Happy Christmas!

Well, while I’m waiting for the pictures to upload, I’ll start typing up another post!

We got to Freiburg OK, and then went to meet my uncle for Jörg (pronounced York) for the key, and discovered that a) I don’t, in fact, remember his address, b) of the two phone numbers he gave me, one was a digit short and c) the one complete number I had for him was his work number- obviously, he wasn’t there. So we called my dad to get the number, but he didn’t pick up.

Fuck it all, we’re getting lunch! And hot damn, was it tasty! A nice little Italian joint (most places were closed, it being after 12:00 noon on Christmas Eve), and enjoyed a salad with sheep cheese and a tasty pesto spaghetti. Naturally, right when we ordered my dad called, I called my uncle, and we got contact. Shortly thereafter we had a key and a ride back to the apartment, a quick tour of the heaters and all that, and had the afternoon to ourselves.

When you’re in Freiburg, you explore. It’s a small city, founded in 1120 (yes, it’s almost 900 years old) with a university and Münster (cathedral). Much of the Innenstad (inner city) is very old, with lovely designs in the sidewalks made of split river pebbles, as well as Bächle (“brooks,” deep gutters with permanent water running through them. Back in the day, the Bächle were the sewers, but more recently they’re self-cleaning gutters and, of course, wonderful toys for kids. I remember floating sticks and paper boats down them when I was a kid. The water in them is straight out of the Dreisam river, and (supposedly) drinking water, so it’s safe. The fountains, too, are all potable water, although most of them are off in the winter. Fountains are all over Freiburg- they’re the origin of most of the Bächle, and function as drinking fountains, public art and Denkmäler (memorials) for all sorts of things. A city that’s nine centuries old has a lot of memorials.

The Münster is being renovated, so most of the steeple is scaffolded at the moment, but that’s ok, it’s still very impressive. The entire thing is built of red sandstone (indeed, much of the city is), with gargoyles and crenelations aplenty, and of course spectacular stained glass windows.

In the evening, we went back to my uncle’s place for dinner. My cousins are huge now- Robert is in college, and Emily is graduating high school. I haven’t seen them in about ten years, so it’s like getting to know strangers. My uncle and his wife are both a bit older, but not changed much. He’s a sarcastic, snarky German man with iron gray hair and an avid hang glider, climber, skier and kite surfer, his wife’s from Cyprus, speaks excellent German with a Greek accent, and dotes on her kids and puts up with her husband’s penchant for extreme sports. Today she announced they’re welcome to go skiing, she’s staying home, taking a hot bath, and enjoying her new Christmas gift (an infrared lamp). In all, they’re very kind people who are taking excellent care of us.

Dinner was delicious (Raklet, a sort of roast-your-own cheese thing from Switzerland that’s rather popular here. It’s a twist on the classic fondue, in that the cheese is roasted in small treys and then placed directly on the bread, potatoes, mushrooms, whatever, rather than melted and dipped), and then we all moved to the living room for Christmas. In Germany, the gift-giving is done on Christmas eve, after dinner. We were told “no gifts!” which we took seriously (mostly- we brought a bottle of California wine from Lodi and some Scharfenberger chocolate from Berkeley), but of course they didn’t- I got a lovely Lami pen (Lami is the premier pen manufacturer in a country that still values penmanship- I’m very pleased) and Amy got a small embroidered green fabric pouch. Then, after much wine, champagne, Christmas cookies and good cheer, we toddled home in the cold and slept like logs.

This morning, we went back to my uncle for breakfast, were informed we’re coming back for dinner, as well as breakfast tomorrow before we all carpool to my grandmother’s to meet my immediate family and more of my German family. That’s how it goes here- once someone gets hold of you, they invite you back and back and back until you insist you have to go elsewhere, and then they’ll pass you on to someone else they know will take care of you. It’s lovely.

And now we’re in a Starbucks (the only thing open on Christmas) slowly drinking hot tea and mooching WiFi (or WLAN as it’s called here). More later, though perhaps not for a bit. Ooh, sunshine! Time to go!