First views from outside Freiburg: walking among the vineyards, through the woods, overlooking the village and following a donkey home.
We caught an overnight sleeper train from Copenhagen to Freiburg. Because the train carriages weren’t in number order I distressed Anna by taking Anna to our seats on a seated only carriage. I checked whether it was the right carriage with he conductor who (thankfully) corrected our mistake, Anna admitting that she’d “actually kill” me if these were in fact he correct seats. Other highlights from the trip included the same conductor trying to force me to buy new tickets because I didn’t print our tickets and she had to put a piece of paper in her clip board. I asked whether she had a printer on board, she said she didn’t so pointed out that me buying a new ticket (€200, by the way) wouldn’t give her paper for her clip board anyway. She decided she could scan the barcode off my phone and hand write the two details that she needed to have with her.
After all that the showers didn’t work either.
None of these things really mattered, but they are amusing all the same. We slept and arrived in Freiburg just after 9am.
Flicka is the middle child of mum’s family, number four of seven. Flicka and her husband John met as at the station and drive us about half an hour back to their place where we will be for the next two nights.
They live in Wasenweiler, north-west of Freiburg near the border with France. The town is built up against the Kaiserstuhl hills.
Our first stop was to wash the growing pile of laundry. While that was on the four of us walk up the hill behind their house, winding through the freshly harvested vineyards and into the bush. It is dewy under foot, but sunny and warm all around.
There are views at each turn, plains of countryside all green and yellow with autumn. Ridge lines of mountains are in the distance all misty behind fog and low cloud. Under the tree cover in the woods is much cooler and turns the glare of the sun into warm dappled light.
Conversation is pleasant and easy and John has the same rye humour and cheeky eye-twinkle that dad and uncle Kees have. Isn’t it funny how the in-law uncles seem to have a similar humour and intelligence?
After quite a long walk we follow a donkey back down the hill, have some lunch (sans donkey) and head out for a drive to France(!). So easily crossing borders continues to amuse me, particularly when you ‘go to France for petrol because it’s cheaper there’.
