October 27, 2010

Freiburg - Riding the Rails

You know how some days everything goes wrong - that's how my day started off.  My plan was to go to Baden-Baden, famous for its spas and located in the Black Forest.

The 8:39AM train to the Main Freiburg Station was cancelled at 8:38AM which meant a race to the tram station arriving at the main station with about 1 minute to spare before the 9:03AM train to Offenburg (I would change trains here to Baden-Baden) was scheduled to depart.  I jumped onto the train, the doors, closed and the next thing I know, I'm in Basel - the exact opposite direction of where I wanted to be!  Obviously a change of platforms was made, but I had no way of knowing that in the time I had.  Luckily, I was able to change trains at Basel SBB and finally arrived in Baden-Baden about 1:30PM - only 2+ hrs late.  By the time, I found my way to the City Center, I had calmed down and was able to enjoy this delightful city.

The weather was fantastic - blue skies and a cool breeze.

Outside the Stiftskirche - The Catholic Church of St. Peter & Paul mentioned as early as 1245 as being the parish church.  I couldn't get inside the church today - a movie about the life of Carl Benz was being filmed near the front of the church.




Walk leading to the Rosenneuheitengarten/Rose Society Garden.

part of the Rose Garden

Evangelical Stadtkirche (Neo-Gothic) built between 1855-64

Theatre built between 1860-62 by Couteau and Lang in the style of the Paris Opera in late Baroque style

street scene near Augustaplatz

Festspielhaus - opened on April 18, 1998.  It has a seating capacity of 2500 and is one of the largest opera and concert halls in Europe.

My friend, Tanya, arrives tomorrow.  I hope to take her to Baden-Baden.  I'd like to see more of the city.

1 comment:

Gayle said...

Oh dear - we have all jumped on the wrong trains in the USA - taking subways in new cities where you have only the final destination stop IN ENGLISH !! on the front of the train to indicate if you are headed in the right direction.
A little scary when you are in a foreign county - but hope you had a nice train ride... Now return to the spas for some relaxation with Tanya!