Out of Freiburg

I stepped off the train in Freiburg around 9PM. The familiar strangeness particular to one's first moments in a new city resonated through the bustling station. I felt liberated, but all at once one taste of true novelty was enough to steer me south towards the Dreisam River in hopes of some kind of orientation. I never made it there. Shuffling down the way, I was halted by the faint sound of music. Interest peaked, I drew closer to the sound until I found myself at Jazzhaus Freiburg-a wonderful first start to my trip, and only a stone's throw from the station!

Made from an old wine cellar, the Jazzhaus offered a cozy and welcoming atmosphere much like certain bars I'd been too back in Boise. Despite the name of the joint, jazz was no where to be found. It was a ska band, the name since lost to me. A generally younger crowd, I chatted with a few people at the bar and had a few beers. Then it was off to a cheap hotel. I'd be off in the morning.

The following day found me in the surrounding countryside northeast of Freiburg. I wound up in a little cafe not far along a lesser traveled road. I took a little time to enjoy the morning and did my best to decipher a German newspaper over a cup of coffee. After that lost its flare, it was time to do some hiking. It was beautiful. By the end of the day I had made it to a town by the name of Waldkirch.

Waldkirch, which translates to forest-church, was a treat to visit. The ruins of an old castle was visible from the marketplace which really gave me a sense of the history of the place. The thing I most enjoyed however was a scattered fleet of mechanical, traveling organs. Apparently, Waldkirch is the town these things originated in. It was the kind of thing I'd always perceived as uniquely German, though I hadn't the faintest such a particular thing existed.

The next few days were more or less the same-skirting the wooded hills, sometimes escaping into them. Needless to say, this can take a toll on a person. The traveling is one thing, but when coupled with persistent hiking, I found myself in need of a rest. To my fortune, I happened across one of the most well-known spa towns in Germany. It was also pretty charming in a very rustic way as, according to some of the locals, it had been bypassed by any radical development by means of a tunnel.

Days later, i finally came to the edge of the Black Forest at a city called Freudenstadt. It was the most crowded city I'd been in since Freiburg, which later made sense as I was to find out it was home to the biggest marketplace in all of Germany. That kept me quite busy for a good while, meandering from shop to stand and shop again. Seeing as I would soon be leaving the Black Forest, I figured it would be a good time to buy a cuckoo clock for my father. By the time I found one, things had gotten dark and I retired early to be ready for the next day's travel.