Arrival in Freiburg

Tuesday March 25

I'm sitting in my cozy hotel room, starting this blog at about 8 p.m. local time, or 20:00 hours as it's called here. I had a delicious dinner of sauerbraten (marinated beef roast), rotkraut (red sweet/sour cabbage), breit nudelin (wide noodles), and washed down with a Ganter pils, brewed here in Freiburg. All consumed at Zum Deutschen Haus in the old section of Freiburg, along cobblestone streets, about a 10 minute walk from the InterCity Hotel. The original building was built in 1386, so talk about your concept of "old" (Dawn, per our conversation about this). The dinner plus beer was euro $18.30, about $25.25 U.S., and considered a moderately priced dinner here, and I tipped euro $3.

Zum Deutschen Haus

I arrived very tired and somewhat disoriented from the overnight plane ride. My seat mate on the Boeing 777 was very fidgety, and the passenger in front of me let loose with a near constant barrage of farts that actually prompted me to move to an empty row of seats by the mid-cabin lavatories in mid-flight. You know the flatulence is bad when the seats next to the lav are an improvement.

The hotel put me in a room right next to the elevators, and I immediately had them switch me to a room at the end of the hall. I made this reservation nearly a  year ago, and requested a quiet room, and so I made them keep their promise, especially since I will be here eight nights!

 

After getting into my new room at the end of the hall on the 6th floor, I hung up all my dress clothes from the wardrobe suitcase (Mario, this is a wonderful suitcase, by the way) and immediately laid down for about a 2.5 hour nap. I then walked along Eisenbahnstrasse east to the old section of town, where I had a coffee at one of the many cafés that line the streets. The coffee here at the cafés is strong; about midway between coffee and espresso, and I like it very much. After dinner on my way back to the hotel, I paused briefly at Freiburg Muenster (Minster), the most predominant cathedral (and probably most famous landmark) in the city, dating to the year 1200. It is a beautiful and impressive structure, with grand spires and flying buttresses that support the main structure.

Well, tomorrow is "media day" at Baselworld, and we can pick up our press kits and badges as early as 8:30 a.m. There is a press conference from 11 a.m. to noon, a lunch from noon to 1:30, a preview of the exhibit halls, and then a cocktail party from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. So it will be a full day.

I hope every one is well.

Bruce