Novotel Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau

... eat local food. The restaurant Helen was aiming for was closed, but we found another cafe (Art Cafe) which had some of the specialities she was looking for. Helen and Julian had flammkuchen, sort of pizza-like with a soft crust and sour cream with various toppings- Julian had a Spezial which included fetta and leeks. Angela had a sausage salad, which consisted of shredded sausage and gerkhins. All very tasty and filling. The local beer went very well with it.<br ...

We caught the wrong train and wound up in Gengenbach. While we were waiting for a train back we met a lady who told us the town had a beautiful old-town section. So we went discovering again. After a good look around we stopped at a pub while we were waiting for the next train and got talking to the owner. Turns out he'd been to Australia on holiday, so we had a good time talking to him until it was time to go.

Day trip from Villingen. Wolfach has a factory cum tourist attraction where they blow the glass manually. It was good to watch them making vases etc. in the traditional way. The highlight for me was dobbing Roz in to get up on the stage and blow her own vase. She did a good job, and we bought the vase and brought it home. A very special souvenir.

... whole process to us. Also went for a walk up the path that follows Germany's highest waterfall. Saw the worlds largest working cuckoo clock. It's literally the size of a house. So many woodcarving shops in this town. We caught a bus to another local town that has a clock museum. Some amazing gear in there.

... Got the wobbly boot on after a few after-dinner beers and a couple of Jagermeisters. Strolled around town for a while just looking, and happily never lost my footing in the snow or on the ice covered footpaths. Did do a couple of tap dances, but didn't go down.

... with costumes and masks and bands. Damn near froze standing still for that long, but I had a good vantage point for the pictures so I wasn't going to move for fear of losing my spot. After the parade we got stuck into the gluhwein and some hot food then went back to the hostel for a hot shower, then out for dinner. We went to a local brewery that had a restaurant incorporated and had such a good time that we made it a regular while we were there.

Wishing friends and family a Happy Thanksgiving (and Black Friday!!)! Well, this last week has been a real whirlwind. With a paper and two presentations all due at the beginning of the week, I was not thrilled. Everyone was pretty frazzled by the end, that's for sure. Once everything was turned in by Wednesday, I spent the evening at the Weihnachtsmarkt or Christmas Market, with Christie, the girl I in which I traveled with to London. We ...

... That night we came back to Villingen to look for dinner, but the streets were pretty dead. We wondered if it was the soccer games (which are hugely popular here; I've watched the Germany games and a few others), but that seems like a stretch, since Germany wasn't playing. We found one street, however, loaded with locals. Underwear was hanging from the roofs, beer and sausages were all around, and flags said "De Rietvogl", which is dialect for "the Riet bird ...

... that we do. Even though meeting them definately isn't as interesting it is still nice to have them around. They have been living in freiburg since last june and are soooo helpful. They are really nice too. Last night one of my friends from IES went to cocktails with two of them. The place they took us too had hilarious names from their drinks the "tom cruise" and "bad idea. This weekend is VERY booked. Tomorrow IES is taking us to ...

... there when we were studying in Paris and we both loved that city so I wanted Eric to experience its charm as well (minus eating rabbit heart like I did last time. That was....gulp....not so delicious.) This city is so quiet though, like walking through a library during exam period. Especially on the train, someone could sneeze in the first car and the whole train would hear it. Eric and I have spent ...