Today some were up before our afternoon tour and managed to see Freiburg in the early morning as vendors prepared for the open-air market near the church. Ed and I logged ca. 4 miles and 9000 steps.
During the tour, we logged that many more miles and steps, and added 15 flights of stairs.
Everyone seems to be having a terrific time!
Tomorrow, we take off for a full-day biking tour...
PLEASE NOTE: my phone now works here and is a USA phone number: 803-468-3115.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Day 2 - Freiburg: Region
Andi and I were up early then we went for a walk about town before the stores opened. They have a nice flower / fruit market next to the old church which really was amazing. We tried some fresh salami and the strawberries and asparagus (spargel) looked terrific.
We had a nice cup of coffee at a cafe near the river then went and bought a disposable phone. Later today, Andi's real phone started working. We met the students at noon as expected then went to meet our bus and tour guide for the day, Erhard Schulz.
Erhard took up about 15 miles up into the Black Forest. Our first stop was a farm where they make biogas by anerobically fermenting manure and biomass. They burn the gas in an engine then use waste heat to produce heating water for local homes and the school.
Next we went to a windmill owned by a private group. Erhard let us get into the tower of the 80m windmill. Then we went over to a 140m tower and we also went inside. They had climbing stairs and a little elevator inside the tower.
We stopped next at another farm. This farm used a heat exchanger to cool cow milk/heat house water. They also burn wood chips for heating and they have 100 kW of PV cells for power generation. They also make their own distilled spirits in house from local fruits; they were outstanding.
Finally we ended up at a working 200 year-old mill for a traditional dinner. All the foods were prepared on the farm, bread, apple juice, ham, bacon, cheese, liverwurst, blood sausage, butter, cherry spread, most. It was all terrific, but some folks were a bit nervous.
After returning to the hotel, most of us went to a biergarten near the main church then stopped for ice cream. Not a bad day overall!
We had a nice cup of coffee at a cafe near the river then went and bought a disposable phone. Later today, Andi's real phone started working. We met the students at noon as expected then went to meet our bus and tour guide for the day, Erhard Schulz.
Erhard took up about 15 miles up into the Black Forest. Our first stop was a farm where they make biogas by anerobically fermenting manure and biomass. They burn the gas in an engine then use waste heat to produce heating water for local homes and the school.
Next we went to a windmill owned by a private group. Erhard let us get into the tower of the 80m windmill. Then we went over to a 140m tower and we also went inside. They had climbing stairs and a little elevator inside the tower.
We stopped next at another farm. This farm used a heat exchanger to cool cow milk/heat house water. They also burn wood chips for heating and they have 100 kW of PV cells for power generation. They also make their own distilled spirits in house from local fruits; they were outstanding.
Finally we ended up at a working 200 year-old mill for a traditional dinner. All the foods were prepared on the farm, bread, apple juice, ham, bacon, cheese, liverwurst, blood sausage, butter, cherry spread, most. It was all terrific, but some folks were a bit nervous.
After returning to the hotel, most of us went to a biergarten near the main church then stopped for ice cream. Not a bad day overall!
Update: Link to pictures here
Phone Update
New Phone Number - Our two attempts to have working phones when we got to Germany so far have failed. They may be activated later today. We went ahead and activated a throw-away phone just in case of an emergency. Try 01603755272 and you may need the German Country code 49 in front. We just verified that that number works, so we may be in good shape.
Pictures, Day 1
I had some time to go through the pictures we took and select out the better ones. Of nearly 500 I picked out about 100 and uploaded them to Picasa. The files are public, but not openly so; you must have the link to access them. This means they should not be indexed / put on a search engine. Students will be able to grab all the photos on a USB if they desire.
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