visiting Colmar for a several reasons… Colorful Colmar For sure Colmar isn’t the place for minimalists. Beautifully decorated wooden houses in the medieval Colmar Old Town are painted in every possible color. What’s more, every building is uniquely decorated with colorful shutters, flowerpots or pictures. The imagination of the Colmar residents knows no bounds just as their unconventional attitude towards details. The whole town is decorated with: hearts, teddy bears, stained glass, flowers. Even Easter bunnies and eggs along with Christmas decorations seem to match perfectly! The essentials of the French ornithology… Additionally, the inseparable part of Colmar are storks – the symbol of Alsace. You can spot them everywhere: on the pictures, in the windows or as various souvenirs. Excuse me, how can I get to Venice? The most beautiful part of the Old Town is the Little Venice. Admittedly this place and the real Venice go together as “perfectly” as my earnings to Swiss bank account.  Nevertheless it’s an exceptional place, to my mind even more atmospheric than crowded Venice.   Pretzel only with wine! Colmar is also the place for French cuisine lovers. Local markets are full of delicacies like: cheese, cold cuts, honey or wine and the regional specialty – pretzels ” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]