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Published: November 27th 2006
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Obergugl
A view of the swiss alps. down below is the ski resort/town of Obergugl. I have now been in Germany for a bit over a week. Two Saturdays ago I took a train from the South of France to Paris, where I caught a flight to Basel Airport, which is just over the border in Switzerland. When you are exiting the baggage claim you have two choices: there is a Customs desk for ‘Germany/France’ which is stationed in front of the ‘Germany/France’ door, and there is the ‘Switzerland’ Customs desk in front of the Swiss Exit. Outside the exits there is a metal fence separating the two pickup areas, which are mirror images of each other. It had the feel of a sort of postmodern Alice in Wonderland, where each door enters you into a different country……
After a one-hour bus ride, I was in Freiburg.
Freiburg is a really neat town with a very strong international feel/presence. It is home to Freiburg University, a prestigious school with lots of foreign students. This coupled with the city’s proximity to both the French and Swiss border gives it this international air. In fact I have found that often I can speak French with many people here when they do not speak English, which has
Heidelberg
a view of the town of Heidelberg from an overlook above the castle been really helpful in getting around town.
Freiburg is a fairly large city with a very laid back feel to it. I like that in Freiburg you can walk almost everywhere in the city. There are lots of people biking and walking, a good tram system, and not much car traffic.
On wednesday we left on a two day trip to Heidelberg with the PVC (Physical Virus Collective) dance company that Tommy is a part of; PVC had performances in both Heidelberg and Svetzingen, a town near Heidelberg. Heidelberg is about two hours north of Freiburg by car, and is about half as large. It is incredibly touristy (an ‘international feel’ of a very different nature); one morning I went for a run around 8 AM and the city was absolutely flooded with Japanese tourists. Bus after bus after bus. I was crossing the river via an old stone pedestrian bridge about two car lanes wide, and I had to walk across because it was too crowded with tourists to run. It was interesting to be there at this time because the city is sort of inbetween tourist seasons, summer season is over and they are now setting up
From the Bridge
Tommy, with Heidelberg Castle and Heidelberg in the background. for the winter holiday tourist season. Mangerscenes are being set, garland hung, twinkly lights and plastic santas. Even the historic old footbridge had scaffolding all over it and was being repainted/cleaned/fixed up for the upcoming season. I felt like I was on some movie set, or some stage in the middle of a set change.
Over the weekend I took a trip to Immenstadt, in the Bavarian region. Immenstadt is the town I stayed in on my first trip through Germany about three months ago when I met Daniel and Chris, the guys who picked me up at a gas station in Salzbourg in their yellow RV.
I took a train from Freiburg to Immenstadt, met up with Daniel there (who hitchhiked 600 to Immenstadt from Wolfsburg, near Berlin), and we continued on through the Alps (another two and a half hours or so) until we arrived in Obergurgl, Austria. He and a friend were taking part in an one-day ski school training to become ski instructors, and I was along for the ride and possibly for the skiing. Daniel’s dad leant me his skis, boots, and ski gear; luckily the boots fit perfectly!
We spent all of
Woods
nice woods. Saturday skiing. I am not a skier, I skied once last winter and before that I had not skied for eight years, so I was really nervous. And once we were on the lift and headed up the mountain, I became more and more nervous. The ski lift took 15 minutes to get to the top! I have only been skiing in the Blue Ridge mountains in Virginia and North Carolina, I have never been out West or elsewhere to ski, and so this was my first time skiing on a real mountain, one where you look around and there are no trees, no signs of life, except for yourself and the other people all bundled up and ready to hurl themselves down the slopes at high speeds. The thing that always amazes me when I go skiing is the little kids, ones who are about seven or eight years old, who are flying down the mountain like they have been practicing for twenty years!! It is humbling to be skiing down a mountain at what I feel like was a pretty good speed, and to then see a team of 6-10 year olds fly by in a cloud of
powder and speed off down the hill.
Here are some pics of Heidelburg, Obergurgl.
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Daniel
non-member comment
nice pics
hi will, just had a look at your blob. you took some nice shots from the mountains in austria. by the way got a car-sharing thing for you on friday to frankfurt. try to call you in a bit. cya daniel