Romantic Rivers Ride 2012: Day 8 - 25 September 2012

We went to bed with a good feeling knowing that we did not have to rush away this morning. After 7 days on the road, we enjoyed our first of several Rest Days. We slept in, at least Julie did. I still wake ‘with the chooks’, so I seized the moment to commandeer the computer desk in the main foyer. There is no Wi-Fi in this classy establishment. There are two computers, plus two cables if you have your own computer. However since our arrival yesterday, the computers have been fully occupied until late into the night. Being up early, I had it all to myself, including the strong smell of incense which the guy at the reception desk was burning, to create ‘atmosphere’ I assumed.

I completed the blog for yesterday and posted it, then made the girl in my life her coffee (we brought about 200 sachets of ‘café late’ and ‘cappuccino’ with us). They have served us well. Julie had a very long sleep, and we lingered over breakfast, this time adding boiled eggs and camembert cheese on toast to our regular porridge with sultanas. We feasted well in the backpacker kitchen.

This is an excellent place. Most people are young, but we have just fitted in. There are often several working in the kitchen at the same time. The Hostel is close to the ‘old city’ and in fact is probably actually part of it. We got chatting to a fellow from Sydney who has sold up everything and is just touring the world with no end in mind.

We packed our backpack and set out for the day. We were nervous about the whole train thing, so made for the station first off. On the way we marveled again at the historic beauty of this small city of Freiburg, a population of some 220,000 people. The sights are stunning.

The station is large and we didn’t want any mistakes tomorrow so we went there to check everything out. After getting good advice in good English regarding trains, bikes and tickets, we discovered we were actually speaking with the staff at the bus station which is next door to the railway. There was smiles all round as we discovered our mistake, but wish they could have told us first up until waiting until we wanted to pay for tickets.

So we walked to the next massive building, much like central in Sydney, and this time the guy had no English at all. However, amazingly we were able to negotiate with him and ended up with two tickets for us, and two for the bikes, and the timetable to Offenburg (north east of Freiburg and from where we rode from several days ago near Kehl!) to change in 6 minutes (O boy!) our loaded bikes to the train destined for Donaueschingan, west of Freiburg and high in the Black Forest.

Coming away from the station, we had to smile at the massive bike parking station. If you think it is hard trying to find your car in a modern shopping centre, just imagine trying to find your bike after a long day at work. See if you can find me (Kelvin) in the photo, a German equivalent to 'Where's Wally?"

We then toured the beautiful centre of this ancient city. We walked past a cake shop and saw the very tempting cakes and biscuits in the window. We loved the sight of the ‘Nussknacker’, so added it to our lunch menu, which we ate in the central marketplatz. We love the baguettes, so lunch always includes one of these, plus fruit. Today we shared it with the pigeons.

We spent ages dawdling through the daily farmers market which fills the Munsterplatz (the cobbled area surrounding the Munster). The flowers were beautiful, and the vegetables like we’ve never seen. We are always intrigued by the array of German sausages, but we haven’t tried any yet. There were numerous stalls today doing a roaring trade in ‘hot dogs’ with genuine German sausages.

Of course, Julie loved the German Christmas tree decorations.What a pity we couldn't fit them in the bike panniers!

The Munster is simply gargantuan. Outside, many might say it is ugly, but inside it is nothing short of an architectural masterpiece. If you think it took too long to build the Opera House, what would you say to 300 years, because that is how long the Munster took from start to finish as it is today. Work started on it in 1200AD. These buildings were simply not churches. They are buildings that capture man’s attempt to express the grandeur of God. It is inconceivable these days to imagine how men could be so skilled at crafting the detail of images, apostolic figures and creatures that have symbolic meaning. The glass work from the inside is breathtaking. It now contains a massive pipe organ, which was being played while we were there. We sat in silence with just the sound of the music filling the massive space of this incredible cathedral.

It poured with rain while we were in the Munster. It was late afternoon, so after walking the oldest parts of the old city, we decided to call it a day. We have been so blessed by the beauty of Freiburg. We have also been very much ‘at home’ at the Black Forest Backpacker Hostel. We love the place and will be sad to leave tomorrow morning. Our train departs at 10am, so we will pack the bikes and be ready to roll to the station just after 9am.

Sitting in the Munster today, with our eyes mesmerized by the grandeur of the architecture of this 800 year old expression of man to the glory and majesty of God, and our ears filled with the wonderful music written to magnify our worship to Him, my mind reflected on the simple verse in Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God”. The Munster is one of man’s many attempts to symbolize God’s greatness, and as huge as it is, it is still only small by comparison. It is enough to know that God is greater than anything man can build, create or even imagine.

It is with this thought that we will rest tonight, and face the new challenges of tomorrow. Before we leave Freiburg, just delight in the beauty of this very historic place....