Initial Observations

As Facebook would be overwhelmed by the number of observations/things I had to say upon arrival in Europe, I figured a blog would be easier to write all this down :)  So, arrived in Frankfurt yesterday, then stayed in Basel last night and travelled to Freiburg today.

Frankfurt - all I saw was the airport, and between feeling smelly and disgusting after 23 hours of travelling and having to walk between about 5 shops in different sections of the airport to find a SIM card, I probably wasn't in the happiest of moods until I got on the train.  But once I was on that, I couldn't help admiring how beautiful the German countryside is.  Noticed it again in the train between Basel and Freiburg today.  So wait, it might be easier to list my observations so far:

- German countryside is amazing - in this area they have heaps of grapevines, everywhere, even on steep hills that I would never consider planting on.

- Also on the subject of countryside, their crops are so tiny, but also everywhere.  Other than grapes, I noticed a lot of corn, some wheat, and another one I couldn't quite identify.

- On trains and trams you have to open the doors yourself (well, press a button, but still), they don't just open automatically?!

- Its a strange but awesome mix of new old - for example a beautiful old building, with a big Macdonalds sign on it.

Had a great time staying with Mirjam and Mathieu in Basel.  They were so nice, and I got to see a bit of Basel, try Switzerland's best ice-cream (Mövenpick) and see the massive chocolate section in a Swiss supermarket!  My first day in Freiburg has also been good - not at first, when I couldn't find anything and was carting my massive suitcase around over streets that are not made for wheelie bags! But finally made it to my accommodation, met my nice roommates, went to the supermarket, then met some cool people from the language course :) Actually, the supermarket amazed - it was so cheap!  For what I calculated would be at least $20 in Australia, I paid just under 9 euro.

So yeah, Freiburg seems pretty cool so far, with beautiful old buildings and streets and trams that go through the city.  Have a city tour this afternoon - in German, so we'll see how much more I know about it after! Also have a Kneipentour, aka pub crawl, tonight, which should be fun.  It'll be interesting to meet other people from the course.