Mundenhof

Yesterday we traveled to Freiburg, Germany. Our host, Boris, was kind enough to take us on a tour of his robotics lab which was super cool. We got to watch a humanoid robot follow a ball. When the ball was taken away he started to charge in my direction because my jacket, which is bright pink, was the only red thing he could see! After that we went on a hike up a mountain (called the Schlossberg) and we could see the whole town from the top! He then took us to the old city where we got some beer made by a local brewery. Apparantly if they sell their beer locally they can sell it without doing whatever process it is they do to make it last longer, so the beer tastes really different. And really delicious! We then went for dinner and had a thing called a Flammkuchen, which is like if you made a pizza on a matzoh crust with no tomato sauce. Despite that description it was really tasty- mine had bacon, onions, and sour cream. Mmmm.

This morning Boris had to work so we amused ourselves. We went to the zoo, which is called the Mundenhof. The primary attraction for us to start with was that it was free. We walked about a mile and a half down some really pretty country roads. On the way we saw lots of different fruit growing, most of which we left alone- but there were blackberries and you can't just walk by a wild blackberry bush without having a few!

The zoo itself was really nice. As Alan eloquently put it, it was more like a park with sections for animals and sections for people. The animal enclosures were really enormous, and there were lots of really lovely little paths to stroll along. While no zoo could ever replace the

SD zoo in my heart, this one is better in some ways. There were fewer exhibits, but the upside is that all of the animals have plenty of space. It wasn't super flashy, but it also wasn't super crowded. At the SD zoo I often feel as though I'm tripping over children everywhere you turn. And at the center of the zoo is a family of monkeys that were really entertaining to watch. I don't think I've ever seen the monkeys in San Diego be as active as these were- and at one point one of the baby ones climbed up onto the ledge right next to the fence, which was awesome!

We walked back a slightly different path that took us through some woodland that was really pretty. Then I got stung by some stinging nettles. They really hurt for like ten minutes! Then we stopped by a bakery on the way home and bought a loaf of fresh bread. It was my first transaction completed entirely in German. I was successful in the sense that we got a loaf of bread, but I need to stop being so shy about my German skills and speak up a little! The fresh bread here is awesome! We've sort of been eating catch as catch can, and a loaf of bread is a really economical way to feed ourselves. Throw in some fresh blackberries picked on the side of the road and some peanuts (or meat and cheese if they are available) and it's a pretty good lunch.

Now we are at home awaiting Boris's return, at which point we will go see some castle ruins ("you Americans always want to see castles" - Boris) and then, if we have time, we'll go to a vineyard and maybe get some wine?