The Blogtastic Bombastics: Freiburgermeisters

Hello readers!

Thanks for your patience in reading our blog. We apologize for our tardiness in publishing the chronicles of our ongoing adventures. I expect we should be more forthcoming with updates now that we are reentering civilization. So where did we leave off?

Ah yes, we were traveling from Paris, France to Freiburg, Germany. We had our shiny new car, the wind in our hair, and a good stock of road snacks. What we did not have was a map, directions, or GPS navigation. Still, we set out with (naïve?) optimism. The plan was to stop in in Strasbourg en route and check out the old town. We wanted to get a feel for Alsace.

Leaving Paris went pretty smoothly (only one minor run in with a condescending cop who insisted on speaking to us in French) and we were soon on the highway, following signs to Strasbourg. We pulled right into the center of town and drove down increasingly narrow streets until we saw a single parking spot in which I (Mark) gallantly parallel parked. It turned out that our parking spot was a perfect starting point for a stroll through the old town where we walked by the river, picked up some typical beer of the area and a nice Riesling and scoped the delightful cathedral. Strasbourg was beautiful, but packed with tourists. After a week on Paris, Marya and I both took a very Parisian attitude toward the loud American tourists.

Eiffel Tower from our car window

Mark, a vision of cool

That's the Strasbourg cathedral poking up in the distance. Even Victor Hugo mentions how beautiful it is in Hunchback of Notre Dame.

The Strasbourg to Freiburg leg of our trip was a little less smooth... navigating Autobahns, country roads and finally Freiburg itself, using only roadside maps of the tram system. We finally stumbled across our campground by dumb luck or by dead reckoning. I'm still not sure which. We were very relieved to set up our tent, have a picnic dinner with a nice Abby beer, and go to sleep.

The view of Alsace en route to Freiburg.

We enjoyed two days in Freiburg. We climbed the tower of town's famous Munster (cathedral), watched a performance in the main square by the local youth circus, had excellent Thai takeout with the college kids at Augustinerplatz, and met up with our friend Steve who we met last year performing on BuskerBus in Poland. Marya took a little day hike up into the Black Forest while I rested in our tent and recovered from a cold. We could have spent a week in the cute little college town, but we had a date to keep. A date with Bamberg Zaubert...