Freiburg in July

July began with a heat wave, causing us all to flock to AC across the city. Trams broke down and we all took to sleeping with our windows open. Using our RegioFahrkarte – our travel card that allows us to travel on regional trains around Freiburg for free – we traveled to Titisee, a vacation town with a lake. On the hottest days it was nice to relax by the lake!
We celebrated the Fourth of July with a hike up to Schauinsland and lunch at die Halde Restaurant. We reached the peak of Schauinsland on a gondola that had views of the Schwarzwald. Once at the top of the mountain, we walked to the die Halde Restaurant and Hotel along country roads with magnificent views of the countryside and even some cows. Die Halde is a restaurant that features typical Baden food, but with a modern twist, as Professor von Muench told us. The best part for most of us was the Eiskaffee dessert – coffee with ice cream and cream. It was the perfect dessert on a day that reached 100 degrees. Back in Vauban, the Sommerfest was taking place, an event that had been planned since the beginning of the semester and featured music, pools and lots of typical German food. The whole of Vauban participated in the festival. It was odd for most of us to be away from our families and out of the U.S. on the Fourth of July, but we had a great time celebrating in Freiburg.
The Freiburg Weinfest (wine festival) also took place in the first week of July. The Münsterplatz was filled with tourists and vendors offering various types of wine from throughout the region. Tourists come from all over Germany to taste wine at the Weinfest. We sampled wine as a group at the Alte Wache Haus der badischen Wein, an old wine establishment in Freiburg. It was interesting to hear about the history of wine in our region!
We have just a few weeks left in Freiburg and everyone is busy with work. Most people have a Hausarbeit, or final research paper, or a Klausur, which is a final exam. It’s crazy to believe that we’ve been in Freiburg for three months and that we’ve been together for four months. Our last few days in Freiburg are bittersweet: everyone is excited to see their families, but certainly sad to leave Freiburg.