Freiberg, Saxony, Germany

We made it to Freiberg after a long but successful travel day. We probably broke a record for number of transport vehicles in a day. In Basel, Switzerland, start on a city tram to get a bus to the Basel Airport in France to fly to Dresden, Germany (via Munich). From the Dresden airport, take bus to another train station, to get to the main Dresden train station. Then train to Freiberg then a bus to near our hotel. Total 8.

We flew on two of these Canadair regional jets; each flight was only an hour but very noisy.
Airport (in France) near Basel, (in Switzerland)
Sculpture in same airport

We found late dinner near our hotel in Freiburg, and the next morning, Brian was greeted by colleagues also here for the meeting! Fun to be recognized so far from home.

Symbol of Saxony, showing the importance of mining and industry

Freiberg, founded in 1168, is in former East Germany. The old section is small, nearly circular, as one might expect from a Medieval Town that had been surrounded by a wall and a moat. The narrow, curving, cobblestone streets seem to be designed to mess up one’s sense of direction, and the buildings are tall. Getting lost or at least disoriented is a real possibility.

Freiberg, circa 1200 AD

Our hotel windows look out onto part of the old wall, built around 1200 AD. Only parts of the wall are still standing, as well as parts of the smaller wall on the other side of the moat that formerly protected the town. Now the moat area is a greenway that almost completely surrounds the town. Lovely walk or morning run for everyone.

Part of the outer wall
Church and museum adjacent to our hotel are inside the castle walls. On Thursday evening we attended an organ recital at the church.
Circular tower at the gate through the wall, on the other side of town from our hotel

Interestingly, the town got rich because of silver mines in the nearby mountains. Unfortunately, it also got polluted for the same reason, in part because of loose environmental restrictions in the former East Germany.

Castle in the center of Freiburg, originally built to house all riches from silver mining around 1200. Destroyed a couple times, most recently rebuilt in 2008. The shape of the curved arches in the roof are original.

After Germany reunited in 1990, years of cleanup began. Today, the town is green and beautiful, with lots of kids play areas in the surrounding green belt.

Flowery fountain near the old moat and a playground
Sculpture in a playground
Gate near church
Steeple of one of the churches
Monument, just outside the city wall
Monument to the founder of the town

On the last official day of the conference, Clare decided to take a camera on her daily moat walk, to show how the new buildings incorporate the old castle walls.

New white building on top of old castle wall
Different new white building using old castle wall as a siding and base
Tor and tower, showing new buildings inside the wall
Most interestingly, not on the tourist map, is the city hospital that uses the old castle walls. A huge parking garage is under the hospital, adjacent to the old walls.
The church where we attended an organ recital does not have stained glass windows, but the organ is magnificent and there is a depiction of the last supper above the altar.
Brian pointed his camera at the ceiling to record part of a piece by J.S. Bach.

Augusta Raurica, near Basel, Switzerland

Large Roman amphitheater, partially renovated.

A short train ride from Basel leads to ruins of a Roman town that has been made into a fun park and museum. When we visited on a Friday, people were getting ready for the 25th annual Roman Festival, which would happen that weekend. The fee was waived because of all the people setting up tents for the festival.

Clare as Caesar!
Tents with food and games for the festival.

The festival seems similar to the Renaissance Festival in Colorado and the Shakespeare Festival in California, except for the time being portrayed. Everyone in costume talking in feigned accents. Seems like great fun, but we would be on our way the next day.

Stone relics recovered from the ancient ruins.

The forum, part of the theatre and the well

An astonishingly large amount of Roman silver was excavated recently near the old town and is now on display in the museum at the site.

Bishop’s residence, recently rediscovered
Cover of one of the tombs in the crypt in the bishop’s residence
An immature stork, reminding us of the stories in Strasbourg
Roman wall, now surrounding a soccer field. Great reuse of space.
These pictures are in the town of Kaiseraugst, which is on the Rhine and was part of the Augusta Raurica settlement.
Replica of Roman house
Entrance to well below the bathhouse
Roman baths

Basel, Switzerland

A large, busy city at the intersection of three countries, France, Germany and Switzerland. We walked from the cruise ship to our hotel.

Our cruise ship, floating hotel
Our hotel in Basel
Ferry across the Rhine
This is one of many bridges over the Rhine, but look carefully. Every day, all day, there are many people floating down the river. Enlarge the image and look at the right-hand side of the river beyond the red buoys. Very refreshing when the weather is hot; the current takes folks of all ages (usually with a floatation device) a mile or so downriver in a matter of minutes.

Did we mention that it was hot? Our hotel and most of the trams were air-conditioned. We were grateful for the tram system. The trams came often and were well laid out. Hotel guests receive a pass for all the buses, trams and trains within Basel and surrounding areas.

Water features around the city
This beautiful building, city hall, is a short walk from our hotel. A daily marketplace is in the front courtyard.
Statues in City Hall
Probably the city founder
Fancy doorway in City Hall
City hall
Small tower on bridge over Rhine has fancy tiles like the cathedral.
Close-up of left side of City Hall
Basel Minster

We visited the cathedral and its dozens of crypts of famous bishops and other leaders over the past hundreds of years. That part felt a bit creepy, underground and dark, until we likened it to visiting an extremely old cemetery.

The cathedral roof has a similar style of tile.
Stained glass windows, pipe organ and alter in cathedral
Each chair back has a different design
Bottoms of fold-up seats, also different designs
Bottom design only visible when seat is up
Cathedral from across the Rhine and from closer showing the beautiful tiled roof.

Rhine River Cruise: Hiking in the Black Forest, Germany

We tried to ensure that the cruise we chose included this excursion as not all cruises stop near here. The Black Forest seems such a mysterious place, filled with Grimm’s Fairy Tales. The ancient peoples who first settled on the lowlands did not venture into the forest.

The hike is up Ravenna Gorge near Freiburg. Six kinds of trees live in this dense forest, and signs help visitors identify the varieties. We were thankful for the shade as the weather had been unusually warm.

About oak and walnut trees
About spruce and larch trees

The first thing we saw was this high railroad viaduct rebuilt after WWII, quite extraordinary.

The walk was only 1.25 miles, but we gained over 400 feet, so a little bit steep. The trail in places was quite narrow, with handrails on the many bridges and stairways.

Lots of beautiful waterfalls to admire, but strangely no mosquitoes and very few other bugs.

At that end of the hike was a cute little village selling glass ornaments, cuckoo clocks, beer and Black Forest Cake!

Upon leaving the dock adjacent to the town of Breisach, the ship immediately traversed one of the many small locks on the upper Rhine River. Note the rope securing the ship to the side of the lock and the large amount of water leaking though the closed lock doors. We were told that the delays in traversing these locks was due to ongoing maintenance.