07 July 2009

Days 45-46


Roof Dinner, Freiburg, originally uploaded by Ryan Runs Europe.

31.2 Kilometers.
After getting across the border for the fourth, I was ready to take a long awaited (since Paris) day off in Freiburg. I had slept until noon after the long day before, and after spending some time eating lunch and catching up on some computer usage, I got my things put together and started heading to Freiburg after four pm. The run was smooth, except for a few 16 percent grade hills, but I got into Freiburg before long. When I got into town I bought a cold chocolate milk (milk in Germany is refrigerated!), and thought for a second that it was curious that it came in a glass bottle. Seconds later, when I stepped outside and the bottle slipped out of my tired and sweaty hands and shattered on the floor before I could drink it, I also pondered why it came in a glass bottle. So much for my cold chocolate milk. Scheiße.
I met up with my host Aline and had some dinner on the roof with some of her friends and roommates, and then we watched the French movie about Edith Piaf until everyone was too tired to finish it. It was in French without subtitles, as every young person in this flat speaks English, French, and German incredibly well...except for me. I got the gist though.
On my day off, I wandered around town, looking at some of the old architecture and trying to not step in the open gutters that run along the streetsides. My day went like this: Pretzel, Münsterworst, Ice Cream, Kinder, Ice Cream, Beer, Schintzel, Beer, Fries, Pretzel, Wine. Between eating, I spent some time checking out the maps of the region for my next couple of days, eventually deciding upon a vague route where I just take things as they come. Story of my life I guess.
I had dinner with Aline and her friend Miriam, and watched the sunset on the roof with some more young students from the flat or the area. Now I am tired and wondering what will happen tomorrow. I am trying to work out a trail route through the Blackforest, but I have no idea what the trails are like or how challenging they will be. I'm just going to head east on the Freiburg-Konstanz transverse trail and see where it takes me, eventually (after one or two days) meeting up with the Ostweg trail which heads south into Switzerland.

21 comments:

  1. Congratulations on recieving the very first Envy Award!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That was great!!
    Congratulations from Santa Marta, Colombia.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good summer, darlin, good summer...

    ;)

    (from the girl with a not so good inglish)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your chocolate milk story makes me so sad. :(

    ReplyDelete
  5. I loved that Piaf movie... Better luck next time w/the chocolate milk.. I bet u said a few choice words.. I know I would have...

    ReplyDelete
  6. You're an inspiration to runners everywhere. I read this blog every day and it just makes me want to run more and more. I'm 16, took up running in Feb., and am running my first half-marathon in August. Thanks for the indirect encouragement, it helps to get me hitting the pavement every week!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, by the way - that Beavis photo is awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I want chocalate milk in a glass bottle!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Poor Ryan, how come you did not go and buy another bottle? Not seeing too much protein in your diet..or does beer have protein?????LOL
    Take care in the hills.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Good luck with the hills. The fun starts now... I hope you got some new shoes in Freiburg.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ryan, So How's your German:-) Es tut uns leid, dass wir dir nicht weiterhelfen konnten,aber die meisten unserer Freunde sind im Irak oder Afghanistan. Hinzu kommt, dass die meisten unserer Freunde 3-4 Stunden von deiner Route entfernt wohnen. Die Deutschen sind nette und hiffsbereite un ich hoffe, dass du dies selbst waehrend deines Aufenthalts in Deutschland erlebst:-)Liebe Gruesse,Phula und famile

    ReplyDelete
  12. Well, no use crying over spilled milk ... as they say! Treck on lonely warrior!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Fantastic adventure, Ryan!

    ...and "Ryan runs South America"???
    or "Ryan runs from USA/Canada to Punta Arenas,Chile"... the last city of the world.

    I love this blog.

    Manomora,
    from Chile

    ReplyDelete
  14. you didn't explain the rooftop dinner in any detail!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. super rad! may the knee and ankle gnomes bless you in the magic forest. btw, have you figured out how to style your bangs? i've been wonderin. . .*wink*

    ReplyDelete
  16. Nice! I've been to Germany but never had that refigerated cold milk before.I guess i should go again soon..hehe..keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Looking good! I'm glad everything continues to work out. I saw a review for a "0 star" hotel in Sevelen, Switzerland (SE of Zurich). It looked like something your speed: www.sessionmagazine.com/zero-star-hotel

    ReplyDelete
  18. Man, Ryan, just did another catch-up with your blog, and it's just so beautiful, it's made me laugh so much, and even touched me at some points. As a matter of fact, if your French phone number was still in operation, I would have called you on that just to tell you that, and I'm so grateful I was there at the beginning of this.

    It was kind of like being there when a seed was planted, getting in a time machine and finding the biggest, most awesome tree ever 300 years later.

    Keep it up, man!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I wish I had stumbled upon this earlier. I have family in Germany could have helped with shelter. Its been a slow day at work and I've spent it reading your adventure (from the beginning!!). I think maybe when you are done you should sleep for a month! I love to run,but wow - reading this makes me exhausted. Keep on keepin on!

    ReplyDelete