I woke up this morning to the sound of SWR 1 Baden-Württemberg, one of the Southwest Broadcasting Corporation’s radio services for this region.
I felt very at home, listening to a radio station which I listen to in my car at home. Even listening to it while lying in bed, half asleep, I was able to understand some key pieces of information from the news headlines and weather forecast!
The weather today was much warmer than yesterday. In some parts of BW in the early hours of yesterday morning it got down to -15°c. Today’s daytime temperature here in Freiburg was 10°c. Almost tropical! It did feel very warm indeed in the sunshine.
After breakfast I studied my town map and headed to the bus stop. A 30 minute bus ride later and I was on the edge of the Altstadt.
My first port of call was to the Farmer’s Market. This daily market can be found 6 mornings a week in the area surrounding the Münster. Fresh fruit and veg, cheese, eggs, and meats can be bought here.
I was hungry; it had been a while since I’d eaten breakfast. I got one of the famous ‘Lange Rote’ sausages in a roll. ‘Lange Rote’ means Long Red and that’s a very accurate description of what they are. Very tasty, they’re bigger than the rolls they are served it!
Then: my task was to find something for dinner. Later this evening I will make a Bolognese. The minced beef I am using I sourced from the Farmer’s Market. I got further ingredients from a super market in the town centre.
Strolling through the pedestrianised Altstadt where the market is located, I found Martinstor. Notice the McDonald’s label written above the left hand archway. What a place to put a fast food restaurant! Only in Germany…
Then, I found my way up to Schlossberg. At a hight of nearly 500 metres, this tree covered hill is just a few minutes walk from the Altstadt. Well, the bottom of it is anyway. The top of it takes considerably longer.
I climbed up quite a distance before the path I was on opened out to a little viewing area where people were sitting with friends having a chat, or enjoying the views over the city. Pictured below: Looking towards the Münster.
I followed the footpath out of this little viewing area and decided I would take a circular route round the mountain.
My circular route is part of a much wider network of walking/hiking routes you can do in the region. Serious hikers take extremely long routes to get to other towns and cities nearby. It took an hour to follow the route – which is called something but its name escapes me. Just before 2 I arrived back at the viewing area I started at. Pictured below: Walking through the Black Forest on Schlossberg.
There was one last thing to do before I descended back in to Freiburg. I climbed even higher to a viewing platform flying the Freiburg flag. A group of 4 German tourists were there… they asked me to take a photo of them, I asked them to take a photo of me.
Yes, I know, it was 10 degrees today and I was out and about in two jumpers, a coat and a scarf. It was cold yesterday, okay! And the locals wrap up in that many layers at this time of year anyway.
Back in Freiburg, ended up at Schwabentor, another of the city gates located on the edge of the pedestrianised zone.
I returned to the Münster where, with the market now cleared away, I could get some good photos of the building.
Tired after my long walk, I went in search of food…
Another stop at the supermarket on the way back allowed me to get the last few things for making my dinner tonight, before heading back.
It was about 5pm by the time I eventually returned to the cottage. It had been a long day so I spent some time just having a rest.
Tonight, as well as making my bolognese I’ve got my TV viewing planned – having used the RTV magazine (a bit like the Radio Times but for Germany) to search for things to watch. The local news & weather, Tageschau, The Voice, a documentary about Stuttgart, Tagesthemen (the late version of Tageschau), back to the Voice, then one of my DVDs. That should keep me going until bed time.
Tomorrow, I will be out all day again but not so mnuch walking this time as I will be travelling by train, taking a circular route around the Black Forest. I’ve got my audioguide of the Black Forest Railway downloaded from the DB website and loaded in to my iPod to play each section as my journey goes on.
I shall sign out and get dinner on.
Gute nacht.
Fred.
