Saturday, October 20, 2007
Just arrived in Basel, Switzerland. Below is my blog for yesterday. I'm going to be hungry after this so I'll probably go check out the town and then come back later to do the blog for today. Enjoy.
Friday (Breisach->Freiburg), 20mi
Today I made the short journey to Freiburg. It was an easy trip, but it was freezing and my left knee is hurting pretty badly. First it was the right and that seems to have fixed itself, but now it’s the left. I just have one long trip left to Basel, Switzerland tomorrow though and then I can rest.
Anyway, I got to Freiburg and checked into the only hostel that had any room left. It’s about 3km outside of town, but not too far. I headed back in to town with a load of stuff to send home, grabbed a quick Nordsee fish sandwich, and headed to the post office. It only ended up costing 13.00 euros for a 3kg package back to the states. Not bad. I then wandered around to have a look at the city. Freiburg is an ancient town and has been capital of the southern end of the Black Forest forever. It has this bizarre system of mini canals that was originally used for refuse disposal and apparently they still work today. The little canals run right down the middle of all the main streets and people toss in cigarette butts and other small bits of garbage. I’m not really sure where they go. Then I happened on an indoor market called the Markethalle where I bought a noodle dinner and perused the goods. Then I ate another Nordsee fish sandwich. After that I made for the "Rick Steve's" recommended microbrewery (Brauerihaus Freierling), drank many delicious brews (2.5 liters to be exact), and witnessed a hysterical "rock'n'roll" band called "Soundedge". I very stealthily took a single picture as I left – hopefully it came out so the hilarity can be witnessed by all.
Then I ate a yufka donner and came back to the hostel. On the way back I broke a spoke nipple while riding along. I’ve never seen this before. Oh well, hopefully the local bike shop will have a nipple so I can repair my wheel. Otherwise I’ll be riding with 31 of 32 spokes, no big deal. Hahaha.
Currently I’m sitting in the basement of the youth hostel writing this. There’s no internet so I’m not sure when it will post. There are many drunken Germans here having a great time. Germans are so funny.
The route and the interactive route.
Cold, misty morning on the Rhine.
The Freiburg cathedral which took something like 300 years to complete. Notice everyone's favorite architectural feature - the flying buttress.
There used to be a large castle around the Black Forest hills above Freiburg. Naturally the castle was destroyed, but the Germans built this weird metal/wood tower that had a great view.
A view from the tower of Freiburg and the cathedral below.
And there I am on the tower with the Black Forest behind.
A typical street in Freiburg.
Aahh, the "Soundedge" photo. It's a bit dark, but there's no way I was going to use the flash. It's hard to tell, but the band members were Howie Mandell on the squeezebox, Bill Clinton on the acoustic guitar and vocals, Les Claypool's lesser-talented brother on the bass, and Charles Bronson on lead guitar.
Friday (Breisach->Freiburg), 20mi
Today I made the short journey to Freiburg. It was an easy trip, but it was freezing and my left knee is hurting pretty badly. First it was the right and that seems to have fixed itself, but now it’s the left. I just have one long trip left to Basel, Switzerland tomorrow though and then I can rest.
Anyway, I got to Freiburg and checked into the only hostel that had any room left. It’s about 3km outside of town, but not too far. I headed back in to town with a load of stuff to send home, grabbed a quick Nordsee fish sandwich, and headed to the post office. It only ended up costing 13.00 euros for a 3kg package back to the states. Not bad. I then wandered around to have a look at the city. Freiburg is an ancient town and has been capital of the southern end of the Black Forest forever. It has this bizarre system of mini canals that was originally used for refuse disposal and apparently they still work today. The little canals run right down the middle of all the main streets and people toss in cigarette butts and other small bits of garbage. I’m not really sure where they go. Then I happened on an indoor market called the Markethalle where I bought a noodle dinner and perused the goods. Then I ate another Nordsee fish sandwich. After that I made for the "Rick Steve's" recommended microbrewery (Brauerihaus Freierling), drank many delicious brews (2.5 liters to be exact), and witnessed a hysterical "rock'n'roll" band called "Soundedge". I very stealthily took a single picture as I left – hopefully it came out so the hilarity can be witnessed by all.
Then I ate a yufka donner and came back to the hostel. On the way back I broke a spoke nipple while riding along. I’ve never seen this before. Oh well, hopefully the local bike shop will have a nipple so I can repair my wheel. Otherwise I’ll be riding with 31 of 32 spokes, no big deal. Hahaha.
Currently I’m sitting in the basement of the youth hostel writing this. There’s no internet so I’m not sure when it will post. There are many drunken Germans here having a great time. Germans are so funny.
The route and the interactive route.
Cold, misty morning on the Rhine.
The Freiburg cathedral which took something like 300 years to complete. Notice everyone's favorite architectural feature - the flying buttress.
There used to be a large castle around the Black Forest hills above Freiburg. Naturally the castle was destroyed, but the Germans built this weird metal/wood tower that had a great view.
A view from the tower of Freiburg and the cathedral below.
And there I am on the tower with the Black Forest behind.
A typical street in Freiburg.
Aahh, the "Soundedge" photo. It's a bit dark, but there's no way I was going to use the flash. It's hard to tell, but the band members were Howie Mandell on the squeezebox, Bill Clinton on the acoustic guitar and vocals, Les Claypool's lesser-talented brother on the bass, and Charles Bronson on lead guitar.
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