Schauinsland

Some Schmetterlinge (butterflies) from Elias:

On the possibility that dirt might in part be comprised of cow poop: “That’s what haunts me about dirt.”

On fundamental forces: “That’s what I don’t like about gravity: If you’re walking downhill on a rocky path and gravity pulls you down, you can get hurt.”

On seeing the two-time Bulgarian national acrobatics champion at Circus Roncalli Saturday afternoon: “I used to be really good at that.”

On Sunday we hiked up Schauinsland, the highest mountain near Freiburg (1284m). “Schauinsland” means “look into the countryland." We chose one of the noisiest possible days to hike up, as there was an antique car race up the mountain and none of the cars had mufflers. We encountered two ADAC officials when our trail through the woods crossed the race road. The men suggested we should have known today wasn’t a smart day to hike, and Stefan explained we weren’t from around here. Their response: “what, you can’t read the papers?” Tsk. The race ended at the two gigantic windmills about two thirds of the way up the mountain, so things were a little quieter heading to the top.

Elias enjoyed his first cuppa decaf ("Kaffee Haag"--Haag is the brand name) when we made it back to our starting point in Horben, then bounced off the walls until 10:30 p.m.

Today we head back to Helen's in Steinebach, to visit her once more, to welcome our friend Susan (our first visitor from the U.S.--and we don't have our own place in Freiburg yet, alas), and to pick up the rest of our suitcases and Stefan's bike. Stefan will drive our stuff to Freiburg on Friday and will sign our lease. Elias and I will join him by train on Saturday, and then we'll call Freiburg "home" for the next few months.