October 31, 2010

Zurich - Time for a Change!

Here we are waiting for a taxi to take us from the Littenweiler Station to the main Freiburg Train Station.  Our original plan after leaving Freiburg was to go to Metz, France for three days and then spend two days in Zurich, Switzerland.  The labor strike in France gave us pause, so we opted to stay in Zurich for five days and take day trips from there.


The train trip to Zurich was uneventful and took about 2 hours.  The station is very large and, of course, thousands of people milling around.


This angel is suspended from the ceiling in the Zurich train station

We took a taxi to our new digs - Hotel Krone.  It's about a 15 minute walk from the old city.  The room is small, very nicely appointed - light and bright and 4 stars!






These bed bugs are sweet!

After we got settled, we walked to the Tourist Information Center at the train station, changed Euros to Swiss Francs and found an Italian restaurant for dinner.  We also stopped at the local Co-Op store for a few supplies since tomorrow is Sunday and stores will be closed.

The River Limmat runs adjacent to the train station.  Tanya is standing on one of the many bridges  crossing the river with the train station in the background.  (She looks pretty good considering she's coming down with a cold!)


The Old City in the background

 The same scene a couple of hours later

We saw two swans a swimming - but no turtle doves nor a partridge in a pear tree

There was a sign in the elevator that the time changes tonight - falls back one hour - which I think happens in the U.S. next weekend.

The weather is milder than Freiburg, but I heard that a light rain is predicted for the next two days.

October 30, 2010

Freiburg - Auf Wiedersehen

This is my last day in Freiburg.  Tomorrow Tanya and I take to the train to Zurich for 5 days.  I must say that everyone here has been wonderful to me - this has been a fabulous experience and wonderful opportunity.

I demonstrated the basics of free motion machine quilting to the students today.  They learned quickly and did quite well.  I know they enjoyed the technique - especially when I introduced them to the "Free Motion Slider," a fabulous tool developed by my friend Pat LaPierre-McAfee, a talented award winning quilter.  She very generously sent the Free Motion Sliders to the students as a gift.




Showing off!

I'm hoping the students will send me photos of their completed quilt squares.  We had so much fun together!

October 29, 2010

Freiburg - Things are Looking Up and Making New Friends

Tanya and I had a great time exploring the old city this afternoon.  We spent a good deal of time "looking up."  It's amazing the variety of statues and signs that are located above eye level.









At lunch we had the good fortune of sharing a table with two lovely French ladies who were in Freiburg for the day.  The pub food was great.  Laurence and Franciose are teachers although Franciose just recently retired.  They even joined Tanya and me when we went to the Carl Schurz Haus to see my exhibit!

Seated from left to right - Pat, Laurence, Franciose and Tanya
  (The picture is a bit blurry - blame the waitress - she took the picture!)  

I have been sharing the apartment with a very nice young woman, Louise Bech Hansen.  She is an exchange student from Denmark and is studying the German language which she plans to teach.  She's been invited to a Halloween Party tomorrow and donned her dirndl outfit tonight to give us a sneak peek.


Tomorrow is my last day working with the textile students.  On Saturday, Tanya and I will take the train to Zurich for five nights.

October 28, 2010

Freiburg - A Little Taste Treat

It's been a quiet day.  Tanya arrived this afternoon - I'm so glad she's here!  We took a walk around the neighborhood to get her acclimated.  At a cute little neighborhood grocery store, I found some pumpkin seed oil and a package of green pumpkin seeds which are not roasted nor salted - just delicious plain.  The seeds have a nutty flavor.  I haven't opened the oil yet but was told that it is very potent and a little goes a long way.  I'm looking forward to using it on a salad made with feldsalat (winter lettuce. )

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.

October 26, 2010

Freiburg - Textures of the City

Camera in hand, I traipsed around the city drooling over displays in shop windows.  What I found to be more interesting, however, were the sights outside the shops.  I kept my eye out for different textures and took loads of photos.  A picture of the most mundane thing would be interesting after manipulation in Photoshop.  Here's what I found today:

statuary in the Augustine Museum

manhole cover

tramline and sidewalk

fall leaves

sidewalk mosaics - these can be found all over the old city


metal applique on the side of a house bordering the bike path

"frosted" leaves

street drain

church door

door hardware

side of a building

window grate

weathered paper on a street sign


yarn display outside a shop

lightpost

I did buy a few things today, but the pictures I took gave me the greatest pleasure and they were free!