Kathleen
Freiburg, Germany, August 11 &12, 2013
Another fine German town with a beautiful Aldstat (old town center), the piece de resistance of Freiburg is the Dom or Cathedral. It is a massive structure and probably Germany’s most impressive gothic cathedral. Unfortunately, the bell tower was scaffolded during our visit so we could neither obtain perfect pictures of the church nor climb up to get great center-city views, but we could appreciate and enjoy its majesty both inside and out either way.
Freiburg has an interesting feature of little drains that run down many of the downtown streets, it is difficult to describe but they are like mini-moats that run right down the side of the pedestrian streets. They must be for some sort of drainage, but as there are also several canals in Freiburg, I wonder if they are some sort of remnants from when other canals were filled in….I should look it up one of these days. Anyway, it was interesting because Steve thought we stopped in Freiburg at some point during our travels way back in 1995, after college and before we got there he was talking about the little drains in all the streets. The matter was clinched when he also mentioned a big arch with a McDonalds in it. Both of these things existed in Freiburg, but I had no recollection of either….oh well, what are you going to do??
Anyway, Frieburg is a university town and had a very relaxed feel, which we liked. It also had a big park complete with a funicular and a big fire tower up on top where you could climb up about 125 stairs and get a truly rewarding view of the entire area. This and the fabulous, flowered balcony we had on a quiet street close to but outside of the center were probably two of our favorite things about Frieburg.
I also has a wonderful, “these people are wonderful” moment in Frieburg. I will tell you what happened, although it is difficult to believe…. Our second and last day in Frieburg was when we climbed up to the fire tower on the hill. I took a few great photos at the top of the tower and then we went along our merry way….about 30 minutes later (downhill, of course!) I decided to take another photo and my camera was just missing. I had it in my purse and somehow the zipper was left open (somehow) and my camera was just gone. Well, we knew exactly where we had been for the last half-hour and completely retraced our tracks to the fire tower, there were very few folks out-and-about that day but still we found nothing.
I left my information with the fanicular operator (for lack of a better option) and went back to the hotel to wait for them to contact me. They didn’t. I was pretty upset because I hadn’t actually downloaded my photos off of my camera since Bergen, Norway, meaning all of the pics of the fjords and everything would be gone. Steve took a few pics, but I took way more. The next morning, before we headed out, I set off one more time to check at the fanicular office and see if anyone had turned my camera in. When the nice young man recognized me, he sadly shook his head. Not quite willing to give it up, I looked on a street map of the town and located a tourist information office. I went and asked them if they by any chance had a lost & found (long-shot but I was desperate). They said no but I should go to the Fundburo, about three blocks away. This was all the time I had. I located the Fundburo building, took the old creaky lift to the 4th floor and walked into a large office with a counter and one person on a phone at a desk way behind the counter. On the walls hang probably hundreds of sets of keys on hooks. On a desk, I saw a big red wallet and a black hulk that looked like it could possibly be my camera. When the women got off the phone, I pointed to it and said “I think that may be my camera”. She handed it to me and I tearily confirmed that IT WAS!!! She asked me if I could prove it by telling her about a recent photo on the camera. I did but found a picture of myself first, which worked fine. I signed a little form and was on my merry way thinking how very civilized it is to have a lost and found bureau and that someone would actually find my camera and take it there within 24 hours….I was overjoyed! I understand all of the German cities have one of these. I wonder if they have this in the US, too but I just didn’t know about it. Maybe I should start one when I get home!!
Yay Germans! Yay Camera! Yay fjord pictures! I decided my purse was too small and went out to buy a replacement the very next day, so my camera would NEVER fall out again! Whew!
