Freiburg and Farm Houses
Trip Start
May 25, 2008
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7
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Trip End
Jul 30, 2008
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Freiburg im Breisgau,
Baden-Württemberg,
Germany
Sunday, June 15, 2008
This past weekend, though, was quite a treat. My parents flew into to Stuttgart and then drove out to Böttingen to meet my host family for dinner at a great Gasthaus (inn). I then spent the weekend with my parents, using Villingen as a home base. Saturday we made our way into the Schwarzwald (Black Forest) and spent the day in Freiburg im Breisgau, a beautiful old university city. The name comes from the fact that the town got so rich they bought their freedom from the ruling counts. Anyway, we spent most of the day just walking around, taking pictures, looking at buildings, and so on. The fantastic Münster (cathedral) was a central focus, but the plentiful tea shops, the two giant gates, the little sidewalk canal/gutter things, and the university were all great. It also happened to be something along the lines of Partner City Day, because near the Rathaus (city hall) were flags and information about all of Freiburg's sister cities. A jazz duo (sax and bass guitar) were making music, and they mentioned (in German) that they were from Madison, Wisconsin, and they were pleased to be playing in their sister city.
That night we came back to Villingen to look for dinner, but the streets were pretty dead.
Highway to Freiburg
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", which apparently is a crow (which the underwear scares away). Riet was the name of the little district hosting the street party, and they were celebrating fifty years of something, presumably existence.Sunday we drove up near Hausach back to the Vogtsbauernhof (the open-air museum of traditional Black Forest farm houses). It was my second time, but since I didn't read or see everything the first time, it was a welcome return, and my parents enjoyed it thoroughly. We came all the way back to Böttingen for coffee and cake with the whole host family, and then my parents headed off in preparation for their trip up to Frankfurt tomorrow morning to visit relatives and some of our family roots. (I wish I could go with them, but duty calls.)
Anyway, I did a lot of translating for my parents, but especially between them and my host family, who collectively speak some English but clearly prefer German. It was fun. And I have a lot of pictures, too.
Comments
festivals!
It seems that Germans are fond of festivals!
I never realized that Muenster meant 'Cathedral.' I always thought that was 'Dom.' There's a town in northern Germany called Muenster, which makes sense because there are about ten cathedrals in it.
It's cool that your parents visited you! I've just recently given my Mom their number. My parents aren't exactly planning to visit me in Vienna anymore...even though they still really want to. Who knows, it might still happen.