Europe 1987

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan 2018

Europe 1987
 

Today was another fine, clear day.  After doing some much-needed washing, we walked three-quarters of a kilometre to the tram stop to take the tram into the city centre.  On the way, I caught sight of the familiar Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg to my surprise through the window of the tram, further assisting my process of re-orientation to the city.

Having arrived in the city centre, we began by walking up Schlossberg, the hill that overlooks the old part of the city from the east.  After descending, the children really enjoyed spending some time (and energy) at Kinderspielplatz before we embarked on our self-conducted walking tour of the city – shops, houses, open gutters and pedestrian malls.  We posted another roll of film to the UK, Di bought two skirts at a department store, we walked through a lovely park, and spent time in yet another children’s playground with a giant slide that Liesl particularly enjoyed.

After lunch in a takeaway food outlet, we headed to the Münster (cathedral).  Inside, we could only admire the beautiful stained-glass windows and imposing stonework.  With more than a little effort and almost no complaints, we all managed the climb up the narrow old circular stairway of the spire.  We watched the fascinating clock mechanism chime at 3:00pm and admired the stunning views of the city from the observation platform high in the spire.

Descending to ground level once again, we strolled back through the city streets in search of “the right ice cream”, dangled our feet in the cold water of the open gutters (lots of them!), and caught a tram back to the Youth Hostel.  We had dinner at the hostel, after which the children played outside until dark – managing to stay dry the whole time.

Day 39

Freiburg

Thursday 20 August 1987