Freiburg, Germany: Day 1 and 2

The route to Freiburg to Colmar was a bus over the border and then a train to the city. We landed in Freiburg and found our hotel really fast, which isn't usually the case. It was down a very "Mayberry"-ish road, quiet and serene. We had booked an actual hotel and were praying to have a/c. We walked into the hotel room and...no a/c. But, there, in the corner, shining like a beacon, was the most beautiful fan I have ever seen. It was tall and silver and when turned on, it blew sweet, Hawaiian breezes across our faces. After enjoying the fan Chris and Naomi set out for food and Fiona zonked out in the hotel pack-and-play. They came back a short time later so excited to tell me the news that they had found a Mexican restaurant close-by and wanted to wake Fiona up to go eat there. So that's what we did! It was delicious burritos and enchiladas and nachos, with a German flair :) A tad different but we had been missing Mexican food. We dined outside and were just talking about how it's crazy that everyone eats outside but don't ever seem to have bees bothering them. We spoke too soon because all of the sudden two bees showed up and flew off with a junk of food. Dinner was over by then anyway so we paid and went on a walk on the glistening cobblestones. The cobblestones are very different here because they have mosaics in them. They are reminders of past businesses or current ones or mark where important historical events occurred. We came upon a winefestival and it was packed with people and booths and music playing. People were sitting on the edges of big fountains with their feet in the water. On one side of the festival plaza there was a sign that said "kinder area" with baby pools and slides set-up. But there weren't any kids playing in it, just a group of older people with their feet in the baby pools chatting away :)

   

   

 

   

   

 

   

 

   

The unique feature of Freiburg is that is has small canals or gutters running through the streets called Freiburg Bachle. Water was diverted from the river Dreisam to provide water to fight fires and feed livestock. The canals also provide ambiance and cool the city in the summer. They were never meant or used for a sewage system and it was illegal (back in the Middle Ages) to use it for sewage. We dipped our feet in the canals along with others who were enjoying the night. Some people had set up small picnics next to the canal and were sitting with their feet in the water and enjoying their meal. How fun!!

The next day we enjoyed some German pastries for breakfast. We realized we kinda missed Germany because it was familiar and France was so different. We definitely don't know German but we can get by way better than with French. Plus, we are more familiar with the foods and how to buy them and where to go in Germany than in France. 

The plaza that had the winefestival the night before had transformed into a beautiful flower and farmers market. We wandered through the market and around a park. We came upon some ladies dancing in the park in synchronization to some music. We guessed they were synchronized swimmers doing their routine out of water to get it down before adding the water :) It was fun to watch :)

There are lots and lots of great toy shops with great toys! We could've stayed and went to all of them :) We also wanted to get a wooden boat to float down the canal like this little girl we saw! So cute!

   

   

They ride a lot of bikes in Freiburg. All these bikes lined up reminded us of Amsterdam.

After seeing the town we boarded our last train to head back home and complete our loop from Stuttgart to Strasbourg, to Colmar, to Freiburg and back to Stuttgart. It was a really great trip and we saw lots of amazing sights!