Eurotrek07 - Finishing up in Freiburg
Tuesday 2/27 -
4:45 p.m. Duck into the Freiburg Office of Tourism and speak with a woman there about things to do on Wednesday... besides shopping. She gives me a brochure (in German, of course) which describes all the museums in town. I jot down a few notes in English as she describes each museum to me. I purchase a map IN ENGLISH (yes!) for 1 Euro. The woman is very cute as she struggles with her English. She says "there is a 'chez' performance on the other side of town tonight. You can get there on foot and on the light rail, but it will be difficult by car." I tell her repeatedly that I do not have a car. She continues "...the road where the 'chez' and blues (get it now?) is playing has been shut down because the 'tods' are hiking there." Huh? Is that some sort of a competitive hiking team passing through town? Who are The Todds? We go back and forth a couple of times trying to figure out what a 'tod' is because she really seems to want me to know (I'm glad she did!). Turns out the word she was looking for was "toads." The street is shut down because toads are hiking. The picture in my head, of course, is priceless. I'm almost curious enough to venture out to the "chez" fest just to check out these hiking toads. Alas, I am sure the image in my brain is much more exciting so I leave it at that.
5:15 p.m. I settle on La Piazza for another Italian dinner. It is much easier to order than German because of words like: pizze, caprese, penne & mozzarella. My waiter clearly speaks little to no English so I all but become a mute quietly mumbling my requests in English as I point to them on the menu. I even manage to ask for a box for my leftovers using hand gestures. On the way out, the waiter asks if I am American. I tell him "yes." He asks "From Minnesota?" (I am wearing a Minnesota sweatshirt). I get kind of excited and say "Yep!" He seems to be done with me, so I'm on my way.
11:15 p.m. Brian calls from up in the mountains of the Black Forest! He has just finished his post-meeting team building activity for the day and is VERY glad it's over. They built a big tent and then built a fire inside of it, cooked their food outside and ate in the tent. The tent was all smokey from the fire inside and it was pouring rain outside. Better to be in the tent or out? Tough call. BO decided early on to change out of any clothes he wanted to have a prayer of wearing again the next 10 days. Sounds like a blast. Sorry I missed it!
Wednesday 2/28 -
3:15 a.m. So, apparently, I haven't really adjusted to the time change. Maybe it's these long afternoon naps I'm taking because it's 3:15 a.m. and I'm still awake! I put another movie in and "watch" through my eyelids for about 4 seconds. That does the trick!
9:56 a.m. I just woke up. Rats! The hotel breakfast ends in 4 minutes!! I quickly throw on some clothes and slippers and run down 3 flights of stairs just in time to fill my plate.
10:30 a.m. I'm back in my room. It's pouring rain and I'm still tired so I think I'll go with another 30 minutes of sleep. Lazy bones!!
12:00 (noon) I'm on my way to conquer Freiburg. Turns out Colombischlossle Museum Fur Ur- und Fruhgeschichte (Museum for Early and Prehistoric History) is right across the street from my hotel so I'll start there today. All the plaques on the exhibits are in German and there are only two rooms that I can find so I'm in and out in under 15 minutes. DOH! Now what?
1:00 p.m. Freiburg Munster (church) for a daytime viewing. There is a street market in the Munsterplatz (cathedral square)... lots of vendors selling flowers, produce, bratwurst, etc. As I'm snapping photos a woman grabs her (3-year old?) daughter right next to me, pulls down her pants and holds her over the bachle (street "gutters") to use as a toilet. Gross! Anyway, the Munster is totally amazing inside and out. I will have to let the pictures do the talking, even though they don't begin to do it justice. I'm really glad I went back!
1:30 p.m. The other museum on my agenda for the day is the Wentzingerhaus Museum fur Stadtgeschichte (this is the history of the Freiburg area) and, since it's right next to the Munster, that's where I'm headed next. Again, all signage is in German so I really have no idea what I'm looking at until I get to models of the construction of the Munster. They're super interesting! I snap some top secret undercover spy photos of the models so Brian can see them when he gets back tonight. This museum is also pretty small so I am done in about 30 minutes. Stroll and shop some more - try a yummy "banane" gelato. Mmm!!
3:00 p.m. I suppose I should eat some lunch... mostly because I want to sit down and people watch for awhile. I settle on Subway for today's escape. Surprise! The menu is in English. What a sight for sore eyes! Sadly, it is the worst sub I've ever eaten with a 3 to 1 ratio of mayo to chicken. Bleh! Oh well, it's relaxing just to sit next to the window watching Germany happen. It's kind of refreshing to see that this many pedestrians, bicyclists, cars and the light rail all manage to share the road without incident and with very few traffic control devices! It seems we just aren't capable of that in the US for some reason.
4:00 p.m. Back to the hotel. I'm awaiting a call from Brian to find out what time he plans to be back. I'm excited to see him again!
6:00 p.m. I just woke up. Apparently, it was nap time! I guess I should head out to dinner as it's getting dark.
7:00 p.m. Back to the Casanova for yet another Pizze Margherita and a Pepsi Light. Maybe next week I'll find healthier food.. oh wait.. nope. Next week is Italy. That can only mean more pizza and pasta! Brush up on some fashion trends while dining alone and reading People's StyleWatch. Fun!!
10:45 p.m. Just heard from Brian. They have just now finished a 3-hour marathon dinner. We decided it was best if he stayed in the mountains one more night. He will be back to get me for breakfast at 7:30 tomorrow morning. Guess I'll pop in a movie and try to get some sleep. Good night!
4:45 p.m. Duck into the Freiburg Office of Tourism and speak with a woman there about things to do on Wednesday... besides shopping. She gives me a brochure (in German, of course) which describes all the museums in town. I jot down a few notes in English as she describes each museum to me. I purchase a map IN ENGLISH (yes!) for 1 Euro. The woman is very cute as she struggles with her English. She says "there is a 'chez' performance on the other side of town tonight. You can get there on foot and on the light rail, but it will be difficult by car." I tell her repeatedly that I do not have a car. She continues "...the road where the 'chez' and blues (get it now?) is playing has been shut down because the 'tods' are hiking there." Huh? Is that some sort of a competitive hiking team passing through town? Who are The Todds? We go back and forth a couple of times trying to figure out what a 'tod' is because she really seems to want me to know (I'm glad she did!). Turns out the word she was looking for was "toads." The street is shut down because toads are hiking. The picture in my head, of course, is priceless. I'm almost curious enough to venture out to the "chez" fest just to check out these hiking toads. Alas, I am sure the image in my brain is much more exciting so I leave it at that.
5:15 p.m. I settle on La Piazza for another Italian dinner. It is much easier to order than German because of words like: pizze, caprese, penne & mozzarella. My waiter clearly speaks little to no English so I all but become a mute quietly mumbling my requests in English as I point to them on the menu. I even manage to ask for a box for my leftovers using hand gestures. On the way out, the waiter asks if I am American. I tell him "yes." He asks "From Minnesota?" (I am wearing a Minnesota sweatshirt). I get kind of excited and say "Yep!" He seems to be done with me, so I'm on my way.
11:15 p.m. Brian calls from up in the mountains of the Black Forest! He has just finished his post-meeting team building activity for the day and is VERY glad it's over. They built a big tent and then built a fire inside of it, cooked their food outside and ate in the tent. The tent was all smokey from the fire inside and it was pouring rain outside. Better to be in the tent or out? Tough call. BO decided early on to change out of any clothes he wanted to have a prayer of wearing again the next 10 days. Sounds like a blast. Sorry I missed it!
Wednesday 2/28 -
3:15 a.m. So, apparently, I haven't really adjusted to the time change. Maybe it's these long afternoon naps I'm taking because it's 3:15 a.m. and I'm still awake! I put another movie in and "watch" through my eyelids for about 4 seconds. That does the trick!
9:56 a.m. I just woke up. Rats! The hotel breakfast ends in 4 minutes!! I quickly throw on some clothes and slippers and run down 3 flights of stairs just in time to fill my plate.
10:30 a.m. I'm back in my room. It's pouring rain and I'm still tired so I think I'll go with another 30 minutes of sleep. Lazy bones!!
12:00 (noon) I'm on my way to conquer Freiburg. Turns out Colombischlossle Museum Fur Ur- und Fruhgeschichte (Museum for Early and Prehistoric History) is right across the street from my hotel so I'll start there today. All the plaques on the exhibits are in German and there are only two rooms that I can find so I'm in and out in under 15 minutes. DOH! Now what?
1:00 p.m. Freiburg Munster (church) for a daytime viewing. There is a street market in the Munsterplatz (cathedral square)... lots of vendors selling flowers, produce, bratwurst, etc. As I'm snapping photos a woman grabs her (3-year old?) daughter right next to me, pulls down her pants and holds her over the bachle (street "gutters") to use as a toilet. Gross! Anyway, the Munster is totally amazing inside and out. I will have to let the pictures do the talking, even though they don't begin to do it justice. I'm really glad I went back!
1:30 p.m. The other museum on my agenda for the day is the Wentzingerhaus Museum fur Stadtgeschichte (this is the history of the Freiburg area) and, since it's right next to the Munster, that's where I'm headed next. Again, all signage is in German so I really have no idea what I'm looking at until I get to models of the construction of the Munster. They're super interesting! I snap some top secret undercover spy photos of the models so Brian can see them when he gets back tonight. This museum is also pretty small so I am done in about 30 minutes. Stroll and shop some more - try a yummy "banane" gelato. Mmm!!
3:00 p.m. I suppose I should eat some lunch... mostly because I want to sit down and people watch for awhile. I settle on Subway for today's escape. Surprise! The menu is in English. What a sight for sore eyes! Sadly, it is the worst sub I've ever eaten with a 3 to 1 ratio of mayo to chicken. Bleh! Oh well, it's relaxing just to sit next to the window watching Germany happen. It's kind of refreshing to see that this many pedestrians, bicyclists, cars and the light rail all manage to share the road without incident and with very few traffic control devices! It seems we just aren't capable of that in the US for some reason.
4:00 p.m. Back to the hotel. I'm awaiting a call from Brian to find out what time he plans to be back. I'm excited to see him again!
6:00 p.m. I just woke up. Apparently, it was nap time! I guess I should head out to dinner as it's getting dark.
7:00 p.m. Back to the Casanova for yet another Pizze Margherita and a Pepsi Light. Maybe next week I'll find healthier food.. oh wait.. nope. Next week is Italy. That can only mean more pizza and pasta! Brush up on some fashion trends while dining alone and reading People's StyleWatch. Fun!!
10:45 p.m. Just heard from Brian. They have just now finished a 3-hour marathon dinner. We decided it was best if he stayed in the mountains one more night. He will be back to get me for breakfast at 7:30 tomorrow morning. Guess I'll pop in a movie and try to get some sleep. Good night!
posted by TanSwan at 11:08 AM
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