It's Schadenfreude!

I decided to head to a city that was recommended by a friend of mine. In the early morning I jumped on a train back into Germany to a city called, “Freiburg” which sits on the boarder of the Black Forrest. When I arrived it was pretty quiet and the only commotion was the market in front of the Munster (church). The market surrounded all corners of the Dom (church). The church was closed to tourists for mass so I walked around the market for a while and even bought some breakfast.


The rest of the day was all spent walking around Freiburg. I found a park, another couple of churches, and explored some back streets. I saw this really cool ally so I took a picture. This will become important later.

Well, I must say one thing….It’s great to be back in Germany! The language is not as harsh on the ears as French and everyone is so nice and joyful. I had fun listening to people’s conservations in the market even though I didn’t understand any of it. Plus, the train system is SO much better in Germany. I love the ICE trains!

While I was walking around I went into a bunch of shops just to check-out everything. It was fun. Freiburg is a really cool town! They have this unusual canal system in the city that my friend Tom says is for firefighting. The kids in town were floating their boats in the canals. Also, I did get a chance to go back to the Dom to walk around. They have just started mass and put out the “do not enter sign” as I was walking in the building. I got lucky! The place is huge and the outside of the building is pretty cool looking. I dig it!



Once lunchtime came around I had an important task. I realized that, while I have had a ton of great beer in Germany, I had yet to drink my favorite beer in Germany. My goal was to find a place for lunch that served Franziskaner. Honestly, it didn’t take long for me to walk down a street and see that monk in the brown rode holding his tummy like Santa while drink a goblet of beer. The best beer sign I’ve seen all trip! I walked down stairs and asked if they served food. The man said, “Yes, but we aren’t open for another 20-minutes so you’ll have to come back. Wow, 20-minutes? It felt like an eternity!

I walk around anxiously awaiting my lunch and beer. While I was walking around in front of the restaurant I thought that the street I was on looked kind of cool so I took a picture. This will become important later.

I then decided to turn around and take a photo of the front of the building that I would drink my Franziskaner. That is when I noticed something that I did not notice before…..the name of the restaurant.

Yes, I was going to dine and have my favorite beer at, “Franziskaner-Keller”. It means, “Franziskaner Basement”.What a crazy happenstance! Just then the church bells go crazy! It’s now noon; the lunch hour. I grab a seat outside and read over the menu. Since I had bratwurst for breakfast I decided to have schnitzel for lunch. My beer comes first. It looks wonderful!


I was pretty much done with my beer before my salad came out. Keep in mind that service in Europe is not like it is in the US…..it’s super slow. Anyway, the beer was better than I could ever dream it could be. Truly wonderful! I order another that comes out with my meal. I ask, “Do you have any cranberries or jam?” Sadly, they don’t. I find it so funny that I was asking that. It reminded me of Sabine and her family back in Innsbruck. I sit there enjoying my beer and admiring the fact that I’m in Germany on a nice Spring day with a Franziskaner. Nothing better!

The guy at the table next to me shouts out in English, “You sure seem to really be enjoying that beer!” I turn and see a man sitting with his family. I replied, “It’s my favorite beer!” He was from Germany and he was giving some friends from the UK a tour of Freiburg for the day. Nice family! Well, a while later the waiter brings him a beer…..it was a Franziskaner. I’m a trend setter! Seriously, I felt that really did a good deed for the day. World bliss through Franziskaner.

The waiter comes over again and I order my apple strudel and a third Franziskaner. I ask the waiter, “Franziskaner is brewed near Munich. Does this place hold any connection with the beer company other than the name?” He smiles and says, “Do you know what street you are sitting on?” and I said, “No”. He chuckles and says, “Your drinking your Franziskaner on Franziskaner Strasse. This place serves Franziskaner because is shares the same name as the street.” I laughed! I was so excited! I also thought it was funny since I had just taken a picture of the street. After lunch I head down Franziskaner Strasse for a stroll. When I get to the end I realized something, “this street looks familiar”. Remember that photo I took earlier in the day of that cool looking street? Well, as it turns out, that was Franziskaner Strasse! That is so fascinating since I only took two photos of a street that day, both were Fraziskanser Strasse…..just from two different sides. CRAZY! I think me having my Franziskaner in Freiburg was meant to be!

Later on I had to leave Freiburg and Germany. I jumped on the ICE train and napped the whole way to Offenberg. I changed trains and napped the whole way to Strasbourg. I had a big day!

When I got back to Deb’s I packed my things and jumped on a night train to Barcelona. The night train is nothing extravagant. You are allotted one small bunk in a sleeping car. This would be my bed for the night.