The weekends in Germany are usually set aside to spend quality time with family and friends and enjoy the beautiful outdoors. On this particular Sunday in October, the weather was absolutely gorgeous so I met my good friends and we did just that! I met Francesco and Irene for coffee downtown and then we set out to visit our old university and dorm area together. First stop was a walk through campus. I did not take any classes in KG II (below), but it made for a perfect photo op and showed a great view of the Theater Freiburg building through the windows. I cannot even count how many times I walked past this particular building as as student. My tram stopped right next to it each morning to let me out *just* in time for my classes.
As we walked through campus, Francesco (or Checco, as I call him), got a call from one of his three little girls on the phone. Photo op! I started clicking away and was lucky to catch some of his classic Checco expressions that I happen to love (and miss) so much! All smiles, this guy. He is a typical jovial Italian, full of life, and has a really infectious personality. It is not possible to hang out with him and not have any fun! This second picture of him is what I will call his “eh?” face. I’ll post some more photos I took of him and his wife, Irene, in my post next week.
While living in Freiburg, I spent most of my free time with Francesco, Katie (American) and Giulia (Italian) when we weren’t in class. Checco taught me how to cook some great pasta the “Italian way” and we spent many afternoons and evenings eating, singing and hanging out. I have a photo in front of this very university statue of Homer with all of my friends so it was only fitting that on this trip I sat in the same spot to take a photo. This may be one of the only photos taken of me my whole trip, in fact!
Next to this statue is the KG IV building, again, not a building I had classes in, but I wanted to capture its classic arches and iron work. Right across the street from this building was the Mensa (cafeteria) where I enjoyed many cheap (yummy?) student meals with my friends.
After our walk through campus on this particular Sunday, we hopped on a street tram and drove out to our old dorm area on Sundgauallee (my address for over a year) called the Studentensiedlung (or StuSie for short). This particular area had about 10+ student dorm buildings. Some were high rises that had several floors and an elevator and some were shorter with only two levels and a set of stairs. Each level in each of these buildings, short or tall, had about six single rooms and shared a bathroom, shower and common area that had a kitchen and dining/living area with a TV and table.
Two of my good friends at the time, Katie and Giulia, lived in this tall high rise shown below. I, however, lived the majority of my year abroad in a small, two-level building, number 48, with some Germans, a sweet French woman and a really spirited Irish lady. My building was right near the local lake, called Seepark (and the focus of my next blog), and a gas station. Why do I mention the gas station? Well, most German stores are closed on Sundays and holidays, so this was the only place I could get any type of food in a pinch, so it was a very convenient place to live!
We did not have cell phones in 1999 so this photo is an ode to what once was, back in the day, when we still communicated by landline. The same style of phones that we used when we lived there were oddly still here and hanging up on the walls in the lobby of one of the high rises. I wonder if this one still gets used? Seeing it still hanging here brought back lots of memories of the days when I had much more time on my hands to actually talk on the phone. I remember spending so much time talking on the phone with my friends in the StuSie about our plans for the weekend or when we would be getting together next. I did study, some, but life was so much simpler, more carefree back then for sure! What great memories!
