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Once again, my work took me to Mainz, Germany. The winter was nearly over (in the technical sense) and by chance a friend from Australia was to be in Berlin for a conference, so we made plans to catch up. We had other friends in the south of Germany, so after some searching, we decided on a weekend trip to Blaubeuren; a small town with a big hole. Additionally, another opportunity for travel would present itself on my return to Paris: rather than head home directly, I would make a detour to meet up with Mia halfway between Geneva and Mainz and once again we would find ourselves in the Black Forest.

Blaubeuren

The town of Blaubeuren is situated only a stone’s throw from Ulm, and sits on the edge of the Swabian Jura. It is also home to the largest cave system in the Swabian Alps; however the majority of the cave is underwater. One of the entry points into the Blauhöhle is via the Blautopf, a large spring which is the source of the Blau river and due to the Karst landscape of the Swabian Jura, the spring is famed for its deep colour.

In what would turn out to be a slight screw-up on my behalf, we chose the destination so we could see the spring and then go hiking in the surrounding area. The screw-up presented itself when I arrived late on Friday night and realised that I had been to the town some two and a bit years prior with one of the same friends I was to be meeting to go rock climbing. That time we did not see the hole, but we did see more-or-less everything in the area. This was of little concern though, as the main purpose of the trip was to catch up with friends. We had booked the only 4-person place we could find, which was a cosy suite in a hotel. Before we would get there we would however have a few beers – it is easy to forget both how good and cheap German beer is – and catch up on the news.

After getting some breakfast into us, no one was particularly motivated to get out and about thanks to the average weather that had been turned on for us, but nevertheless we headed out into town and brought some foodstuffs for lunch from the morning market, and then we were on our way. The first stop was the hole, but to get there we had to pass by the abbey, which was certainly not without some charm. We then arrived at the hole, which did indeed have an impressive teint, but I think had the weather been sunny it would have seemed much more remarkable than it did. We wandered around for a bit and watched some cave divers prepare themselves, but the action stagnated so we continued our expedition, heading along the Blau river. This was nice as there was much wildlife around, and it was on this path we stayed, ultimately heading toward Sirgenstein Castle.

From the river it was a bit of a climb up to the ruins of the castle, but it is only a hundred or so vertical metres so it does not take long. For me it was all too familiar, as we had climbed up to the castle on our previous visit; however the area is really pretty so it makes for nice walking. Arriving at the top, we decided to sit down and have our lunch in the castle and with the help of some pieces of wood, we soon had a near professional picnic setup.

Our after-lunch plan was basically to follow the ridge back round to the west, which would bring us back into town. After only a short time on the track, the weather began to deteriorate rather quickly; we didn’t let this stop us seeing all that there was to see, but we didn’t hang around. We got back into town and picked up some afternoon snacks and then headed into a pub for the afternoon. The weather only got worse, so in that respect it was good timing. We put away some beers over a pretty involved session of Uno, as it was the only complete set of cards held by the pub. It turns out that I am the champion of Uno, so that is nice. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant - which was surprisingly good – before finding a pub with a pool table where we spent the rest of the evening.

The next morning was even worse weather, with a surprise 10 minute patch of really heavy snow. This was not conducive to our outdoor plans, so we decided to get out of Blaubeuren, make our way to Ulm and decide where to go from there. With ever-so-slightly improved weather, we decided to try our luck at the nearby town of Günzburg, where we could have a wander and see the town’s castle. Being a short train ride, we arrived in 20 minutes – after having a strange conversation with someone on the train about cricket – and proceeded to look around town. We crossed over the Danube and found a “nice” bridge under which we could have some lunch before continuing on to see the castle. Now ‘castle’ may be a little strong, as the building now serves as a convention centre, so while it has the air of a castle, that is about it. But the location is nice. So with a brief visit, we returned to the station and had a wander around Ulm, but before long were due back at the station to go our separate ways.

The Blauhöhle, complete with cave divers — The *Blauhöhle,* complete with cave divers

The sights that were offered up were perhaps not the best Germany has to offer, but the company was great – it is so refreshing to catch up with old friends. I look forward to the next time.

Freiburg

The old town has an interesting feel to it

The town of Freiburg im Breisgau had eluded me for quite some time. During my stay in Germany in 2011 visiting there was one of my to-dos which never got done and since then it has been my aim to get there; however every time I have tried something has foiled my plans. Usually it has been the cost of getting there or accommodation (if not both) but everything just fell into place this time. The town is most famous for its university, its positive actions regarding being green and as any German will tell you (really, the second Freiburg or anything that remotely sounds like it is mentioned) for having the most hours of sunshine per day of any city in the country.

Our initial plans for the weekend were to check out Basel, however due to the Baselworld 2014 watch and jewellery show accommodation was impossible to find, even anywhere connected to the town by train. But using the slightly off the grid AirBnB, we found an apartment in Freiburg meaning we could spend Saturday there and Sunday in Basel, which was an even better plan. As mentioned previously the weather had been pretty ordinary up to this point, so a sunny location was to be welcomed. And living up to its reputation, the town had much better weather than Mainz.

Saturday morning was spent strolling the streets of the old town, which was an absolute delight. The town was founded in 1120, however it has been damaged many times over the years, notably during World War II which flattened most of the city. It was rebuilt on the old plan, including some of the most iconic features of the town, the Bächle, which are open water drains lining the streets and alleys. Once supplying the city’s water, they now serve as decorative pieces but do add a lot of character to the city.

The main attraction of the town is the Minster, which was founded in 1200 and miraculously not entirely destroyed during the war. It is the home of the “most beautiful tower in the whole of Christianity”, a far-propagated misquote of a Swiss historian, but it is nonetheless pretty. Being a Saturday morning, there was a market set up and very little space to move. We headed inside to have a look around and all I can say is there is a reason this is a famous building. The scale of the building combined with the attention to detail is just astounding, and the addition of some really pretty stained-glass windows makes it one to add to the list of most impressive cathedrals.

Before wandering off into the Black Forest, which borders the city, we of course stocked up on Bratwurst from the market. In the forest, we set out to find the observation tower on the Schlossberg, which we did find, but it was unfortunately locked. Nearby we had a look at the old castle ruins and continued west further into the forest until we had had our fill and ventured south until we hit the Dreisam River, which we followed back into town. As it was a nice sunny day and getting into the afternoon, there was little left but to head to a beer garden, and the Hausbrauerei Feierling was perfect - the beer was well priced and more importantly good! The rest of the day was spent eating, drinking and wandering around town in a very relaxed manner, which was great – something a bit different to our usual “go go go” attitude.

On our way home, we were treated to a really nice sunset, which beautifully illuminated the Herz-Jesu-Kirche, a spectacular church not far from the train station. Once we were home, the day’s activities quickly caught up with us and before long, we were sound asleep.

Basel

A short train ride had us arriving at Basel Badischer Bahnhof, which is the northern station, close to the border but not so close to town. The weather was nice so we set off for the river and the main town by foot. Before long we encountered that which had made finding accommodation impossible, the Baselworld show. A huge number of very well dressed people were milling around the convention centre (which is a rather spectacular building) and it was one of the few times that I really felt “the wealth” in Switzerland. That sort of scene is really not my thing, so we just wandered by, but as it was starting to approach lunch time, every place in the area that could seat people to eat was packed, most notably all the kebab shops. This made for quite a sight: people dressed in clothes worth obscene amounts of money in the process of attending one of the most prestigious jewellery fairs in the world sitting in crappy plastic chairs having paid a few bucks for a kebab and trying not to get the juice everywhere; an image not soon to be forgotten.

Before long we arrived on the Mittiere Brücke which gives a good view over the city, as well as the more practical function of allowing one to cross the Rhine. From the bridge, the cathedral was the obvious place to go, as we had a clear line of sight. The area between the two is clearly the nice part of town, with all the old mansions lining the streets and just generally being a pleasant place to walk around. In addition, as it was a Sunday, there was nobody else around so we had the place to ourselves. The cathedral (well, more correctly, the Minster) is situated atop a hill with much greenery around it along with a sharp drop down to the river. The surrounding parks seemed to be filled with locals just relaxing, which is always a nice sight to see as it makes it seem much more “real”. The Minster is really pretty; I found the roof and courtyard to be the most impressive features. After relaxing in the garden overlooking the river for some time, we ventured to the town centre.

On arriving at the Marktplatz, we were greeted by some form of strange concert with many a punk, all of whom looked beautifully out of place next to the old buildings. The most impressive of the buildings is easily the town hall, where one is free to enter and admire the detailed mural which adorns the inner wall. By this point we were starving and had to find lunch so we wandered around and stumbled into Andreasplatz and found a great little café (Café zum Roten Engelas) as well as Basel’s oldest church, which was unfortunately closed.

Having filled ourselves, we continued to explore the town, moving to the botanic gardens via Petersplatz and then onto the Spalentor which was about the time things started to get weird. A few people dressed in military style outfits were just sitting on the grass, while a few others practiced drumming on snares. We were on a mission to find some ice-cream and thus were heading back into the old town, and along the way we saw more military-like people, but these ones were more organised in their drumming. We figured that they would be joining the others, but then more groups started appearing, all heading in random directions and now with piccolo-like instruments as well. It became apparent that there were many, many groups of marching drums/piccolos which in the tight alleys of an old city became excruciatingly loud. After some ice-cream and slowly making our way back into the centre, we were greeted by many old-style carts, selling some random nick-nacks, but mainly beer. It is here that we figured out that this was part of the Carnival - or Fasnacht - celebrations.

It turns out that the celebrations in Basel are among the biggest in Switzerland. What we were witnessing were Cliques marching around town playing piccolos and Basler drums as well as the occasional Gugge (brass band), particularly later in the day. What makes the whole experience a little trying is the incessant playing of the same song/tune. It is just relentless! By the later afternoon, it had spread across the entire city and there was no escaping. Even once we were near the station to return home, the nearby parks were occupied with Cliques. But there was certainly no shortage of ambiance! With the music blasting away, we said our goodbyes to both each other and the town.

Adventures

Blaubeuren

Freiburg

Basel