A German road trip! Part one

Part One: Freiburg

I can’t remember the last time I went on a road trip, it’s been so long, but when the boys left for deployment my friend Megan and I decided we should occupy some of our newly acquired time with a bit of traveling.

To begin, we are afforded a few perks that allow us to actually take a road trip in Europe.  The big one is a fuel ration card that allows us to buy gas at the US price of (currently) $0.96/liter.  Compare that to the current price here in Germany of 1.65EUR/liter.  Just to put that into perspective for my American friends who can only comprehend in gallons (no judgment here; I’m still struggling with it myself) it would be $8.34/gallon!  Whew!  The maths always hurt my head!

So we planned our route, packed our bags and set off!  This was also my first time driving on the autobahn and boy was it fun!  It’s a little bit intimidating going so fast, but exhilarating at the same time.  It’s not so different from driving on a highway in the states, but Megan described it best as a constant inventory of your surroundings.  Check the mirrors, check the road ahead, mirrors, road, mirrors, road.  You might think you’re clear to switch lanes to pass a semi, but those Audi’s move quick!  One second they’re there, the next… Zooooom!

Our first stop was Freiburg where my friend Katrin lives.  Her and I met through a mutual friend in Florida when she was visiting the states.  She was so kind to take the time and show us around the beautiful city of Freiburg; I couldn't have asked for a more authentic experience than hanging out with a local.  After getting lost trying to find our hostel and much confusion on my part on where to meet, the patient Katirn met up with us in the altstadt and took us to a chic little café where I tasted my first Hugo. It has procecco, mineral water, elder flower syrup, lime and mint in it.  Mmmm!  Sehr lecker!  We also had a flammkuchen, which would best be described as a flat bread pizza.  Also sehr lecker!

She took us around the town and showed us the church.  She also showed us her favorite sculptural drain on the church! (in case you missed it, see above) Throughout Freiburg are these little cannels and on a hot day like the day we visited, children and adults alike take off their shoes to dip their feet in the cool water.  They also sell small boats on strings for the kinder to pull along.  Katrin took us down to the Dreisam, a shallow river you can wade out into and sit on the rocks.  It just so happens that at the exact spot we came off the road and onto the path next to the river, someone had tied up a swing to a bridge above the water.  So, of course we all took a turn.

Afterward we continued down along the river and Katrin got all three of us some tasty Radlers.  We found a nice rocky spot in the Dreisam, sat down to enjoy them and some amazing conversation. All along the river were people cooking out, camping, enjoying a beer, cuddling, or swimming with their dogs.  It was the place to be to beat the heat!  

Eventually we headed back to the altstadt to a biergarten  for dinner.  Katrin ordered some local dishes, one of which was a wurstsalat mit Käse. (google translate that, you know you want to)  After more great conversation and radlers we met up with Katrin’s boyfriend and the four of us went to a club/bar  not sure what the distinction is, but it was fun!  Bustling with people and activity.  We did meet a rude girl though, my first encounter with a snarky German in fact.  She asked Megan a question and when Megan answered, she said “Well don’t you just know everything.”   RUDE!  But oh well, you’re bound to come across rude people in every culture.

The next morning Katrin had us over for a traditional German frühstük or breakfast.  She put out quite the spread and made beautiful macchiatos.  I tried blutwurst and it was surprisingly good… as long as I didn’t think about what was in it. (you can google that too.. if you REALLY want to know) Then off we drove in der Wunderwagen into the black forest and up a mountain where we took a short hike up to the top and got a great view!   And no trip to the black forest area would be complete without a slice of Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, so we drove and drove until we found a little place that had some.

Thanks to Katrin and her sweet boyfriend, Renado (I really hope I’m spelling his name correctly) we had a fantastic time in Freiburg!  I can’t wait until I can visit her again, and hopefully she can come visit Megan and I here in “Little America”.

Stay tuned for part 2: Heidelberg!   Until then Tchüss!