Freiburg

Breakfast was the usual spread (rolls, cheeses and meats), though there was a sign up saying we were only allowed a maximum of two bread rolls. After breakfast we decided to be brave and catch a tram into the city. The tram stop was about 10 minutes walk from the hostel (where we saw the original sign pointing to the youth hostel). To get to it we had to go over a bridge over the river, and past the Freiburg soccer stadium (we actually saw the soccer team having a public training session the previous afternoon). Trams came every 5-10 minutes and the fare was €2 per person. It took about 10-15 minutes to get into the city. The first thing we did when we got into the city was to find the pub where we were having a meeting with Tim's academic contacts that evening. As the Uni library was next door we checked that out too. After that we went to the tourist information centre to get a map of the city so we wouldn't spend our day getting lost again.

Freiburg is a very nice town, with cobbled streets and in front of most shops is a mosaic signifying what the shop is e.g. a pretzel in front of a bakery.

There are also little open drains along the streets with fast flowing water, which are a bit of a hazard, though apparently in summer they are great to stand in to cool your feet.

After the information centre we went to the Museum for Pre and Early History, where even Tim was bored. He thought things were picking up when he saw a sign for a display on the Alamanni (a cultural group his thesis covers) but when we got downstairs to it it was only on jewellery!

We went to see the Münster (the catholic cathedral - supposedly the 'most beautiful in Christendom' - though I couldn't quite see what the fuss was about). Inside the stained glass windows were pretty amazing, but that was about it for me.

There were markets in the square outside the cathedral, selling both fresh food and tourist items, and also lots of places selling sausages on bread. As it was lunchtime we both had one. While we were in the square finding souvenirs we saw an example of a German phenomenon that we had come across when we were in Germany last time - 'couple matching' - both members of a couple wearing matching clothes. As if you would wear that beanie, let alone make your partner wear one too!

With shopping breaking up our travels between the sights, we then went to the Augustinermuseum, as I hoped to see some interesting textiles there. There were a few woven friezes, and lots and lots of boring ecclesiastical statues, paintings etc, so we left after I finally found a loo to go to which didn't have a long line (on one of our forays into a department store, we went up to the food court for Tim to get a coffee, where he was told off for not having it on a tray, and I would have gone to the loos there but the line was so long that holding on until I got to another loo wasn't going to be any more of a stretch than waiting in the line until it was my turn. And I would have had to pay for the privilege too - you leave a tip for the woman who supposedly cleans them - though I think they often seem to spend more time guarding their plate of tips rather than cleaning). We did a bit more shopping and then got the tram back to get ready to go back in for our meeting at 5pm.

Once we got back in to town we loitered around for a bit killing time until 5pm. We were meeting two German academics, neither of whom we had any idea what they looked like, nor how old they were. Tim stood at the door (me behind him) looking around, until one of them asked him if he was Tim. They were very nice and friendly and Tim talked to them for about 2 hours, and they were very positive about his research topic. At the end I mentioned that I was hoping to find an art shop to get some paint brushes. Hubert, one of the academics, thought he knew where one was, close to our tram stop, so he walked with us to where he vaguely thought it was. He couldn't find it so we said goodbye and then he raced back a few minutes later to say he'd found it. It turned out that we'd noticed it earlier in the day (though not realising it was an art shop) and it was also next door to a wool shop that I wanted to visit. Neither was open (though some shops stay open until 8pm) so we set it aside to visit the next day. I still have an abiding memory of two workers from a nearby florist climbing up a ladder to attach a moss and berry covered creation to a street lamp, just outside these shops. The creation was just so European compared to any floral arrangements we have in Australia.

We then went in search of dinner. We wandered around for a while, determined not to resort to McDonalds or Burger King (which seemed to be quite big in Germany) until we found a nice little Italian restaurant. While we ate our pasta we emptied our heads of all the info Tim had learnt at the meeting (they spoke in English for my benefit) and then we caught the tram back, for bed by 10pm.

And two more things: (1) it was supposed to snow today but it didn't, and (2) the man who gave us directions to the youth hostel who is part of the folk dancing group keeps inviting us to have a go at the dancing. We keep looking busy!