A friend of mine got a group of five people together to take advantage of a special discount travel ticket, five for the price of three or something like that. She wanted to go to Freiburg for some shopping.
When we got there we split into two groups, two of us who had definite shopping in mind, and the other three, who were content to wander. The three of us had a nice relaxing day, enjoying the spring flowers and pleasant weather and the sights of Freiburg. It is still a little chilly out, but mild enough that the cherry trees are blooming and crocuses and daffodils are popping out.
There is a good variety of stores, all located conveniently around the town center. I'm sure there are some farther out as well, but we didn't venture much beyond the main shopping area as we were on foot. I finally managed to find a new pair of good walking shoes, which I have been looking for since before we moved here in August. The ones I have are quite worn out.
This is the bottom part of the clocktower/city gate seen in the previous photograph, there was a McDonald's just to the right, in part of the old building. To the right of that, there was this old art deco
building seen in the next photograph, with a Burger King in the bottom floor. Needless to say, we didn't have any interest in eating at either one. Instead we had a very tasty lunch of vegetable salad and pasta with black truffle at an Italian trattoria we saw on the way into town from the bus station. It was the first time I have ever had black truffle, and it was quite tasty.
In our wanders, we passed by these two cathedrals. Many of these older churches that we have seen are at least partly enveloped in scaffolding, which unfortunately detracts somewhat from their appearance.
A friend and I decided to hike from Grellingen to Meltingen, following a stream through the valley between the hills. We were greeted with wind and misty rain as we stepped off the train in Grellingen, but set off with our hoods up. Within about 10 minutes the rain had blown away and the sun was peeking through the clouds. It remained cloudy with occasional glimpses of sun for most of the hike, and thankfully the rain did not return. The temperature was a little chilly, but very comfortable for a hike.
The trail wound back and forth across the stream with many sturdy moss covered bridges along the way. The ground was covered with bärlauch (bear's leek- seen carpeting the ground along the right side of the trail in the first photo). This is a garlic flavored green that can be used in salads (like chives) or cooking (I had bärlauch ravioli once), and the air smelled faintly of garlic where it grew thickest, and when the sun shone on it. There were also numerous little white and yellow spring flowers dotting the ground, though the trees are just barely budding. Moss coated everything, and ferns and vines of ivy draped many of the old stonework and trees, a testament to the eternal dampness of the valley.
We wandered along the trail snapping many photographs - it was such a pretty day for it! We even got to explore a little cave we saw along the way. It didn't go back very far, but we thought it might have been a good cave to stay in if you didn't have a house, though it was a bit damp. There was a raised area in back that would have worked for a sleeping platform, and an area off to the side in the front that would have been perfect for a fire. Across the stream there was another cave for your friends, which you can see in the photo, though we didn't explore that one. The stream was a bit too high at that point to try getting across, and there was no convenient bridge.
Somewhere along the way we lost the trail to Meltingen, and with some help from my friend's GPS, we eventually ended up in Waldeck, where we caught a Post bus back to Grellingen with only a few minutes wait for the train back to Basel. We'd like to try this hike again, and figure out where we made the wrong turn off the trail to Meltingen!
