The Black Forest

The only things I wanted to accomplish in Freiburg were seeing the Black Forest and relaxing. I booked a stay at a bed and breakfast in the eastern region of the city and the charming little house looks like a Thomas Kincaid painting on the outside and an Ikea store on the inside, at least if you ignore the Holsteins that can look in the bathroom window. However, the complementary pair of wineglasses and all the candles make me think that solitary college students may not be the target demographic for this particular residence. I’m not complaining because at least I get to sleep in a huge bed.

After settling in, I took the bus back to the center of the city and walked around. Several times, I had to stop in the middle of the sidewalk and gawk at the beautiful forested hills rising in the background. In was rainy and foggy all day, which makes for both miserable weather and gorgeous scenery, as columns of mist rise out of the woods and the humidity blurs and softens the view until it looks like a painting.

The upside of not doing any preparation for this trip is that every time I turned a corner I was surprised by what I found. One second, shopping district—the next, soaring red cathedrals and store fronts that look transplanted from a Renaissance Faire. I just spent the afternoon shopping for souvenirs and exploring the town. The only downside was as soon as the church bells rang 18:00, the streets cleared and all the shops and restaurants closed. It was like a monster movie where the whole town has to be inside by sundown. Since there was nothing to do in town, I found some trails through the forest and walked around until it started getting dark and scary.

On Saturday morning, I headed straight for one of the hiking trails. I ate my breakfast next to a small stream surrounded by ancient conifer trees. The morning air was a bit chilly, but I stayed warm walking through the woods for several hours, up and down hills. Occasional joggers and dog-walkers kept the path from feeling too deserted. The forest was very still—I saw only four songbirds, a pair of ducks, and one rustle in the underbrush that was probably a rabbit. I would have thought that forest would be replete with squirrels, but I guess at I was there at the wrong time.

The afternoon, I headed back to town and soaked up more of the scenery, and ate more than a little bit of ice cream. Disappointingly, I couldn’t find any place selling Black Forest cake, but that was probably for the best since I was running low on cash at that point.

My stay in Freiburg was over too soon, and before I knew it I was on my way to München. It was a quick ride, since one of the trains I took happened to be a high-speed train, which isn’t covered by my Eurorail pass, but thankfully no one checked my ticket for that leg of the journey. When I arrived in the city, it was drizzling of course, and I was burnt out on sight-seeing. I met up with my friends, and we just spent the evening eating really good Italian food and relaxing at our hotel. While I didn’t feel as relaxed and recharged as I had hoped, I was ready to get to Vienna and get back to the program.