Freiburg Germany: The Magical Green City!

Looking past modern houses built into the hillside onto the city centre from our hotel room at the Mercure Panorama.  Freiburg is an enigma. It's big (220,000), but it feels intimate when you walk the trails or the streets of the city. 

image.jpg

Situated on the edge of the Black Forest at the southernmost tip of Germany, bordering both Switzerland and France, it boasts a lovely climate and towering tree lined hiking trails that wind around the mountains and down into the city.  

image.jpg

Most of the city centre looks like a medieval village. The streets are brick and cobblestone and there are no cars allowed. There are streets for trams and bicycles and pedestrians so the pace is different without cars. Freiburg is actually a green city (it would like to be the greenest city in the world). 

image.jpg

The people are friendly, helpful and everyone we met on the trails was in excellent physical health.  

image.jpg

Although there are big stores, as you would expect in a larger city, the shopping experience on side streets was charming and surprisingly fruitful.  Much German food involves meat and potatoes but there are 7 restaurants with a Michelin star in the Freiburg area! We had sone amazing meals. 

image.jpg

Everywhere we went, in restaurants, hiking paths, outdoor cafes, spas, and even a great brewery, we met people of all ages who enjoyed life together and genuinely shared the space with one another. Our western culture could benefit from this inclusive attitude.  

image.jpg

Spending a whole day at the hot springs mineral baths was a most exhilarating and rejuvenating experience. 

image.jpg

Going to the spa is a way of life here. We have some pretty funny stories about naked people in the sauna who might have thought we were from another planet with our bathing suits on. 

image.jpg

Relaxed and totally enamoured with Freiburg! 

Brenda Radford

Brenda Radford is an award winning jewelry designer with a private studio in Stratford. It is her philosophy to create harmonious design that is meaningful for her clients. She collaborates with individuals to create jewelry that truly belongs to the wearer. Her custom pieces tell interesting stories about the people who commission and wear her jewels. As a former model and fine arts educator, then fashion designer, Brenda’s aesthetic is a fusion of classic and contemporary. Combining traditional goldsmithing with computer technology, Brenda integrates the human element with machine precision. Her jewelry collections are timeless, assured, bold and wearable.

www.brendaradford.ca
Next
Next

Switzerland: Baselworld