Ciao Venezia, Bonjour Paris

I'm writing from Venice Airport after our last day in Venice. We spent the day making the best of our 72 hour boat ticket, visiting the Jewish quarter and the original Ghettos and a Gnocchi lunch with a "tomato salad" that was absolutely brilliant! (See photos to come). We're flying to Paris tonight and will be arriving late. Not expecting too much sleep tonight... but then we have four days in Paris, that should suffice.

Ciao from Italy

A city out of the water

Monday August 28

When I was little I helped my siblings building imaginary cities and towns with islands and boats in a series of canals that we created in the overflow of our dam. I dreamed of cities surrounded by water, where boats were the form of transport and cars we off-limits. I didn't realise that such a place existed, so near to how I had dreamed it.

Venice has had a big effect on me as a result - a city where there are no cars, where bridges, walkways and canals form the networks and passageways of the city. Yesterday and today have been spent exploring Venice further, walking the alleys and squares, riding the waterbuses, swimming at the Lido beach on the Adriatic Sea, and waiting.... we're a long way out of town and it takes us about 1.5 to 2 hours to get in!
However the accommodation is cheap so it has its advantages.

I've really enjoyed the pleasure of being in Venezia and look forward to my last day here tomorrow before we fly out to Paris late, late, late!

Until then!

Venezia Venezia Venezia

Saturday August 26

After tying up a few loose ends at the hostel for the afternoon and evening I got a restless sleep before getting up early to head for Venezia.

The journey was smooth and uneventful and we arrived at the campsite at around 2pm. After checking in and getting settled we headed into town (an hour on two buses) for a look around. We bought a ticket for the transport system - buses and WATERBUSES(!!) - and took a trip along the Canal Grande to Piazza San Marco, the home of San Marco's Basilica and the bones of St Mark himself. We then wandered the pretty streets and canals of Venice slowly back to Piazzale Roma to head back to the campsite.

From my couple of hours in Venezia it has greatly impressed me and I look forward to spending more time here. The colourful buildings, common in other Italian cities, are made even more impressive by the bustling canals, impressive churches and countless small shops in narrow lanes. There are no cars in the city centre and the impressive life and beauty of the city shine through despite the crowds of tourists... a feat too great for many of the world's special places.

Firenze to Bologna

Tuesday August 22 to Friday August 23

The last day in Firenze I spent in a fairly laid-back manner - sitting at a wireless internet café for a couple of hours including lunch and catching up on news from elsewhere. Then went shorts shopping to replace those which had grow to enjoy more holes that originally intended. The evening saw Alisha and I heading in to the station to meet Stefano, a local to the area and friend of mine from Freiburg. We went to a local pizzeria for dinner before heading to a pub on the town square for a beer.

It was great to see Stefano again, especially on his home turf. The situation in Freiburg will never be the same again but it was a nice reinforcement that I made real friends around the globe and that whether or not I see them again we had something special in Freiburg that will
stay with us all...

So that's my rant for this blog... back to details.

Wednesday was a long day. We packed up and took the train from Florence to Bologna (that's right - home of bolognaise sauce, lasagna and tortellini). In Bologna we spent a couple of hours finding our way to the hostel before dumping our stuff and making the 6km bus trip back into town. We wandered the main streets for the afternoon before having a drink while we waited for the restaurants to open for dinner (at 7pm!!!). I had a fantastic tortellini all' ragú (with bolognaise sauce) followed by a delicious panna cotta - "very VERY fattening" according to
our friendly waiter.

Then headed back to the hostel for a hot night's sleep.

Yesterday and today we quite relaxed again as we've had to be out of the hostel before 9.30. They've involved walking Bologna's streets, admiring the richly painted buildings, climbing one of Bologna's TWO leaning towers, sitting at café and lying in the gardens reading, studying, listening to music and watching the Italians go about their business.

We head to Venezia early tomorrow where we will spend three days before flying to Paris.

Firenze

Saturday 19-Monday 21 August (Happy 80th Birthday Nanna and 22nd Michelle)

There's no doubt about it, Florence is beautiful. In contrast to Rome it is cleaner and perhaps more livable, and, to continue the comparisons, what it lacks in character it makes up in charm. Besides the sunsets here are spectacular (photos to come).

After getting off the train we caught the bus to our campsite without too much hassle, after which we made ourselves comfortable and then headed down the hill into the city (did I mention our campsite has excellent views of the city from above). Around 300,000 live in Florence, which makes it a manageable city to get around on foot and much of our time here has involved wandering the narrow paved streets past leather traders and counterfeit Gucci, Armani and Prada sellers to marble-clad churches, busy piazzas, dozens of sculptures (including a few /David /copies) and giant stone buildings.

When we get tired we stop for a caffé americano, a couple of pizze or a caffé freddo.
This is Italy and everything is done the Italian way!

Bella Roma II

Tuesday August 15-Saturday August 19

Tuesday saw a bus, train, train, bus, plane, bus, train, and finally another bus. Nine hours of traveling and only an hour and a half of it in the air!!

But the result was that in the morning I was at home in Freiburg and in the evening I was in a campsite in Rome with Kelso and Alisha (Alisha had come to visit from a few days before). I loved Rome, as I said in my last Rome entry, its a city with a big reputation that manages to live
up to it. Unfortunately it's not as good the second time. When you know what to expect you can't be so easily pleasantly surprised. However, the ability to say a prayer in Saint Peter's Basilica, walk around millenia old ruins, take in amazing the architecture of churches, fountains and bridges, drink from a street fountain and wander cobbled lanes past multi-coloured, faded flaky-painted houses is one unable to be matched by other cities of the world.

Of course much of it I had seen and experienced my last time in Rome in June, however it's not a "been there, done that" city so I was happy to go back. Regardless, the highlight was the parts I had not seen before, especially the catacombs. These were underground tunnels built by the Christian on the outskirts of Rome during times of persecution under the Roman Empire. The tunnels were filled with Christian graves and places of worship and the spirituality and commitment of the early Christians is inspiring. After the Catacombs we took a wander to the longest remaining straight stretch of ancient roman road. Ninety kilometers later and we were ready to head back! Whoa, glad I'm not a Thent-yu-wian! (Welease Woger!)

The weather was beautiful, a little warm if anything, as it was last time in Rome, and it was a nice change from the recently-but-consistently-turned nasty weather in Freiburg. The campsite pool and a couple of cold beers turned out to be a nice respite from the day's heat.

Saturday the group split and while Lish and I took a train to Firenze (4 hours and €15 - not bad!), Kelso flew back to Stuttgart to complete his internship with Bosch. He will return to meet us in Madrid.

A penny for your thoughts

Just an idea: If you read this, hit the comment button below and send me a few words. Just so I know who reads this!

Further farewells

Monday, July 31

Today Margie (Maria Giulia from Italy) had her farewell in true Italian style. After a beer with Caitlin, Shell and Michelle, we joined the group and headed to an Italian restaurant. The meals, though not cheap, were huge and we all struggled to get through our portions. An aforementioned Italian sprung a surprise on us and paid for our drinks before we knew what was going on. A kind last act.
We then chilled out in a bar for a while before calling it a night.
(I decided not to go to the doctor today as there were signs my health was on the improve)

Tuesday, August 1

A new month and Summer is gone. The temperature dropped ten degrees today to 20°C for the first time in over a month!
With Margie gone, and Shell continuing in her travels - on to Switzerland, it was time for those remaining to turn our attentions to Caitlin who is leaving tomorrow. After searching for somewhere new to have dinner we came out empty handed - it seems we've already stamped out all the student-priced eating locations in Freiburg. We settled for Feierling - the house brewery with a menu exclusively of localspecialtiess. After eating inside we crossed the road to the beer garden where we settled down to a German tradition of a Maß each. (1 litre glass)

Wednesday, August 2

A few of us met for lunch with Caitlin today before seeing her off at the station - some even getting so adventurous as to race the German fast-train down the platform. The group now seems significantly diminished.

The biggest farewell for me comes Monday...

A pair of pre-packup parties, multiple Michelles and a fourth time in fabulous France

Wednesday, July 26

Christina (fellow Melbourne Uni exchange student) had a farewell party tonight, marking the second departure of our acquaintances. She's leaving tomorrow.
The party involved sitting on the lawn in the middle of town, in front of one of the Uni buildings, have a few drinks, throwing a Frisbee and discussing multiple topics in multiple languages.

Friday, July 28

Shell, friend and former housemate, arrived in Freiburg around midday today - around 4 hours late after her train from Copenhagen was delayed due to severe thunderstorms last night which caused power-outages. She's spent the last 5 weeks in Copenhagen studying Danish in preparation for a semester's exchange there. Michelle (my American - as opposed to Shell) and I met up with Shell and Caitlin (an old friend of Shell's from her hometown), walked a little around the city, visited the cathedral and had a coffee before buying supplies to head to a farewell BBQ at one of the student residences. James, another Australian from Echuca/Canberra, was heading home and went out in true Aussie style (there was even some backyard cricket played - a first for me in Germany).

Saturday, July 29

Today John, Caitlin, Shell, Michelle and I met at the train station at 10 bound for Strasbourg, France. Although I'd already been to Strasbourg during the language course, the whole time we were in the city it was pouring rain, so I saw Strasbourg in a dash from place to place under an umbrella.
I got the impression then that Strasbourg was a beautiful city and I was not disappointed. We spent most of the time wandering the streets, lined with Fachwerkhäuser (German-style criss-crossed wooden houses - now a rare sight in Germany due to the bombing of the war, but still very much present in this former German part of France), avoiding a hectic flea market and walking along the river. After lunch we visited the cathedral before a bit more walking and then heading back to the train station and, eventually, Freiburg.
I may pay Strasbourg yet another visit before I'm done here. It's well worth it.
Back in Freiburg after a dinner of Chinese, I went a Uni end-of-semester-party which I was too tired and sick to enjoy. (I've now been sick with a chest cold for two weeks and very much over it. Might visit the doctor on Monday. I don't really want to deal with the hassle of travel insurance though.)

Sunday, July 30

After Mass a group of us met for the usual Sunday morning Uni-Café Stammtisch brunch, this time with the special purpose of farewelling Astrid, who headed back to Denmark with her family. After a couple of hours eating, drinking and chatting, Caitlin, Shell, John, Travis and I headed down to the Dreisam (river) for a paddle and a walk. We ended up walking a couple of k's outside of the town border. The sun was shining, and it was great to walk along observing the locals swimming in make-shift water holes and building dams, channels and piles of stones in the river.
We caught the tram back into town for a beer at the local house brewery before I headed home.

The heart of the black forest

Saturday, July 22

Today Michelle and I, as well as Selja from Norway and Travis from the States, dragged ourselves out of bed early to head to Triberg in the heart of southern Schwarzwald and home to Germany's highest waterfalls. Changing trains in Offerburg we arrived in Triberg at around 1pm and walked from the station up through the centre of town to the entrance to the waterfalls' park.
We had a flash rain storm which subsided shortly after we took a break to eat our lunch. With the odd rain drop still taunting, we climbed up to the waterfalls, paddled in the mountain stream and wandered through the surrounding forest. We then headed down the backstreets back to the town centre where we found a café-conditorei where we ate the world-famous local speciality...

On the return journey we stopped over and spent an hour and a half in Offenburg, an average town with nothing particularly special about it, but worth the stopover nonetheless. We got back to Freiburg in time to meet the others for dinner after which we went to the Freiburg Downtown Street Party, a university-city style public festival in which all the cafés and bars spilled out into the crowded streets.

The first to go...

Friday, July 14

Tanya, from New Zealand, was the first to go today. She went back to New Zealand to begin second semester next week... it's sad to have her go, but fortunately it will be a couple of weeks before anyone else leaves us.

As a balance of the scales, Ulli and Klaus have come down to Freiburg for the weekend. Michelle and I had coffee with them after which we were invited back to their hotel for a delicious Black Forest meal. Lecker!

Saturday, July 15

Freiburg hugs Schlossberg, a tree-covered mountain which Michelle, Ulli, Klaus and I climbed today. We then had a beer at the Schlossberg beer garden followed by coffee at Uni-Café. We went our separate ways for dinner then met up again for a drink in the evening. I was beginning to feel a bit crook, so I stayed off the hard stuff and was advised to take an aspirin before bed.
We then each went our respective ways - Ulli and Klaus are leaving early tomorrow morning.

It was good to see them again, even after such a short period of time, and they repeated their very hospitable offer, indeed expectation, of last weekend to have me as a guest again during my stay in Germany. I even got an invite to spend a "proper" German Christmas with them... we'll see how things pan out.

A city by another name, a host family, a Germany game, a missed train, another new city and a ball game for the world

Thursday, July 6

After rushing off from lunch with Penny and Sarah, I went with Michelle to the train station, northward bound. We'd planned a weekend at home with Michelle's former host parents Uli and Klaus Blankenberg, who live in Krefeld, northern Germany (30kms from the Dutch border). After a 4 hour train journey on the bank of Rhine, with fantastic scenery including the mythical Lorelei, we stopped over in Cologne, which, incidentally, is the French equivalent name for the city known as Köln in German.
We spent three hours in Köln, walking on the river bank (the Rhine) where we had a coffee, staying clear of the rain, visiting the impressive (and massive) Gothic cathedral, and although we missed the tower opening hours we were able to enjoy a leisurely dinner at a favourite of Michelle's - Früh Brewery.

We then had a 30 minute train trip to Krefeld where we were met by the smiling face of Klaus, who drove us back to their house where I met Uli, their eldest son Philipp and American guest Scott. We had a glass of wine or a beer, chatted for a bit and then hit the sack. Mmmm... fresh sheets and a house to sleep in!


Friday, July 7

Today Michelle and I enjoyed the luxury of having a house to stay in, and the sunny weather. The day started with a fabulous German breakfast outside in the sunshine which started conversation that drifted into the afternoon. Being in a house and sitting around in a backyard in the sunshine were luxuries I didn't realise I had missed.
The evening saw more typical German food being put in front of us, followed by more typical German food - Italian ice cream, more conversation and then bed.

Saturday, July 8

Today Michelle, Scott and I got a lift into the centre of Krefeld with Uli and Klaus. It was good to see another German city, but it made me appreciate my hometown, Freiburg. Freiburg is arguably among the most beautiful cities of Germany. Krefeld is not. Full stop.

I bought a €5 Germany football jersey for the evening before we headed back to Uli and Klaus'. When we got back, Klaus decided it was time I get a ride in a convertible (something I'd never done in my life before!) and after heading to the hardware store and buying a barbie we did a tour of the surrounds. It was great to be in a car, great to be in a German car, great to be driving on the right, great to be in a convertible(!!!), great to see a part of Germany from another perspective (the road) and great to chat to Klaus and get to know him a bit. Altogether a highlight of the weekend.

When we got back we put the BBQ together and set-up for the evening! Germany was playing Portugal in the 3rd/4th World Cup playoff. The TV was brought outside, a keg of Früh Kölsch beer was organised and German flags and jerseys were hung and worn. After a photo shoot we sat down to the barbie and watched the game, celebrating Germany's win at the end.

Note on Germans and national pride: Since WWII, national pride has always been a sore point for Germans, and it has been taboo to say "proud to be German". Although the World Cup didn't change this entirely, for it's duration Germans could be seen waving German flags, wearing German colours and giving other participating nations something to think about... a first for Germany in a long, long time.

Sunday, July 9 - FIFA World Cup Final Day 2006

After rising, showering and packing we sat down to another excellent German breakfast before being dropped off at the station. This time we were in for the long haul. We'd bought a Schönes Wochenende Ticket a cheap ticket that only allows you to travel on slow trains. This translated to five transfers and eight hours of traveling! We changed trains in Köln, Koblenz and Mainz and were also meant to have changes in Karlsruhe and Offenburg. Unfortunately the train in Karlsruhe decided to have a tantrum and did not run. We were on a tight schedule to arrive in Freiburg as the World Cup Final was beginning. The trains tantrum was going to have us miss the final altogether. I think the conversation went something like this:
Michelle: "We could just stay in Karlsruhe and find somewhere here to watch the final"
Me: "We could do that"
Me: "... and that would mean we'd get to see Karlsruhe"
Michelle: "Yeah!"
Me: "Let's do it!"
After getting more and more excited about the prospect of getting to see Karlsruhe I bought a map in the station and we headed into the city. Karlsruhe is another one of those Germany cities that makes it a pleasure to be in Germany. I love Germany.
We explored the inner malls and spoke-like streets which led us to the old palace (now the University! Imagine studying in a palace!!!), took some photos and found a gem of a pub to watch the game in (it had €2.50 meals with a drink). After being a quasi France-supporter during the game I was satisfied that the result fulfilled my prediction of a 1-1 draw with Italy to win on penalties.

We caught the last train of the evening to Freiburg, arriving at 1.30am and took a taxi home to bed. Mmmm bed. It had been a long day

More familiar faces

Thursday, July 6

Penny and Sarah, dropping their luggage off at Sarah's former host family, arrived in Freiburg yesterday and after a jet-lag induced sleep met me at the station this morning. We went to Uni-Café, a local favourite, for a coffee and a chat after which we did a flash tour of Freiburg, including a climb of the cathedral tower and a quick lunch at the Mensa (student meeting house) cut short by my need to be at the train station...

It was great to see them, especially Penny, and have a bit more of contact with life at home.

World Cup Fever!

June 9-July 9

For a month between June 9th and July 9th I left Freiburg. I lived instead in a monster that would rest peacefully in the mornings only to wake restlessly and writh, scream and shudder vigorously for two hour intervals at 3pm, 6pm and 9pm, and continue to be active into the night. The World Cup was in Germany, and nobody could escape the path of this rolling snowball (or perhaps, football).

Football jerseys (Trikots), flags and coloured socks (even special thongs!) were everywhere. Cafés became public viewing areas, in fact there was not a café, restaurant or pub in town not sporting the trademark World Cup big screens. In one local park lawns were replaced with tables and chairs, food and drink stands and one HUGE (10m by 15m) screen. People would trickle into the park in the hours before each game and flood out again afterwards to have a celebratory (or consolation) refreshment in town. Productivity plummeted as the German workforce tuned into the matches, and there was barely a conversation that didn't include the topic Klinsi, unfair refereeing, "where are you watching the game?" or bloody Italian divers!

Any time I wasn't spending with Timshel and Shelley (and even much that I was), or at Uni, was spent watching Germany beat Argentina, Australia draw with Croatia, the Côte D'Ivoire go down to the Netherlands or Italy diving. The Aussie games were of course the highlight and it was fantastic to pack out O'Kelly's Irish Pub with green and gold supporters for the games. I find it interesting how much more you're drawn to "patriotic" practices - wearing the flag or green and gold, shouting "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie", even singing "We're happy little vegemites" - when you're far from home.

Another highlight were the German games. After the victories (especially against Argentina), the streets in town filled up, car horns filled the air, roads were closed for the celebrating crowds and Freiburg seemed like a city of 500,000 instead of 200,000!

It was interesting that the day after the World Cup final, in the World Cup's host nation, there was not a German newspaper with Italy as the top headline. In every case the German "success" took priority.


I had many comments as an Australian who wore his nationality printed on a shirt:

After Australia-Japan
10 Minutes after the Australia-Japan game, in the German Literature Department office (and far from the nearest TV) from the secretary: "That was a great game, I was keeping up with it on the internet - Australia have surprised me" (not me)
Caravan Park stayer:
"You're from Australia? They are a very good team!"

After Australia-Brazil
Housemate:
"Shame about Brazil - Australia played very well"

After Australia-Croatia
Friend of friend, also housemate:
"That was crazy! Just CRAZY!"

After Australia-Italy
Random German on the street:
"Time to go home now!"

Something to come home to

Sunday June 9-Thursday June 29

The day after returning to Freiburg from Rome I went to the train station to pick up Timshel, Shelley and Reuben (Brother, Sister-in-law and nephew) who were coming to Freiburg to visit and to collect equipment for their planned tandem-bike tour of Europe. They planned to stay about a week, but it turned into three - fantastic for me but a little frustrating for them I believe.

I spent much time with them during their visit, both in Freiburg city-centre and at their campsite. It was great spending time with them. Highlights were talking - sharing ideas and experiences, eating, playing with Reuben, watching World Cup games at the beer garden attached to the campsite, picnicing and even helping to set up - and test :) - the tandem! The low-point (although it's a good story) was arguing with German customs-office staff with incredibly strong regional accents over import taxes (Timshel and Shelley ended up paying €57 - 14% tax and 12% customs fees - for raingear that was sent to them GRATIS as part of a sponsorship deal!).
The EU has some fantastic ideas that could be examples for the world, but their relations with foreigners - especially regarding the third world and economic matters is selfish, even mean.

It was great to have family around and also to be able to share Australia's World Cup success with them!

For more details on their visit here and Timshel and Shelley's adventurous endevours in Europe please visit Timshel and Shelley's website:
Cycling Europe with a baby

Roma

The mid-Semester break, a result of Christi Himmelfahrt (literally: Christ's heaven-trip) , was approaching and we were to have a whole week without classes. After some discussion, some disagreement and some practical problems, a group of 6 of us decided to head to Rome for around half the week, driven by the incentive of €30 flights from Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport.

Tuesday, June 6

We flew into Rome Ciampini, then spent two hours on bus-train-train-bus to get to our campsite accommodation near Prima Porta station, north of the city. Travel-weary and uninspired, we spent the first night at the campsite, eating in their restaurant before hitting the sack.

Wednesday, June 7

We woke to sunshine and what would be a 25+ degree day - a welcome change after 15 degrees and below for over a month! After a bit of time spent in and by the campsite pool we headed into the city to explore. We started our tour at Piazza del Popolo (Pope's Square) then headed to
Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps, ate lunch on Piazza Navona (New Square) and a strolled along the river Tiber to the Vatican, the heart of the Roman Catholic Church, where we went into St Peter's Basilica, after which we found a café for a hard-earned and quality Italian coffee.
Half of the group then decided to head back to the campsite to chill out and eat while the other three of us stayed and explored some more. After seeing the Pantheon and the Fontana di Trevi, we headed back to Piazza Navona to eat and then headed back to get some sleep.

Thursday, June 8

Unfortunately the split group became a trend, and we continued exploring in our groups of three. Our group (Michelle, Caitlin and I) set off earlier to beat the crowds at the Vatican. We started off with a visit to the crypt under St Peter's, then climbed to the top (it's a long way
up!) for fantastic views of the Vatican, St Peter's Square and Rome.
Because of the crowds and the queues we missed the others as they went into the Vatican museums and the Sistine chapel right on closing time and we chose instead to lunch nearby and wait for them to come out.
From the Vatican we headed to the Roman Forum (ruins of Roman Empire buildings) via the Monumento Vittorio Emanuele II. We headed through the Roman Forum to the Colosseum then found somewhere to eat before heading back.

Friday, June 9

Caitlin, Michelle and I headed off early again to get into the Sistine Chapel. The queues were ridiculous! Seriously a 1km long queue is crazy - THIS IS NO EXAGGERATION!! Why would you travel to a foreign city only to spend your entire time there waiting in line???
We decided to walk instead and explored the hilly park to the south east of the Vatican. After great views of the rooftops of Rome we descended into the back streets.
It was incredible to be walking along cobbled streets between old, half-maintained and colourfully painted buildings with drying clothes hanging between them. A scooter would whiz past, a suit would be hurrying along chattering Italian into his mobile and a bunch of men would be collected at a doorway, chatting, watching, gossiping. It's a lively and bubbly culture that I'd like to see more of.
We were headed for the Bocca della Verità (mouth of truth), which we found after an extended search within 50 metres of it!
After this we thought we'd try our luck with the Sistine Chapel again, this time with success (it turns out the trick is to wait till just before closing time). However after so much walking, we were exhausted and made our visit relatively short. It was fantastic however, to see Michealangelo's /Creation /and /Last Judgement /in the flesh (well, so to speak).
We then ran back to Piazza del Popolo to meet the others and catch the train back to the campsite where we caught the last half of the opening World Cup match in which Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2! A shame we weren't in Freiburg to see it.

Saturday saw three of us (Andreas, Astrid and I) return to Freiburg. It was nice to be home!

Rome was fantastic and I'm looking forward to going back...
In terms of big cities with big reputations, it was a nice change to Prague... so much life, so much character. A city to recommend!

Couldn't make Switzerland

Saturday June 3rd

Michelle and I decided to take a self-led excursion to Basel in Switzerland today. We have "Semester Tickets" which allow us not only to use the public transport in Freiburg itself, but also in the region!!

We missed the train - Switzerland was out of the question. So we went to France instead.

Colmar is a city I'd already visited during the language course in March (See March blog entries), but it was FREEZING cold at the time and I wanted to see it again in Summer. We caught the train to Breisach on the Rhine, which forms the German-French border here in the south, and spent half an hour there appreciating the difference summer makes, before taking the bus to Colmar. €3 each return!

We wandered around the city, enjoyed the bustling summer atmosphere, ate, and returned to the train station to take the bus back to Freiburg.
When we got there we discovered that we'd looked at the weekday timetable and our bus wasn't coming for another hour and a half! A good thing that we didn't miss it completely. We were however late for our dinner date with our foreign Freiburger friends.