I'm always impressed by how environmentally conscious the Germans are. Not only do they have better recycling programs, but the combination of eco-friendly transportation systems and good long-term planning make the Germans leagues more efficient than Americans. On Wednesday my aunt and cousin and I wanted to go to the nearest bigger, more commercial town for some gelato. Instead of getting into the car, we hopped on our bikes. We rode about 6 km to Herrenberg on a gorgeous, paved bike/pedestrian path that traversed fields, orchards, and open meadows.
It's important to mention here that the distribution of farmland, suburbs, and cities in Germany are very different from the States. In the US, we have major cities that are constantly growing and sprawling. Where the city limits end, the suburbs begin, extending in a vast radius as far as the ever-enlarging main highways allow. Aside from the haphazard "Welcome to ____!" sign along the side of the road, there is no significant distinction between the towns and boroughs of the suburbs; one town melts into another. Depending on the general affluence of the suburbian town, the properties and size of houses vary accordingly. Affluent towns (like my hometown, Franklin Lakes) have huge, unnecessary mansions plopped on huge, unnecessary yards. A larger, more working-class town (like Clifton) is comprised mostly of smaller homes, on smaller properties, tightly aligned alongside each other. To get to farmland in the US, you need to travel a distance to get away from the massive suburban blob. The difference between suburb and country is night and day. Farmland in the US is mostly occupies the mid-western states and extends for great distances without seeing a major city or suburb.
Having that said, Germany's distribution of city/suburb/farmland is super different. Here, the major cities do not inspire the same version of sprawl that Americans are accustomed to. The country is speckled with towns, each having their own little downtown, post office, bakery, shopping district, cobblestoned paths, and kindergarten. The towns are surrounded by farmland, much like an island is surrounded by water. The towns interconnect through a web-like system of roads, and are in close proximity to a highway (Autobahn). All towns, regardless of their size, follow this pattern of being surrounded by farmland. I find this system to be much more balanced.
Because of this layout, it was easy for us to get from Altingen to Herrenberg on bike. Being a Jersey girl who is used to risking her life whenever she steps out for a run or hops on a bike, I asked my aunt how it was possible for all of this open land to exist. Apparently, German towns are very strict when it comes to buildable land. They have limits, and construction must cease when the limit is met. I was extremely impressed by and grateful for the German value of land preservation. We saw a lot of people (who were either bicycling, jogging, walking, or pushing baby strollers) using the paths. Safe, eco-friendly, and beautiful, these inter-town paths through the countryside are a great solution to alleviating issues such as pollution, traffic, accidents, and obesity! Maybe I'm jaded because I live in the most densely populated state in the country, but I am truly in awe of land preservation and bike paths. Early on Friday morning I decided to jog this same path (yes, all 12 km, because I'm out of my mind) and it was spectacular to watch the sun rise over the fog-blanketed fields.
There were so many amazing varieties of gelato in Herrenberg! I will certainly have to go back to investigate, but I may have found a new favorite flavor: yogurt. Yes, I know that sounds weird and gross to our high fructose American tastes, but for me it's just the right proportion of sweetness to sour. Those eye-talians sure take their ice cream seriously.
On Tuesday night my uncle took me mountain biking! I've never been mountain biking before, so, being that I'm ridiculously active, I was pumped to try it out. Erika threatened to beat me if I came back bloody or broken, haha. Rolf wasn't kidding when he warned me that there was a steep incline. Going up was equivalent to riding up a ski slope, but with a paved path and a couple of misleading and ultimately soul-destroying curves. I had to stop briefly TWICE to catch my breath, and for those of you who are familiar with my endurance threshold, you know that me taking 2 breathers is a big deal. Going down the mountain bike path was simply terrifying. We were riding really fast over dirt and gravel pathways, loaded with tree roots, rocks, and killer mud-ditches. With my knee still recovering I was petrified that I was going to crash into the ditches and further injure myself, so I was a wimp and walked my bike over the jumps. Once we were off the mountain-biking path in the woods we had a gorgeous trip downhill. We rode past vineyards and orchards and had a spectacular view of the valley from the top of the mountain.
Yesterday (Saturday) I went with Selina, the girl next door who is 18, and her friend Anne to Konstanz am Bodensee. Konstanz is a city on the border of Germany and Switzerland, and it lies on a huuuge lake. We took an ICE train, which goes really fast, to Singen, where we transferred trains to get to Konstanz. The train from Singen was loaded with a ton of drunken, punky, hardcore-looking rockers. There is an annual 2-day music festival in an open-air stadium in Konstanz, and we just happened to arrive at the time of the festival. The whole town was swarmed by rockers who were making their way over to the stadium. Selina wanted to do some shopping, so we leisurely explored the cute city. The streets are cobblestoned and filled with pedestrians, café tables, and peddlers. The buildings are really old, tall, and quaintly magnificent. Each is painted a different way and varies slightly with style. When we were done shopping we took the bus to a "beach" (which is actually just a grass lawn with access to the water) where we changed into bikinis and enjoyed the beautiful weather. We could actually hear the music from the festival! It was too bad that we had a 6:30 train to catch, because I would have loved to stay longer. I was super exhausted throughout the 2-hour train ride home and collapsed into bed ASAP. Selina and Anne are really fun to be around and I'm excited to be making German friends. I had no problem talking to them, and they kept telling me how good my German was. That definitely made me feel more confident. Hopefully I can make friends just as quickly once I get to Freiburg… which is tomorrow!! AHHHH!!!!
Maybe someone can help me out here: in German the word for "cake" means a full, finished, decorated cake. They have a separate word for an unfinished cake, as in, the baked batter. Do we have such a word for that "baked batter" in English? I don't think so; cake is cake, isn't it?
Today we're having a grill party with Rolf's relatives (and maybe my grandparents, if my grandfather isn't too stubborn and anti-social to get out of his apartment), so, that should be a lot of fun. I just finished helping Erika bake an apple "pie." Rolf's relatives like to have fun and are always a pleasure to be around. The weather is gorgeous, but everyone is saying that this will be the last nice day of summer. From here on it's going to get cold and nasty, so, I'll just have to soak it up.
Tschüß!
