Keri Goes Abroad: Freiburg With the Family

The infamous tram route that Dad turned down

Back to Freiburg! Since I arrived, I've wanted the family to come visit - to see where I live and how I live. They got a pretty thorough taste, too, though Mom and Dad didn't get to ride the straßenbahn (the tram) which is a pretty integral part of my day-to-day activities. They did, however, have a unique encounter with the straßenbahn. Dad's directional skills are not exactly among his greatest strengths, and even with Jill - the GPS system - telling him exactly where to go, he ended up turning onto the no-cars-allowed street filled with straßenbahn tracks, and then went down another to try and fix the problem. I'm so glad the trams weren't there at that moment. I'm also glad I was not in the car. I think Mom and Dad both had the trams ring their bells at them, too, for standing in the way. This ringing is not a cute little 'ding' either, but a frantic 'BBBRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNGGGGG' that informs you to 'GET OUT OF MY WAY BEFORE I HIT YOU.'

We got back to Freiburg on a Tuesday evening so that I could go to class on Wednesday, and then a meeting right afterwards. Before class I tried to show the family around a little. We went to the Muensterplatz for wurst and fresh fruit, to the bookstore, then to the IES building and my university buildings. After that, I pointed them in the direction of the Dreisam Cafe, a cafe/biergarten right on the river, and headed off to class. Of course, it immediately starts to pour. Cats and dogs, hail, you name it - it fell from the sky. Actually, it took a little while for the storm to build up its ferocity. I had just gotten out of class and was on my way to a meeting, but we couldn't actually go anywhere because the wind was blowing bikes over into our path. As soon as my meeting was done, though, it cleared up. I took everyone to Isle of Innisfree, my pub, for dinner. There we were serenaded by the karaoke singers, one of whom did a beautiful rendition of 'Black Welwet' (or Black Velvet, if you're not German). My other favorite was the boy who can't carry a tune in a bucket, but seems to think that the louder he sings, the better he is. He's a regular on karaoke nights. Lucky us.

After the pub we parted ways - the boys and I headed off to Schlappen (a student pub) while the parents went to the hotel. At Schlappen we ordered a beer boot, like the kind made legendary by the movie 'Beerfest'. 2.5 lieters of beer in a boot-shaped glass called a Stiefel. Only in Germany. Well, maybe frat parties too. Mostly I wanted to show the boys that they do, in fact, exist. While sitting there with our boot, an Irish guy came up to the table and asked if he could take a picture of our crazy drink. We ended up chatting for the rest of the night with him and his two friends, then taking off to make the last tram home.

The next day we wandered the city some more. The boys bought souveniers, Mom and Dad had their incidents with the tram ringing at them, and we went grocery shopping. I took the family to the top of the local mountain, the Schlossberg, to get some of the spectacular views. After that, we headed to the Winefest that had started that night. Freiburg is in the area of Germany known for its white wines, and all the little towns in the area have festivals showcasing the wine. You buy a glass that you carry with you for the rest of the night, and go around sampling the food and drink from local vendors. We spent a little while there, enjoying a good oompah band, then headed back to Schlappen for another round of the beer boot (this time with the parents).

The boys, looking at the karaoke list.

Typical

The boot

When you get to a certain point, an air bubble forms in the toe of the boot, making all of the beer splash into your face if you're not careful. Pat experienced this firsthand, evidenced by the following pictures.