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I was fortunate enough to embark upon a 10-day trip centered on Freiburg, Germany, in the middle of the Black Forest, for two conferences. The conferences took up most of the first half of the trip, while my dad, who came along with me, and I got to tour around much of the latter half, visiting the nearby cities of Frankfurt, Strasbourg, and Basel, as well as some places in the Black Forest. Here are some photos. Freiburg,Germany Freiburg is an incredible place. One of the greenest cities I've ever been
to, 200,000 people in the middle of the Black Forest. Very progressive, very
environmentally conscious, it was stressful enough just figuring out which of
the six holes in some of the garbage cans everything went. The weather was
excellent too, sunny and dry most of the visit.
Black Forest, Germany The several voyages I took just outside of Freiburg were the most enjoyable of the trip. Tens of thousands of kilometers of trails they promised outside of town, and I swear I believe them. One of the most spectacular hikes I embarked on with fellow conference participants, was to the Feldsee, a lake perched on the side of Feldberg, tallest hill in the Black Forest. And then there was Schauinsland. A hill right above Freiburg, it required a rather steep cable car ride up, though the views were spectacular. Lastly, while touring around we stopped at St. Peter, where I got a photo of this pastoral view. Basel,Switzerland Basel was an hour's train ride away, just over the Swiss border. While not as quiet and silvan as Freiburg, it featured a much more diverse population and an old town that just invited you to try out every street. Strasbourg, France Another hour trip from Freiburg took us across the French border to one of the EU "capitals" of Strasbourg. With its history split between France and Germany, this Alsatian town has an identity (and a dialect) all its own; with the EU parliament there, you could hear any number of languages. Frankfurt, Germany Frankfurt was the start and end of the journey, where our flights went. A business center, it was the most familiar to us, reminding me very much of New York City, with financial buildings everywhere. Still, it was a vibrant town with quite a multicultural flavor. |