Freiburg, Germany

It's been a long time since I wrote a lifestyle or travel-related post, and - as cheesy as it sounds - these ones are probably my favourite to write as they afford me time to reflect and reminisce over lovely times, places and generally have myself a little throwback party. This time, it's Freiburg's turn.

Freiburg, which translates as free borough, is about a 45-minute drive from where we currently live in France, so we took it upon ourselves to pay it a little visit one sunny weekend last autumn. It's an old university town situated near the Black Forest in Germany (I wrote about Black Forest's Titisee here if you want to read more). I've since read that it's the sunniest town in Germany, with the sun shining its pretty little self down on it a whopping 2000 hours a year. Lucky they may be, but those Freiburgers are also pretty smart; they've taken advantage and apparently managed to generate as much solar power as the whole of Britain, bagging a 'greenest city' label, so Lonely Planet inform me! Props to them...or whatever the trendy way to say congrats is these days.

Without a doubt, the imposing medieval Münster cathedral is the main architechural draw of Freiburg. Built between 1520-30, it's an old beauty but a beautiful red sandstone one. It features scenic sculptures from the Old and New Testaments. Its gothic design reminds me of Barcelona's La Sagrada Familia...on a considerably smaller scale, though you can apparently get a view of the Vosges mountains in France if you climb the tower!

As we wandered the streets, we also noticed these unusual - if a little dangerous - open gutters with water flowing through them. Apparently, these Bächle are quite famous and were once used for livestock and fire fighting; they now contain diverted water from the Dreisam river. I've read that if you happen to accidentally land your foot in one of these waterways, then you're destined to marry a Freiburger! Twit twoo.

Another sight we spotted was the Martinstor, the former town gate, which is quite understated yet so pretty to actually wander through as you stroll the streets. Unfortunately, I didn't get any better pictures of it than this...so I hope you can appreciate the big twiggy tree partially blocking the view. Oh, and spot the McDonalds sign beside it! The city council prevented the standard red and yellow sign in favour of a more reserved colour! They got told!

Another of Freiburg's sights is the Historical Merchant's Hall, which dates back to the 1520s and served as the region's hub of finance. At first, you could be forgiven for missing it since it's situated beside the show-stopping catherdral, but it's definitely a unique building and one I actually snapped before I knew what it was! I love the mosaic-tiled spires on either side of it.

We proceeded to stumble upon a really busy area, full of people relaxing and supping on beer sat on the streets. At first, we assumed there was some sort of festival or event going on and felt a little out of place, but I later found out (when researching for this post) that it's simply a really popular chillout spot for local students and younger people, probably helped by the surrounding bars and restaurants. I loved this little snippet of local culture and fact it's not uncommon to just find a spot, plonk yourself on the cobbles, and enjoy the sunshine.



Probably one of my favourite photos of the day was this little winery positioned quite randomly in the middle of quite a bustling area. Freiburg is situated in the heart of a major wine-growing region so this is probably the norm for the locals but it looked so out of place to me...though clearly very pretty with the gorgeous blossom tree. Shame we didn't get a little sip of its goods!

Here's a few more pictures I captured on our wander around the streets. The buskers were brilliant, and the little kid in front was dancing his heart out! We ended the day with nutella and fruit pancakes, while watching the sunset from our balcony. Perfection!

Do you like the look of Freiburg? Have you visited any new cities or places recently?

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