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17 April 2017

France & Germany 2017 – Day 7 / Freiburg & Strasbourg

Steps today: 16 508 / almost (only) 11km.

I’m a bit disappointed that we did not reach our minimum goal of 20 000 steps per day, but it was HOT this afternoon and so there was not as much walking going on!!

We went Freiburg in Germany today and I LOVED IT! Best day trip of this vacation for me so far. There was rain in the forecast, but it never materialize – we had blue skies all day. SO lucky!

Münster (13)

It was a complicated start to the day - we went to buy our tickets at the train station in Strasbourg and the clerk told us he had a better solution for us on the return journey that would save us money and he started on what at the time seemed like a long and complicated proposition to save just a few Euros. Once I understood that he was not giving me an option for THE return journey, but rather because we were ON A same-day return journey it got interesting. He sold us a family day pass for the first leg of our journey which would take us as far as Offenburg, and from there we could buy a return ticket to Freiburg.  In the end, it saved us FIFTY Euros!!!! Thank you!

As you know, I speak German so I felt confident to buy tickets and transact with sales agents in Offenburg. My German is not perfect, I mess up gender all the time, but it’s plenty good enough to get by. We went in to buy our tickets and the agent asked what time we wanted to leave and with what train (fast or slow), I answered with: which ever is cheaper. Then he told me if I take the train at this time its blippdy boop Euros, if I take the train at that time it’s fringety frang Euros. For the LIFE OF ME I could not figure out what he was saying!!!!! German numbers are all backwards, so for example 36 is six-and-thirty. 95 is five-and-ninety. 42 is two-and-forty and so on.  Despite speaking the language I can’t conjure up the numbers that fast, I need a minute to visualize them to understand what I am dealing with. You would not think I have that problem since the same weirdness with numbers exists in French (99 for example is: four-twenties-ten-nine) and I have no trouble there – but I am used to French, not German!  To this day I have no idea what exact numbers the ticket agent quoted because he was including dollars and cents so in a flash I had to calculate if seven-and-thirty nine-and-twenty was more or less than eight-and-twenty six-and-thirty. Impossible. I repeated back to him: “so, the train at this time is around 30€ and the train at that time is around 40€, right?”…  he just regurgitated back the same litany of numbers which offered no clarification. Ascertaining at least that the difference between the two was not a fortune, I just finally said: “ok, the next one!”  In hindsight, its interesting that the clerk did not switch to English like almost all people do when they hear my accent or hear me speaking English to Frank. Most people who work with the public all over Europe speak English, but I stuck to German anyway for the practice.

Freiburg was terrific, I was snapping pictures everywhere I looked; my head was on a swivel. Early on I declared it was better than Baden-Baden and I could totally use it as a home-base city if ever we plan another trip to that region of Germany in the future (depending on the train schedules of course!).

The day followed our typical routine, we started with a coffee boost upon arrival at a café with a view. This one was by the Rathaus.

1. Coffee at Eiscafe Lazzarin (1)

Neues Rathaus (2)

Then we spent the morning wandering around the city (and repeatedly raving over the blue sky!)

Altes Rathaus (2)

Bertoldsbrunnen (1)

Martinstor (5)

Opelhaus

Johanneskirche

Historisches Kaufhaus (1)

We ended up in the main square where the Cathedral was under construction and the market in the square obstructed most of the views… too bad, but that’s life on vacation!

Münster (1)

Münster (15)

Because of the “messy” state of the main square it was hard to find a place with a nice view to sit and have a drink. We found a pretty outdoor wine bar, but they only served wine and Frank was more in a beer-mood. We lucked out a few paces nearby, finding a terrace with a side view of Historical Merchants' Hall – the perfect place to plot out the rest of the day.

2. Drinks at Ganter Brauereiausschank (2)     2. Drinks at Ganter Brauereiausschank (1)

My guidebook mentioned that the Fischerau and Gerberau area of town was worth a wander, so we made our way over to find a place to have lunch. Boy did we ever luck out! We came across a leafy Biergarten by a canal.. it was fantastic! A real high point of the day.

(But then of course, Schnitzel makes every day great!)

IMG_1691

3. Lunch at Gasthaus zum Rauhen Mann (9)

3. Lunch at Gasthaus zum Rauhen Mann (2)

3. Lunch at Gasthaus zum Rauhen Mann (5)

3. Lunch at Gasthaus zum Rauhen Mann (6)

After lunch we wandered around the city some more, but it was getting really too hot for us in the sun, so after a while our walk just became a hide-from-the-heat challenge!

Schwabentor (2)

Oberlinden

Rathausplatz

We were so hot, we even splurged on some ice cream back in the main square.

4. Dessert by the Cathedral

We were on the train back to Strasbourg by about 4PM, get a load of where the local kids hang out!!! Are the crazy or brave? I can’t decide.

Kids on the Bridge (1)

Kids on the Bridge (3)

We got back to Strasbourg around 5:30 and set out looking for a place to have a drink and supper. The heat was subsiding by then, according to the weather reports the temps will be 10 degrees cooler over the next few days – thank God! We’ve only really had one troublesomely hot day on this trip so far, so really it hasn't been THAT bad, but don’t forget we’re equipped for (and just prefer) temps in the mid-teens not low to mid 20s!

Because we wanted to eat outside and in the Petite France area specifically for our final meal in Strasbourg, we did not find many options and therefore we were “forced” to break the no-resto-repeat rule and ended up back at a place where we already had drinks a few days before. I think we might have missed a section of restaurants because how can it be that this was the only acceptable place?? (this picture was from the first stop)

3. Drinks on Thursday at La Corde à Linge (1)

The wind really started to pick up as the evening wore on, and it blew in the clouds so we lost the spotless blue skies we had enjoyed over the last few days. This was my overhead view, a far cry from what we were blessed with all day!

20170410_183613

By the time we got settled and got our food, the wind had kicked up SO MUCH it was like eating in a wind tunnel – it was almost comical!! Needless to say, the food did not stay warm long.  I was a bit disappointed with this final meal. I had ordered an unknown-to-me aperitif that I kept seeing on menus (Crémant d'Alsace) hoping to linger with it for a while before supper but the service was so slow I got it at the same time as my meal… WITH the drinks I ordered for dinner. It’s a silly details I suppose, but I wanted to feel relaxed and instead I felt rushed.

Crémant d'Alsace turned out to be sparkling wine. I had no idea!

11. Supper on Monday at La Corde à Linge (2)

Supper looked disgusting but it was tasty… or a least, the first few bites were. The wind cooled it down almost immediately so all in all it was not a great good-bye meal.

11. Supper on Monday at La Corde à Linge (3)

but ahhhhhh  a nice glass of Gewürztraminer Vendange Tardive made it all better! Smile

11. Supper on Monday at La Corde à Linge (4)

After supper, we headed straight back to the hotel since we have to pack up tonight for our move to Paris tomorrow.

Strasbourg was fantastic! I had a great time and got to cross off all the things on my list. Contrary to the afternoon I spent here in April 2011, I now feel like I can really say I visited Strasbourg “properly”.  The hotel was great too – excellent location, clean, convenient, great bathroom, no issues with hot water or water pressure… I’d easily stay here again.

I only have 2 complaints and they are minor.

1- the toilet bowl is too high.. NOT COMFORTABLE.

2- the pillows are awful, like heavy sandbags.

Time to shower now and then call it a night, a new adventure starts tomorrow!

Cheers from Strasbourg!

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