Little Towns of Germany and France-Shauinsland and Colmar

Week of 14.02.2011

One day this week I ate at a fabulous place called MarktHalle. MarktHalle in Freiburg is an international kitchen which houses small open air stands with Peruvian, Spanish, Italian, French, Thai, Brazilan, Mexican, Greek, Arabic, Chinese, and Indian food. There are many, many options to choose from. Locals will order there lunches and enjoy a glass of wine or beer around the small standing only tables that scatter the middle of MarktHalle. I ordered a salad and crêpe with four cheeses, walnut cream, potatoes, and tomatoes. The crêpe would be one many I had this week!

Wednesday afternoon our International Economics Relations course had a required field trip to the silver-mines of Shauinsland, Germany. Who would have ever thought I would be going to a silver-mine in Germany!?!

We took a short train and bus ride into the city and then walked about 40 minutes to the site of the silver-mine. The town was very small and quaint. Not much is around there, but it was beautiful, even in the nippy weather.

Before we entered the silver-mine, we had to receive a helmet, headlamp, security belt with a power source, and gloves. I did not know what I was getting myself into! We climbed about 23 m below ground using a ladder system (we used about 6 ladders), sloshed through puddles, and crawled through small tunnels.

It was so much fun! Parts of the mine date back to the 14^th century and the progression of the tunnel-buildings were quite interesting. I am still not sure how it pertained to our class, but I enjoyed it!

Friday after my EU seminar and Elementary German class, my friend Diana (who I actually went to pre-school with in Pensacola, FL) and I travelled to Colmar, France. Colmar is a small town of 70,000 residents located in the Alsace region of France. Much of the city was spared from the devastation of WWII and has remained the same. The buildings date back to the 1500’s or earlier; it is almost as if the city is in a time warp.

We used Rick Steeve’s guidebook to help book the hotel, find restaurants, and meander around the city sites. It was such a wonderful weekend! As soon as we dropped off our luggage in the hotel, Diana and I went on a search for a crêpe stand. I was able to use my long-lost French to order a crêpe for myself with strawberry preserves and a crêpe for Diana with apricot preserves. It seemed as if there was a bakery, pastry shop, and chocolate shop on every street!

The city streets are narrow, are pedestrian friendly, and wind throughout the town. It is easy to get lost, but exploring was a great adventure. We found a phenomenal restaurant where we spent 4 hours enjoying the Alsatian specialty flambé (similar to a pizza, but with crème instead of cheese and no tomato sauce), Alsatian pinot noir, grand salads (mine had white asparagus, tomatoes, an egg, and shredded carrots), and a chocolate gateau (cake).

Our hotel was located near “Little Venice” and close to the covered market. We found our breakfast, a chocolate croissant, and dinner, giant pretzel that larger than my face, at the covered market.

There were so many items to choose from- fresh produce, seafood, meats, pastries, flowers, and more. The food here was really wonderful. For lunch I had “to-die-for” crêpes (one for lunch and one for dessert) at a small place recommended by the hotel concierge. I could easily eat my way through France!

The city tour by Rick Steeves was a great way to learn about the history of the city. One of my favorite merchant houses was the maison de têtes or “house of heads.” The small shops along the streets were fun to drop in; I found specialty tea for my sister Sarah that I know she will enjoy. Colmar, France was an idyllic, peaceful town with beauty and charm. I was happy to visit and have such a good time with Diana.

We are planning a day trip to the Black Forest and the German Clock Museum for next Saturday before we leave on Monday for the EU institutions field trip to Brussels, Frankfurt, and Paris. As my mamma would say, I have the travel bug.