Germany 14 - Freiburg/Fish and Chips from the NordSee/a church entrance/a tram trip but only paid one way and a brilliant motorhome stop

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Where in the world is Gabby the motorhome? She is in a city. You know us well by now . We don't really like busy cities and normally we would avoid them like the plague . That is unless something is worth seeing. We had started the morning in a rather cold and dismal Lake Constanz, done our shopping, emptied Gabbys toilet and filled her with water. We had restocked the cupboards thanks to Lidl and plenty of fresh bread. The journey to Freiburg was not the most pleasant. The roads were exceedingly busy, It felt as if all of Germany were on the road. As always we found many roadworks. Germany is still spending on their roads. Some are being completely dug up and many have lanes coned off. It took us rather a long time to get to Freiburg. The weather was still foul. The Germans driving at fantastic speeds worthy of an F1 race.

Our plan to find the stellplatz which is handy for visiting the city. It was relatively easy to find in a leafy suburb near to the university. We parked first on the opposite side of the road . Some campers had parked along the roadside . Some in the car park. I went in search of a way to pay . There were meters but none showed any overnight rate. The road was flooded with the rain and the place looked a little dejected . They say when you go motorhoming and park up in a car park or overnight stop to trust your gut instincts. If it feels right stay . If it feels unsafe then get the hell out of there and find somewhere else . We just did not fancy this car park and then realised that the proper camperstop was across the road . Sometimes you cannot see what is clearly in front of you. The proper site was quite large and pleasant . We picked a plot alongside the hedge at the bottom end of the rather large site. There was electricity available but not for all the plots. The one we picked had none but it did not matter as we were well topped up from our drive and last nights stay where we had power. Batteries well and truly up to speed.

I went in search of the site manager . She found me. She shouted me to come into her hut where she took 8 euros from me, gave me a receipt and a map of the city. She explained without me asking how to get into the city. "A 2 km walk - just follow the tram line" she said ". Or catch the tram. Numbers 1, 2 and 3 go from down the road" "She marked the road to the tram out on the map and then marked out the four stops into Freiburg. She then told me to pay on the tram . We would find a ticket machine in the tram and the cost 2 euros 40 per person for one journey. Simple really. She was right .

It took us ten minutes to walk to the tram stop across the leafy park. It took a few minutes to work out which way we wanted to go and then the tram turned up. A number 1 which was very clean, extremely efficient and it turned out easy to purchase the tickets. By the time I got two tickets we had gone through two stops . It took about five minutes to get into the main centre of Freiburg. Freiburg im Breisgau to give it its full title is known as the Jewel in the Black Forest . Sometimes you end up somewhere you had no intention of heading to and it delivers . Stepping off the tram we thought wow this is it . What a lovely place Freiburg is.

Our first stop is either a tourist information for a walking map of a city or for a coffee . Today as it was later in the day we headed for the Tourist Information office. Once the map was purchased we could be on our way to explore this wonderful walkable city. We headed down a number of back streets to the Minster which struck us as being the centrepiece of a wonderful city . 13th century Romanesque it was our kind of church. It took 300 years to built and the tower which is 116 metres tall is an amazing site. As we stood in front of the door we were mesmerised with the age of it all - constructed in 1200 with 418 carved stone figures. It was one of the finest carving on a doorway I have seen for some while . I stood looking at it and marvelling at the workmanship and the dedication of the carvers. The Minster stands in the middle of the citys main pedestrianised cobbled squares . This was full of life. Chestnut sellers selling warmed chestnuts by the bag. The smells were lovely and permeated everywhere. The minster was rather lucky having escaped the bombing of the Second World War when the rest of the square was flattened. The nearby Wentzingerhaus also luckily escaped damage. Inside it was very large and airy with columns reaching up into the darkness. It was dark and some corners black. The windows shone out though. The stained glass exceptional.

We came out into the rain , a light drizzle and walked up to the Rathausplatz which is described as Freiburgs prettiest square. It was indeed lovely with not one but apparently two town halls . An Old Town Hall and New Town hall. The old one was Renaissance in style and painted a bright ox blood red. This was a building constructed all and a New Town Hall. The Altes Rathaus or Old Town Hall, built tin the Renaissance style and bright oxblood-red was constructed in the 16th century. ARound every corner was an interesting house or an interesting building with some character.

The city has the usual German gateways still standing. There are two in the city and we found both. The first the Martinstor (Martins Gate) was the older of the two gates. STanding in front of it we were awed at his size and appearance . According to research it appears the wooden beams for the gate date back to 1202. It has been a prison at one point in its history. I wish we had kept more of our old town gates and walls but industrialisation , the growth of towns and cities and the 1960's obliterated much of our history. So it is so nice to get to Germany and other countries and see so much preserved.

The second gate is called Schwabentor Gate and we thought that in the Middle Ages it was an adventure to travel beyond the city and leave the safety of its walls. The gate the safety net that kept the strange roads outside the city and the forests at bay. Robbers kept out and inhabitants kept safe. Everyone from merchant to traveller needed to enter the city through this gate. Of course it is surrounded by legend . What German city or gate wouldnt have a legend? It was said that a Swabian merchant once travelled these roads and brought with him barrels of money with which to buy the city having fallen in love with uy the city having fallen in love with it. We could understand how he fell in love with it. A city full of richly decorated buildings and quite elegant. The citizens laughed at him and with a bit of a fanfare he opened the barrels only to realise his wife had discovered his plan and she had replaced the money with sands and stones. Since the 17th century the salt merchant and his wagon have adorned the inside of the town gate. century, the salt merchant and his wagon have adorned the inside of the town gate.

Having done the sights of the city it was time for something to eat. We felt like something a little different . Fish and chips. Not what you would expect in a German town. We found the chain - Nordsee which was full of children and adults enjoying that most English of dishes Fish and Chips. It was not though quite what we would get at home. The cod was coated in batter but not quite like chip shop batter and the cod was in pieces rather than whole. The chips fresh cut but covered with a tartare sauce. We sat eating them on a table in a corner . A little bit of back home. A little bit of what we fancied.

The trip back was quick and easy but this time the machine on the tram was broken. We walked up the tram and waited to use the second one. Two people in front of us , one took a while to use the machine. It spewed out the ticket then a Spanish lady tried to use it . The first time it refused to accept her card. She tried again . We were nearly home and she still could not get a ticket out. It seemed it hated non German cards. By the time she gave up it was time to get off the tram and we had not paid . A free illegal ride home.

We spent a quiet night unexpected in such a busy city. If you had asked me before we left home would I have found myself in Germany I would have laughed and said no chance. However , things changed and we just loved this German city and were looking forward to more of the same.

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