Tübingen, Germany

I've wanted to go to Tübingen because I had heard of the fun to be had while punting down the Neckar River. We arrived in town and noticed signs for a festival going on during the day and grabbed a flyer hoping to stop in on the festivities at some point. We had bought some hand-held fans a few days before but had forgotten them on this trip! Oh, well :) We wandered around the cute, cute town and listened to music as they were setting up for performances later in the day. For lunch we ate delicious Bratwurst on a roll with mustard. We stumbled upon a beautiful alleyway that led to a garden and took some pictures. It was shady, cobblestoned, covered in ivy and peaceful. I think we could enjoy living in one of the houses along that alleyway!

 

   

 

   

The punting tours were setting up so we got in line for one. The tour guides were so helpful and informative to get us all in a boat but it was all in German :) There was one guide who was younger and spoke really well so he translated quickly. The boats are so great! They have little back rests to lay back and enjoy the river! It was a hot day but cool on the water and in the shade of the trees. Our guide was very animated and loved by all the German ladies on our boat :) He was quite funny because they laughed a lot :) At one point a group that knew each other started passing around treats to each other then offered them to the whole boat. Naomi wanted a chocolate covered strawberry with sprinkles, then had another :) The girls did pretty well but Naomi got bored at the end. Fiona didn't like the boat ride from the beginning and was a tad difficult to keep quiet so others could hear. There were lots of other boats on the river with groups of different people on tours, with bridal parties, with families having a picnic, scouting groups, a group even had a grill and were grilling as they were floating!! Little ducks and geese would float by... It was really peaceful and beautiful, even though the girls were not crazy about it, we still enjoyed it!

After the punting tour we walked to the castle on the hill. It took us awhile to figure out how to get in to the castle so we're thinking it was built well to keep out intruders and visitors :) The castle was really beautiful and it is now a university. They had an awesome museum of all the ancient artifacts found around Germany. They also had a large collection of Egyptian hieroglyphics and sarcophagus, etc. It was incredible to see!! The last room had replicas of famous sculptures that were beautiful, like the Winged Victory, which is so impressive to stand next too.

 

We wound through a street and came to a park that was having the childrens festival or Kinderfestival in the park. Chris wanted to make a boat at a booth for Naomi so we watched what people were doing for a bit then jumped in! Chris was much more brave than I when it came to this. I wanted to do it but felt a little sheepish not speaking the language. It turned out you don't need much language skills to ask for scissors and tape :) The kids and parents were all pounding away at nails or decorating sails, lost in creativity! It was so fun! The booth provided the boat shapes and left over wood on a tarp, you choose one and take it to the table then put nails in it along the sides. Then drill a hole with a small hand drill and put a mast in. The mast was a long dowel that had to be sawed with a small hacksaw. Parental supervision was a must on this one! We finished our boat and Naomi took it for a spin on the grass and it sailed beautifully! We love these Kinderfestivals the Germans put on!

   

We grabbed some food at the REWE grocery store and headed home! What a great adventure in Tübingen!

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!