Settled in Freiburg....for two days

Arrived yesterday in Freiburg and picked up the rental car........a black BMW 118i, not too bad for one person to cruise around Germany!  When I picked up the car, I was surprised that it had a GPS system built in, since I had not ordered this with the vehicle.  I brought my own trusty Garmin that has the European maps, as well as the U.S.  When I turned on the car, the GPS began speaking to me in German, which was of no value, so one of the attendants at Sixt Rental Car, changed the system over to English, the temperature readings to Fahrenheit, etc., etc. and I was on my way.  I set both GPS systems to my destination, Rebstock-Landgasthof, which is about 7 miles outside of Freiburg.  I will be spending two nights here and exploring the surrounding area, which includes the Alsace wine area of France.  After checking in at the gasthof, I drove around the area, exploring the small towns, etc.  Eventually I headed over for dinner to a small winery that Gail and I had visited in 2007.  It was a very quaint place and I remembered that they also had a small restaurant that served dinner.  I arrived about 5:30 PM and the place was rather crowded.  I found a single seat and had a lovely smoked pork and fresh potato salad dinner with a .25 liter carafe of their special red wine..........an excellent Pinot Noir. There was only person here that spoke English, and it was a young woman who was one of the owners.  I remember her from our stop here in 2007, but she did not recall our visit, obviously.  It was quite interesting for me, as I sat here in this small "tavern" by myself and everyone around me was chatting away in German.  I was in no way intimidated by all of this.....actually I enjoyed it and found the whole scene quite refreshing.  This is one aspect of international travel that I always find enjoyable......being totally immersed into the culture of the country I am visiting.

After dinner, I walked around the small town of Gottenheim, where the winery is located.  For about an hour I just walked around looking at all the half-timbered homes, small shops and visited the rail station.  These small towns are what I always enjoy when traveling in Europe. When Gail and I were traveling in Europe four years ago, we always set the GPS for "local roads" and made sure we stayed off the highways.  After driving around the area again and even heading into downtown Freiburg for a bit, I retired back to the "gasthof" by about 9 PM, quite tired from a long day of travel.

Today, I just finished a typical European breakfast, which was included in the price of the room.......an assortment of cereals, cheeses, meats, eggs, breads, and coffee.

Now I am off to France to explore the Alsace Wine Route.  I will cross the Rhine River as I head over to France and go north toward the city of Colmar, France.  Should be an exciting day.

I hope to post more photos soon, but uploading and posting pictures is rather time consuming.  I would rather spend my precious time in Europe exploring rather than sitting at the computer.