Germany Tour Part 1
Landing in Baden Baden we were met by our couch surfing host, Benjamin. He quickly showed us to his place & dropped off excess kit before setting off for the city for a mooch around, hoping to be not too much like tourists (rule 1 of the trip)
Baden Baden is sat in a valley at the foot of a number of good sized wooded hills, immediately my brain starts thinking mountain biking! 
Our host recommended trekking up one of these hills to a tower that gives stunning views to the surrounding area. There is a cable train that takes out the hard work, but where’s the fun in that!? We took the cheaper maze of zig zags to the summit, deciphering German directions as best we could. The views didn’t let us down!
Baden Baden
From Baden Baden we headed south through Freiburg and into Schluchsee, high in the Black Forest. A picturesque mountain village with stunning views across the lake & surrounding forestry. The Baden Wurtemburg train just kept revealing view after spectacular view as it rounded every corner. I can see why it was recommended by so many!
Postcard views in every direction
Next destination, Basel (via Freiburg), Switzerland. We had a couple of great experiences in Basel only by recommendation of our couch surfing host there, Tanja. The first was checking out a secluded outdoor bar in the middle of a disused railway freight yard. A setting that initially was a little eary as we walked through some pretty dark & secluded parts, areas of artistic graffiti, guys skateboarding under flood lights, past gangster looking lowered BMW’s & Merc’s. Apart from being a little cool outside the place was pretty sorted, just people quietly talking, a refreshing break from the hustle & bustle of the centre.
The second thing is to swim/float down through the city in the clear blue river Rhine. Walking the banks we saw no signs of any others doing such a thing, thinking maybe its a custom to tell the tourists, until at last there was people in. Deciding to follow some others to make sure we didn’t stray into dangerous waters (big barges) we floated & swam down stream for around an hour with our stuff in a dry back to then dry out in the sun on the bank reading a book.
Relaxing on the banks of the Rhine after a casual swim
But how expensive was Breakfast? Flippin’ nearly £20 was it?! It certainly was short of the mark to a “Sue’s Mega Breakfast” from city road in Cardiff! Everything here was pretty steep, a reflection of the economy.
Freiburg
Our third time in Freiburg was a planned stay for a couple of nights with Joe’s friend Hanna. Again Freiburg had a lot of the traits of Baden Baden but a bigger city. On a late evening tour of the city, we came across bizarre feature, the column of tolerance! Let me explain… In a central square loads of young people gather to socialise with no real entertainment, just people talking to one another. The noise can get pretty loud & people living in the immediate area get frustrated, so a diplomatic feature was implemented, the column of tolerance! An illuminated column that changes from green to red depending on the noise level, showing the level of acceptable noise, not that many people probably take much notice!
Full of beautiful architecture & surroundings we spent most of the time just ambling along getting lost!
From Freiburg we headed to Konstanz, a well known lakeside resort, at the opposite end of the huge lake, Bavaria begins! The excitement grows of seeing some mega mountains!
