A week in Freiburg, Germany

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061805
My riding partner for the flight was delightful Brigitte. She lives in CLT with her husband. Both moved from Germany awhile ago. They've lived in Charlotte for four years, but return to their house near Ramstein often. Brigitte has worked in environmental sciences, and her husband is an engineer working in coal scubbing technologies. Brigitte is currently starting up a business on German produced furniture based in Charlotte.

Arrived in Frankfurt after a trip of seven hours. It felt shorter than I expected and I got little sleep. Took me too long to figure out to ask the Information booth staff where the neaest Deusche Bank ATM was located. Five hundred euro was the max, so loaded up, I found my way to the DB () station and found the office to validate my SelectPass. Nearly everyone I spoke with spoke near perfect English... I'm so humbled!

Taking Brigitte's advice, my goal was to stay up till dark. I took a side trip to Heidelberg. I had always wanted to go there cause it was a university town. The first thing that has struck me is how much graffiti there is... everywhere. I haven't asked anyoone about this yet, but I intend to. I walked from the Heildelberg Haupbahnhof (maincentral train station) to the TI (tourist Information center) and overheard the attendant say "just follow the trolley tracks". I started out that way and then broke out the pocketpc wgps and MSPocketStreets (Autoroute = Europe editon) and went off on my own.

I guess I hit some of the residential sections cause some of the structures showed more wear-and-tear than I was expecting to see (not sure why I wasn't expecting to see wear-and-tear...). Stepped into a little corner grocery store and fascinated myself for at least an hour and the wares. Much the same and much different. Prices seemed mostly on par (not that I have any real gauge for that), actually many things were less than I expected (not sure why I was expecting things to be priced higher). Anyway, I bought some apple flavored bottled water and hit the road again.

The residential areas were quite pleasant. Flowers all around, and neat little sites around every turn.

I finally crossed the trolley tracks again and followed them to tourist central. Heidelberg, like perhaps most european towns probably offers the bus package tourist a great experience. The "old towns" are just way cool! Even any street corner is maybe enough to provide a unique experience. However, I feel the ability to go wherever, whenever offers potentially much more!

The busses come and the busses go. I spent several hours walking around. I came through the impressive shopping district and then into the center. I didn't walk up to the castle ruins up at the top, but I viewed them from the "central square" and walked along the river. I missed "lunch time". I walked right through it. I was afraid I would, and I did. Hey, jet lag had the better of me!

Fortunately, I found a cool spot, Hörnchen, that I think locals were hanging at and stopped in for beer and hopefully, food. They were finshed serving lunch, but they could serve some boiled sausages and pretzel. Danke! This, I suppose, is simple german pub fare, and das gut! The beers and the jet lag were making me nod off there, so I decided to get moving again, and given my delirious, jet lagged state, I thought I should probably try for (what shall become, for the next week) my home.

Heidelbeg to Freiburg is about 2 hours. I had a major adventure figuring out how to work the bahnhof storage lockers, but I made the Heidelerg departure (although it was very late!). I even made my Mannheim connector, with a little running (40 lbs. on board). Despite my effort otherwise, I napped a bit on the track home and didn't see much of the route. I mostly was conscious during the last 20 minutes before Freiburg - and I saw a suprising amount of solar technology installed on rooftops along the way.

I made my connecter in Freiburg to Freiburg-Littenweiler. The GPSmapping software on the PPC helped me correct a few wrong turns, and I made my way to my home at Möslepark Campground. The staff here is young and understanding. They got me checked-in, orientated and comfortable (fresh croissant arrives each morgen) and they informed me of adjacent restaurant and the annual musicfest we could hear down the road.

Tent pitched, I went to eat and party till I passed out (half a beer ought to do it). Had a great vegetarian, local orgnically grown meal at the restaurant, Busses Waldschänke (www.waldschaenke.be). It was a leaf salad with a yogurt dressing with four dabs of various type of saurkraut like sidecars... and then a cheese potato pancake. Also had a glass of locally produced dry white wine. Delicious!

Went down to the music festival. Good music by young folks. The sound was well done, with attention to articulate vocals... and I couldn't understand word sung! I got there late, and only saw the last act. Locomotion was going to crank up a disco afterwards, but it was dark (11pm), my wheels were falling off, and I need to CRASH!

I'm writing this from an Italian restaurant I passed on my way to the campground after my first day touring Freiburg... but this will be a story for another day...

061905
My mission for the first day was to ride my rental bike (~€20/3 days) to The Freiburg Messe where the Intersolar05 exibition will be held. The camp owner, Claus Busse, provided some provisions and suggestions for the route. He suggested I follow the river and then take one of several roads to the Messe. I found the river.

Actually, what I found was the meaning of a "green city". This place has paved pedestrianbicycle pathways EVERYWHERE! I mean EVERYWHERE. ANd everyone who can, rides a bike. You can ride from Freiburg-Littenweiler (east Freiburg suburb) west to the Rhine River (25km) along a paved path about 1.5 times as wide as a standard Charlotte, NC sidewalk. And it's all downhill! (well mostly... gradually). And if you're tired, you can hop on the train with your bike and ride it back!

I kinda meandered into "Old Town". An occasional car rolls through, but rarely. It was Sunday, and the population's pace was slow and relaxed. I rolled into the cathedral area... OMG! (pun intended). The old town is a sizable cobblestone street area mostly devoted to pedestrian and bike traffic. The cathedral plaza is one grand place to party or hang out... in that ancient traditional way... whatever that is! There's eons of history here, but I don't even know where it begins. There's knights up on the cathedral and building facades, and wild beast gargoyles as the downspout chutes for the cathedral. I don't think I'd want to be spit on by any of them! Lots of tourists here, but most of them appear to be German. I don't know if this city is average or affluent for Germany, but either way, it is nothing short of impressive!

After gawking and snapping a few photos in the cathedral plaza for awhile I decide I needed to continue my trek to the Messe. With the aid of my GPS, a printed map, and my software, I could really see exactly how lost I was at all times. Truly a comfort. Despite these utilitarian technologies, I found the Messe. it's right next to the Flugenplatz (airport) which is right next to Albert Ludwig's University campus. The Messe is a functional structure, typical I'd guess I'd say, of modern German industrial architecture. It appears tech-ish, maybe even borg-ish, to me. Yet, upon closer inspection, I detect purpose to the design. These are likely high performance building in the energy department. They (the germans) deploy venetian blinds where they can have the most effect... on the OUTSIDE of the window! This accounts for some of the industrial appearance of the architecture, and counts significantly to the energy perfomance of the building... surely. The Messe was quitely awaiting preparation. I bike onto the mostly vacant Albert Ludwig University campus...

... where I meander carelessly... find myself having to jump the bike over a one foot canal-gutter, and hear an ominus hissing sound after the back tire finds ground. I'm hosed (by a flat tire)!

Just how hosed begins to settle as I consider my predicament. I'm far away from town, it's Sunday... all stores are closed, I can't speak the language. My fears begin to multiply... I begin to look around for evidence of parched bones in my vicinity... suggesting the fate of others in my similar predicament. No bones. I may live!!!

The rental bike came with a pump, but no tire repair kit. No tubes, spares or kits on sale today... My only hope would be a good samaritan with a patch kit.

On cue, a couple walks out of the abandoned adminstrative hall... I interrupt them:

"Bitte, sprechen zie english?" Yes, of course they do. I explain how the fates have cast me upon their shore and I whined that if Providence didn't provide me a solution, that I'd end up a rotting corpse on their doorstep. They responded: "What?"

Then I told them about my flat tire, and the gentleman of the couple starts trying to dig into the locked pouch under his bike's seat. No key. But he persists and finally rips open the side of the pouch and produces a tire repair kit. (Amazing what folks will due to avoid having rotting corpses on their doorstep ). We examine the intertube, find a rather large leak. He asks if I know how to use the kit and I say, "of course". They disappear for a few minutes and I procede to patch the hole.

Well, hole patched, I begin to pumpaway with the pump on the bike. Pump,pump...pumping... hisssssssss. From the location of the patch. Damn, I suck! I've always fixed every hole I've tried, but these damn european tires, tubes and patch kits...

Samaritan returns and I explain my failure while sulking in defeat. He tells me I didn't let the glue dry long enough and that I need to apply HEAVY pressure and really rub and smooth the edges hard quickly after applying the patch. DOH!... Those damn european tires, tubes and patch kits! He explains that he done the best he can for me, and that while my salvation is in my grasp, that if Providence insists on having me rot on their doorstep, there's little more he'll be able to do to thwart that. I agree with him. I try to offer him some money so they can celebrate my demise or success, but they refuse. Were my horns and tail showing?

I patched the hole again. I pumped again. It hissed again. Upon carefull examination, I found another hole, approximately 1/3 the way around the tube. I patched. I pumped. No hiss!!! I pumped furiously. The pump leaks! DOH! Well, I pump barely enough air to ride to the gas station to fill the tire fully.

The gas station pumps adapt to the Schrader valve, which is the same type of valve we have on our cars and older bikes in the US. The european bike uses a different valve. Damn those european bike tires, tubes and patch kits! No one has an adapter. No stores open on Sunday. I check every gas station I can find... no adapters.

OK, so finally I manage to cross another couple heading out on their Sunday bike ride. These folks were prfessionals... totally geared up for high performance. The gent produces a tiny pump, barely larger than a sizable suringe... pumps furiously, and satisfied, states: "I never leave home without it."

I'm cruising now. I ride over to Seepark (northeast Freiburg), a big municiple park where folks play soccer, volleyball, tennis, swim, sunbathe. It's a nice big park and I decide to soak up a few rays.

Now most the european men wear those little speedo suits like I used to wear when I swam on a swim team in summer youth league. I don't have one of those suits... cause, well..., I don't swim in summer youth leagues anymore (gone are my glory days), and furthermore, that style of suit flatters me less now than it did then.

There was only one place I be might welcome... hangin with the nudes! That's right, a small area of the park sports folks sun bathing in... nothing at all! No slaves to fashion here!

Well, it is RISKY BUSINESS exposing that WHITE flesh for the first time since I was probably a baby. Not particularly difficult when being so totally anonymous though. When I stripped down to nothingness I heard gasps, mutterings and exclamations... but not undertanding German made it effortless to ignore!

I biked along the river back to Littenweiler and stopped in for dinner at the Italian restaurant I passed when I hiked into my campingplatz the day I arrived. I had Spagetti Dela Casa... which was a spagetti with ham, bacon in a tomato cream sauce. I ate every bite, downed two beers, a mineral water and a glass of wine for dessert. I hung out there for three or four hours watching the locals come and go. The Italian owners chatted at length with all the patrons, and knew many by name (I guess they were regulars). They kept very busy, between cooking, serving and chatting. My waitress, Carmen, was the only one there who knew english. Perhaps she is the daughter of one of the owners?

The sky remained clear, a breeze puffed up now and then, the flowers are in bloom and the trees on the hillside glowed in the twilight. Indeed, the hills are alive with the sight of sunset.

I'm writing this Monday, after lunch from Eis Café Venezia in Freiberg Centre, but this is a story for another time...

062105

Yesterday was spent mostly hanging out in the old town. I found an internet café but they didn't have wifi so I used a terminal to send a few emails. I had a coffee and pastry at a café and then stumbled around the town. I saw a cool light fixture and inquired about price and shipping: lamp €94/34ship.

Had lunch at an Italian café and typed up the previous entry there. It was pleasant to me but I think they're having a bit of a heat wave here, and shade is sought and welcome.

I bought some printed cards from a Chzech artist who has made the cathedral area (Munster?) her subject for the last two years. The cards are prints of her work.

I wandered into the TI center to inquire about wifi hotpots so I could upload these notes to my blog. They directed me to a park near the haupbahnhof that had a free network. I hoofed it over to the area, but my wireless card (Dell Truemobile 1180) is too wimpy to work there (or anywhere yet!). So my search continues. I've picked up numerous other networks, but they all require a subscription or password.

Had dinner at a german restaurant in old town, and I ordered the local specialty - pork leg, potato "ball" and kraut. Das Gut!

Next to me were a fatherson (Steve & Martin) pair from South Africa. They spoke perfect english... correcting many of my mispronunciations! Steve's a IT guy working in Basel at the moment. His dad, who likes to sail and race cars, is visiting. They had just arrived for the day after taking in the 24 hour race at LeMons France. Great craic with those guys. I might visit Steve in Basel if I pass through again in my travels later.

I pedalled home and as I neared my campground I saw many many college aged folks converging on what looked like a house. I asked, "Vas isht das?". Someone responded that it was a bar. Oh, that explains it.

Well it turns out that it is the same place I went to my first night, I just hadn't recognized it from the angle I approached. Having worked up powerful thirst from all that pedalling home, I decided I'd quench my thirst their after a quick change from my stinky riding clothes.

There were hundreds of young folk there... every Monday so I'm told. I ordered a cider and was told they had just gotten a new batch but that it wasn't cold yet and that they'd put it on ice. Pretty nasty stuff it was. Medicinal tasting. I'm not sure I wasn't being played for a fool, I ordered a lemon waterbeer mix that the local young-uns seemed to like and wandered with my beverages outside.

At the bar, they have you pay a deposit for the glass, and they give you a redeemable token to encourage you to return it. €1 I think... which is a pretty good incentive to return your glass. I still had the token from a couple nights before, cause I was too tired to redeem it.

I dumped the cider into the bushes and returned from my wanderings about the grounds to the steps up to the bar. Here I was intercepted by either the police or a bouncer - I don't know which. She (yes she!), was firm and demanding, in german. She was younger than me, but like me, older than everyone else around. I said I didn't speak german and she changed to english. She wanted to search my bag and she seemed a bit ticked off about the glasses I was carrying. She asked if I had gotten them inside and I said yes. When she saw my handheld ham radio transciever she immediately stopped her search and said OK.

I took the glasses back to the bar. And decided I'd quenched my thirst enough. I poked my head into the disco room and observed the scene - that young adult mating ritual where the girls are on one side or center stage showing off a few of the latest favorite groove moves, and the guys hanging out elsewhere in the shadows, being "too cool to dance". "A little more beer will probably change this scene soon enough" I thought...

Some things about our human nature are indeed universal... herd mentality for hanging out, and courtship ritual, being two of them.

I'm writing this from a café in the center of town (UC or UniCafe) where my waitress doesn't speak english. I find this totally ironic because more of this menu is in english than any other menu I've seen while here. There's on part of the menu called "Frühstück" and the items are titled as follows:
Berkeley, Oxford, Madrid, Stanford, Yale, Harvard (I ordered this), Cambridge, and of course, the most extensiveexpensive, Freiburg. The menu also sports an extensive list of (english) brewed tea selections. Auchtung!

062105

After the above mentioned café, I hit the sunbathers beach again. It is, of course, summer solstice (or midsummer as they call it, and I felt some obligation to acknowledge the sun for its' role in our history... as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young sung, "we are stardust, we are golden...". Well, I'm not golden (yet), I'm red... particularly on my back where I can't put sunscreen.

After a couple hours I decide pedal my way to the Rhine after I rehydrate, so I stop in the Seepark restaurant shed my little world possessions pack and meet Hannah, the barkeep. She's from Norway and has been here four years and is currently studying at the university. She twists my arm around a stein of Ganter (local pilsner) and I rehydrate. She tells me the trip to the Rhine is about two hours ride, and since the sun doesn't set till ten-ish, there's plenty of time.

Quenched, I hit the road and another patron at the bar rides with me awhile to get me started. We part ways and I start heading, lightheartedly, downhill. It was at this time that I realized that a light heart wasn't the only reason the bike seemed to be pedalling easier than ever. I had left my world possessionsidentity pack back at the bar with Hannah. DOH!!! This could be big trouble for me. With a heavy heart, I reverse course and head back to face my fate. (Hey, this is the kind of thing that epics are made of right? In another twenty years I'll have exagerated this story into a major motion picture release... oh nevermind, its already been done in "The Fall of Troy" and "Jason and the Argonauts"... ok, OK! Dumb and Dumber!)

Hannah chides me for leaving it behind. I argue that it was her fault for feeding me that incendiary german beer. "Tchuess". "Thuess".

Lightheaded, I head downhill again and follow the river out of Freiburg toward the Rhine. The path turns to trail gravel soon enough and I'm happy that I had bought my own bike pump and schrader adapter and filled the tires adequately at a gas station earlier in the morning. I thought I'd be heading west, but it isn't until hours later that I realize I'v headed north.

Outside of Freiburg the direction I travel is quaint villages and farmland. Other directions are bounded by smallish mountain ranges (one of which is a part of the Black Forest. I'm travelling away from it and the ranges are reminiscent of the NC mountains back home. The trail ultimately breaks away from the river that left Freiburg. It is leveraged as an irrigation canal for all the agriculture of the area. The water level falls to a stagnation trickle... No part of it may even make it to the Rhine. The crops look great though. Various things, some corn, but mostly some type of grain (hops?).

I routinely pedal till I'm lost and then fire up the PPC and GPS and determine: "oh. here I am... where's that"? As you zoom out of the tiny map screen important details and landmarks disappear. Autoroute has the same problem as Streets and Trips in that when you zoom way out, instead of marking larger towns, the software displays the names of hamlets never heard of and masks the names of larger towns and cities. Sometimes Microsoft just baffles me. I always wonder how something like that makes it out of quality control. They probably have a "by design" explanation.

I end up in Riegel, some 24km from Freiburg. Its a beautiful village. I find, as I have found everywhere I've been diwn here in the south of Germany, that there are thousands of square meters of solar technology on every type of building from barn, residence, municiple building. The high school in Riegel has a huge photovoltaic array on it... HUGE! Lots of homes have solar thermal (hot water) panels on them and some have photovoltaic arrays. There are significant gov't incentives I think, but it's obvious that the consciousness of the population is green oriented. Those who can, spend on green. And its hard to get a handle on whowhatwhere affluence resides. The build quality of construction is consistent across all structures and high. I don't think the solar technology is only accessible to the wealthy.

Riegel has archeological ruins, Norse I think. It also has significant Jewish heritage, but I don't know exacty what. It also has a huge old building right on the Rhine that is now a brewery (maybe always was). I took a picture of it.

I was pooped and was interested in taking the train back. So I ride around town thinking it would be easy to find the bahnhof. Well this one was tucked away pretty well. I finally found it via the gps, but it wasn’t labeled... the Eagles "Hotel California" came to mind.

There was a young lady at the ticket machine and I asked for her help. My german was useless, but between her english and my gestures, she managed to instruct me on how to buy a ticket from the machine for me and my bike back to Freiburg. This is a small village with a loading platform and a ticket machine... no other humans around.

She explained that I could hop on right away, and that it would go the wrong way for a couple of stops and then reverse, or I could wait twenty minutes till it came back again. I boarded with the first option. Sure enough, I saw some of the same countryside twice, at it was twice as lovely.

I 've had many fish-out-of-water experiences so far. You know like getting on to basketball court with a bunch of hardened urban amateurs, and they see right away that "you ain't got no game!". Well fashionwise I think I have the germans fooled. They're so diverse now themselves that it isn't hard. The trick is NO WHITE SOCKS! Non-advertizing shirts is good too. Of course, when I open my mouth, I'm sold. But getting on that train with my bike was definitely amateur hour. Of course the germans have this all figured out, and once you see them do you think, "sure, it should be that easy and integrated". BBut being a noob, I looked like one... probably an American cause all Europeans would know this drill.

I had to make one transfer to make it back to Freiburg, but I didn’t know that. If it hadn't been for one german oldster on bike himself, I'm not sure where I be writig this from. He didn't know a word of english, yet he communicated to me that I need to transfer with him. Furthermore, since I was concerned that my ticket wouldn't work for the transfer, he studied it awhile and communicated that he didn't know if the ticket would be good, but that I didn’t have to worry about cause there wouldn't be anyone checking tickets on this route anyway. Relieved, I arrived back in Freiburg with what little sanity I left with. Danke! The ride from Riegel to Freiburg for two (two people or one personone bike) cost €4.60 and took maybe 40 minutes.

I pedaled back to Littenweiler (I think I know the way now) and turned in my bike (I had a three day rental)... and then came to the realization that the Expo doesn't start till Thursday and that it was only Tuesday (I thought it was Wednesday for some reason). BONUS!!! A whole extra day to piddle around! Top on the agenda would be figuring out the public transport route to and from the Messe were the Expo will be. I also decided to stroll back down to town and check out the local scene.

I found Augustiners, and the game was on! Argentina vs Germany. The inside was packed and the testosterone dominated but was subdued - maybe because of the score. There were a couple of women inside, but most were hangin out outside in the (much cooler) Biergarten. I had a bier during the game which ended in a 2-2 tie.

I decided I wanted a dessert of some sort and retired to the garden. No studel? Darn. Ice cream... no, I felt more like a pastry... Tiramasu? OK I settled for that. Wow!!! Great choice! It knocked my socks off. I perused the menu as I sat there, and I'm definitely coming back here to eat dinner. looks real good. Good atmosphere too.

I'm writing this from a happening biergarten at the top of Freiburg where a trio, the first music in a drinking place I heard, has just marched by (I saw the group working the streets below a couple hours ago). I think they were playing "My Blue Heaven" - guitar, accordion and fiddle - .... another oddity... no one whistles here (except me... and I feel self-conscious breaking the silence)... although some college aged folks almost broke into song, and may yet... they were trying to get "Happy Birthday" out... there's also an obvious avoidance of eye contact when walking, biking, travelling past others... but that's a story for another day...

062205

The goal for the day was to check out the route to the Messe so I wouldn't waste time lost Thursday when it opened. I also want to find an international calling card. They're certainly not "everywhere". The wifi connection will have to wait till I checkout the Messe since it has t-mobile coverage.

I really think the world of Feiburg's transportation system except for two things: 1) no tram goes to the airport; 2) no tram goes to the messe! I didn't know this till a tried it. I studied the tram maps and estimated that a certain connection would at least get me close. No dice. I ended up rather far away from the messe and had to hike a circuitous route to finally get there. Once there, assembly of the show was well underway, but not much to see. So I decided to find the bus back to a tram location.

Early in the morning back at the campground I purchased a "all modes 24 hour Freiburg pass" for €4.60. It gets me access to all buses and trams in the greater Freiburg area. I marched around the messe area for awhile before I finally identified a bus stop. They marked by a sign with a large "H" on it. After studying the route listings for awhile I found a route that I thought would get me back to the tram and hopped aboard. The route actually made a stop on the backside of the Messe, and a two people got onboard and asked for help with their pass. I offered that they might need to validate it in the timestamp machine, but their passes wouldn't fit. They finally shrugged and figured they wouldn't be able to figure it out, so they sat down.

A man appeared on the scene to straighten them out. He was the ticket checker. He requested everyone produce their tickets or passes for a check. Mine passed inspection, but the other two didn't fair as well. They didn't speak german and the ticket checker didn't speak much that they could understand, so finally, in mutual frustration, he marched them up to the front of the bus and had them buy a pass from the bus driver. All relieved, we rolled on. The bus got back down near the main travel hub but I didn't get off on at the StadtTheatre where I should have. I went one stop farther. Well at least I know now where my stop is.

Mission accomplished, I head back out to sunbathe for probably my last time while here. I hop off the tram and jump in to the corner store to buy a picnic to eat at the beach. After inquiring to the deli tendant about good picnic cheese and meat, he approves my choices and sets me up. I have some smoked gouda with ham bits, picnic salami an apple and some applewater. I grab a couple of rolls from the bakery at the front of the store, and I'm all set.

I'd never gone swimming here, although many do, cause of my ball-and-chain that I'm paranoid about losing (wow, that could be the kernel to a modern day epic). This day, I feel confident enough to dive in. Ahhh, the water's cold, but it feels great. I sit and bake for several hours and finally, having only one swig of hot applewater left, I pack it in. On the way out, I stop at the biergarten and have a lemony beer. Then I head for the tram.

My Norwegian bartender aquaintance, Hanna, walks up to hop the same tram home. I explain my errors in testing my route and she confirms the specifics. She also warns me that there ar two #11 busses, and that only one goes to the Messe. She reminds me of how to get to the biergarten at the top of the world in Freiburg, and that's where I go. Hanna continued home to a relaxing bbq.

This is definitely a "must see" in Freiburg. The beers are a little pricey €3.10, but the view is absolutely fantastic. It is a bit of a clime to up here, but there is a lift for part of the way. I hiked up. Despite the climb, this place fills right up. As I stated earlier, even a guitar, accordian and fiddle make the trip. I can't hear them as they are drowned out by the chatter of lively talk. People will tell you that the Irish like to talk, but I must challenge that no one can talk like the germans.

I'm tempted to eat what some neighbors are eating, but I reason I've eaten enough for now and decide, as the sun sets over Freiburg, to maybe catch a dessert on the way home.

The trams don't run as often in the later evening as they do in the morning and afternoon rush hour times. I finally find a launchhing pad for my tram and await its arrival. Too late in the trip I decide to track the route on the gps to see if there is a closer station to where I'll grab it in the morning. I get off at the last stop, which is at least two stops too far.

I hike a different route home than I have ever taken, and because of where it takes me, I head for the Italian restaurant where I ate previously. I 'm still looking for Strudel, but they only have ice crème things, so I take a vanillachocalate concoction that hits the spot nicely. Ah, home to bed, probably the earliest since I've arrived. Big day tomorrow.

I'm writing this from Feierling Biergarten... another popular spot of the locals. Tonight I've eaten some good german pub grub and got a tip on where I soon may be able to get a pattern to sew my own trousers... but that's a story for another day...

062305

First day of the Messe and I didn't mess around (pun ;-0). I had a reservation for an English lanquage tour of Freiburg solar site in the afternoon that I had to pay for first thing. In corresponding with the tour folks prior to leaving the US, they asked that I wire them €27. In checking with Bank of America, it would cost me $45 in fees to send the wire transfer. I wrote the firm in germany and we agreed that I'd pay in full first thing Thursday morning, or risk losing seat.

I had also pre-registered for the three day expo but when I got to the entrance desk, I tried to follow the instructions given to me by the tour folks, and ended up with a cashier who could understand my english or the email copies I provided. In the end, I bought tickets for three days (although one day was to be included in the tour price) and gave up, since the line behind me was getting long and we're talking about a total of €15.

Inside, I paid for the tour, explained the snafu, and hit the expo. The expo was larger and well attended. I would spend one and one-half days inside here, and that was barely enough to coverall. I was very surprised about how many solar cell (photovoltaic) manufacturers there are. I was aware of the doxen or so big names like, Sharp, Kyocera, Evergreen, BP, Shell, but ini Germany alone there are dozens of others. China is, of course, emerging onto the scene in a BIG way. Given what this means for most manufactoring, we can guess how the story might end.

Since I'm travelling light, I denied all product literature, but took business cards from those I was interested in. This covers a wide range of stuff, but I was mostly interested in solar thermal storageheat exchange systems (hot water), since this is the biggest bang-for-the-buck solar technology going. By the time you add in some of the nice system integration the europeans use, i'm sure the costs rise, btu they have truly advanced the art toward perfection... way ahead of the US products I've scene.

I had discussions with several of the manufacturers whose products I liked best. Their problem in approaching the American market is two-fold: 1) There isn't an "industry" here to support the distribution of their products. Without qualified local service, their product's reputation is at risk if their otherwise excellent products aren't supported properly; 2) the US is HUGE compared to their current market... to make the commitment to supply a US market, they would undertake enormous risk. The market isn't that big currently, but if it were to takeoff, they could have major growing pains to meet demand. It's a tough situation to be in. They have great products, and they would love to have our business, but most of them find it untenable to commit in the face of too many unknowns... kind of a lose-lose situation. Some expressed interest in the possibility of importing. I plan to followup with them when I return.

On of the most interesting products to me was a paraffin based heat exchanger and storage vessel. I must learn more about this technology. They're interested in licensingimporting partners.

They question of plumbing fitting compatibility remains unanswered. Several manufacturers stated that their pipe sizes were in standard "sub-inch" dimensions, thus should be an easy match. No one knew, definitely, on way or the (... couldn't find a plumber anywhere!).

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Photos

Typical German fridge
Typical German fridge