Travel Photo Wednesday

Today's travel photo wednesday...a look back at one of my favorite parts of Freiburg, the beer garden on the Schlossberg.



It's starting to feel closer and closer to winter every day...so I'm getting nostalgic for the days of beers outside in the evening, when it got dark later than 7:00 PM.

soccer wrap-up

Ok, so I know I said I'd post every day this week, I really did write this post yesterday and was about to post it when my computer battery died. I was up on my 7-foot-tall bunk bed, and it takes a lot to get me to climb down this ladder once I've climbed up to go to bed. So there's my inadequate excuse.

I realized that I never posted any pictures from my various Euro2008-watching experiences. A couple good reasons: right before I was going to take pictures of the projected-on-a-sheet-in-my-kitchen viewing parties I dropped my camera in the toilet, I forgot my camera at the party in Berlin where I watched the finale, I'm lazy sometimes.

But here are a few pictures that don't adequately convey the Fußballfieber.


Public viewing at a local park


Crowds of people celebrating after Germany made it into the final.


So many German flags and painted faces...it's always kind of surprising to see these kinds of patriotic displays in Germany, since flag-waving-nationalism is understandably not common. But it really is nice to see everyone rallying around something positive...even if the celebrations kept me up at night and they went on to lose to Spain. Certainly an exciting time to be studying in Germany.

the sunniest city in germany

You wouldn't have known it a few weeks ago when it was raining all the time, but Freiburg is known as having the best weather in Germany, and I'm intent on soaking it up before I leave.


On my friend Fiona's last day in Freiburg, we grabbed a blanket, bread, cheese and wine and headed to a local park by a lake.


Needless to say, it was wonderful, as lounging around in the sun usually is.


A few days later I spent a Saturday morning outside on the same blanket with a cup of coffee and a good book. This will likely happen tomorrow morning as well, but with the sources for my term paper. I enjoyed my personal ban on homework while it lasted (just a weekend).


A good way to enjoy Freiburg, but as it turns out, Berlin is quite sunny as well.

An American holiday in Germany

Maybe one of the three firework displays that Sidonie attended can make up for my total lack of fireworks this Fourth of July. I did, however, attend a Fourth of July party put on by a local foundation for American-German relations. It was at a brewery, so there was plenty of good beer along with country music, barbecue (do you think it's weird that barbecue doesn't have a 'Q' in it?), American flags and a discussion about the upcoming elections (more intellectual than the typical Independence Day party).



My other Fourth of July activity was baking chocolate chip cookies, with chocolate chips sent by my mom. Unfortunately no pictures, since they were gone within a few hours. Depending on who you ask, they were either "really, really delicious" or "unglaublich lecker". My mom sent my grandma's recipe, on an old hand-written notecard that I've seen many times before.

Luckily, I froze some of the dough, so maybe I'll bake some more cookies later this week and be quicker with the camera.

Bits and pieces

I'd hate for my next Travel Photo Wednesday post to be my last post since, um, last Wednesday (ok, Thursday). But finals are looming, and I have limited time. So instead of something coherent and unified, here are some snapshots of my life in the past week:


I was walking home one day, and there was a carnival being built in the park near my apartment! Exciting. I didn't go on any rides, but I did have a beer with my roommates in the beer tent. Oh, and I bought a paper cone full of delicious french fries for 50 (Euro) cents.


Saturday was one of my roommate's birthdays and he wanted a Christmas party. I baked cookies (chocolate mint and peanut butter with chocolate on top) and we hung up paper snowflakes, listened to the Sufjan Stevens Christmas albums, and made Kahlua milkshakes.


I gave myself a haircut! The bangs were easy, but the back was tough. I wish it were shorter, but that will have to wait until I once again have a live-in hairdresser (um, mom).