should you visit freiburg?

I had a couple of requests after this post; people inquiring what there is to do in Freiburg and why is this town so special, anyway?

Well, I am by no means a Freiburg expert (though I’ve been there twice now – I went with my parents, too!), but I do know a few things about this city and I’ll share them with you today for those who are interested.

Left:  The front of our hostel, Right:  Martinstor (the clock tower)

As I’ve stated before, Freiburg sits at the edge of the Black Forest.  This is the main reason I love it; the Black Forest is so fascinating to me, as it’s rumored to be the inspiration behind not only J.K. Rowling’s Forbidden Forest but several fairytales authored by the brothers Grimm as well.

It’s also a famous university town; I know quite a few people who have studied abroad in Freiburg and absolutely l-o-v-e-d it.

Another noteworthy fact about Freiburg: it’s one of the most eco-friendly cities in Germany, which is saying a lot for a country that’s a green as they come.  It is said that approximately 70% of Freiburg’s citizens don’t own cars, but get around via bicycle, tram and train.  I love that.  Don’t you wish the USA was more conducive to that lifestyle?

Kaitlyn jokingly labeled the car in the photo below, “the only car in Freiburg”.

I think my favorite little fact about Freiburg has to do with the street gutters (you can see them in the photos above and below) that run throughout the city center.  Legend has it, that if you accidentally trip and fall into one of these Bächle (gutters), you will fall in love with/marry a Freiburger!  I learned this from my friend, Erica, who studied at the university there (and had the time of her life).

Neither of us fell in the water, which I’m sure Kaitlyn’s non-German husband appreciates.

Freiburg is also said to be the sunniest and warmest of all German cities.  Legend has it (and I’m sure this can be verified somewhere on the internet, if I weren’t too lazy to find a source to cite it), that the temperatures can reach as high as 40 degrees Celsius, which is 104 degrees Fahrenheit.  That’s, like, Oklahoma-hot!  And that’s my kind of hot (when it comes to summers, I say the hotter the better). 

Kaitlyn and I dealt with the heat by swinging at a park near our hostel.  You can’t tell, but my TOMS contain a large amount of sand from our Ireland beach disaster adventure (I eventually threw them away).

Disclaimer:  Half of these photos (the good half) came from Kaitlyn. 

You know, Kaitlyn, shop owner of Stitch?  Yeah, that Kaitlyn.