4th of July in Freidburg

i hope i'm past this jet lag time thing..yesterday i was up at 5 am, today it's half past noon.
then again it was along day yesterday.started the day bike riding around town, everyone was on their way to work, bikes all over. and stay out of their way, they do not fool around....i felt like the tourist i am, not knowing exactly where to go, while everyone raced around me. tried to buy some bread and pastry, but no one would change my euro amex trav chex. damn, the bakeries here are so fine. got to go to the bank to exchange my chex...
returned home with the bike, going out to the bank. at the bank, a bunch of old grey haired ladies we queing up first thing in the morning. you know to check and see if their money is still there from yesterday...the bankers were very kind, as most people have been, when they come across the bumbling american tourist trying to communicate with hands, bits of words and sincere confusion.
so i got some eurös, went to the bakery to get some breakfast stuff. check out the previous pix of the breakfast table. a little different here. not an egg or bacon in sight, although pork does make its appearance very often, just in different forms. along with multigrain breads of every stripe, fruits, vegetables, cheeses, jams, etc. and really great teas...
after bkfst we had to go return some dvd's and books to the Carl Schurz Haus...check this out...an american german cultural center, kind of a library too...for like 19.00 a year, you get to borrow any dvd, cd, books, magazines, newspapers, etc. they also were throwing a 4th of july party later that evening for the americans in town.
on the way back, we stopped at a news stand in the train station to pick up some english lang papers..the times is 12Euros!!! thats almost 20 bucks..i read the times on line. took some pix, stopped at a few stores to check out the cost of things here compared to the states, it is very expensive here!
after returning it was time to drive to france for grocery shopping! we got in the barchetta, put the top down and in 30min were in france..to a super marche..a food lovers wet dream, let me tell you.
as you know, the french know how to eat. it was evident at the store. great seafood, meats, vegs, etc. btw, no bags, you take yuor stuff to the car an put it in the bag you brought w you.
i drove on the way back, which was so much fun. got on the autobahn, a bit of traffic so i only got up to 80-90 mph.
back home we hung about, had some lunch and before long it was 7pm...i am going to a meeting here. first one. great people, as usual in the rooms, but all in german. but just to be there was good enough, spoke to some of the younger guys the break. all very welcoming and freindly. btw, 37 days!
after we went to the july 4th party..at a brewery beer garden!!! thank you! it was ok, though...they said there was gonna be american food and drinks, but that would only be if you brought it yourself..so we had some currywurst and fries..water. after i first asked for water, they brought me two mugs of beer..god must be testing me, i returned them and said WASSER, Bitte! funny.
they had a jazz band there and i got to speak to some fellow ex-pats..no fireworks though. it gets chilly at night, and dark at 10:30pm...we left and went to meet gisi's freind martin, who i met in new orleans.
at the local pub, we had cherry juice mixed with soda water..they drink a lot of juices here. which is good for me! stayed for an hour talking, smoking outside..at 12 they let smoke in the pub...read a review of a joe jackson concert the day before..in german. critics are critics in any language i found out...after asking for an interpatation....
by the time we got home it was almost 1am..bed calls, i was exhausted. tomorrow is the weekend...no plans yet..we'll see what the day brings....auf wiedersehen!