13th November 2005 - Day 41

I was supposed to leave by 0845 this morning. But I decided to sleep in a bit later and leave at 0945.

Everything went on as planned. I managed to pack my breakfast and lunch and caught the bus. By 1007, I was on S41 heading towards Freudenstadt. The trip took 132 minutes according to the Fahrplan.

As the tram train passed through Rastatt, I noticed that the mist today was quite heavy. But it cleared up as it approached the Schwarzwald.

The trip there was quite enjoyable. Gives me the feeling I'm visiting some small towns instead of big cities.

Something interesting about the railway tracks. For part of the trip, only 1 train can pass at any one time (compare with the normal 2 way tracks). I think it's because there was limited space to work with as the train had to pass through narrow tunnels and bridges. Maybe that's why the trains come only once every hour.

You should have realised that I typed "tram train" earlier. This is not a mistake. This is a characteristic of the public transport here in Karlsruhe. The people here haben Stolz (read: haolian) about this concept of operating trams on train tracks. In a way, it's quite cool that I can travel all the way to the Black Forest from the Karlsruhe town centre without changing trains/ trams. Other than that, it's not my business. For more information (and if time allows you to take a longer break from mugging), click here.

Back to the topic. Freudenstadt boasts the largest Marktplatz in Germany. Because some Duke Friedrich I died before his palace could be built on the Marktplatz, hence leaving such a big space for the market square.

The Oberer Marktplatz I

The Oberer Marktplatz II

The Unterer Marktplatz

Some kirche...I think

Besides the superlativ on the Marktplatz, I did not find anything else interesting. The Heimatsmuseum is only opened from 1000 to 1200 on Sundays. Das ist Schade. So in less than 2 hours, I was done with the exploration.

I took the 1402 tram train back. And fell asleep for most of the journey. Wanted to stop by Forbach, but thought it looked....yawn... Maybe next time round. Forbach is covered by my Semester ticket anyway. So it's "free" for me to travel there.

I reached hostel at around 1610. Had a not so tasty pizza for dinner. While I was heating up the pizza, I had a conversation with Stefan and Jörg. It went on something like this.

"Das stimmt! Ich komme eigentlich aus Kuching-pura. Und in Kuching-pura, wusste ich nicht was Strom oder Kartoffeln sind. Ich habe das Glück gehabt, dass ich die Gelengenheit habe, hier in Deutschland zu studieren. Sonst werde ich vielleicht mein ganze Leben nicht wissen, wie nützlich Strom ist, oder wie Kartoffeln schmeckt...Es gibt dort doch keinen Strom und keine Kartoffeln!"

How true is that.

In the next conversation with them, I shall reveal more about the wonderful land that I come from. Yes! The country where cats are worshipped, the people are known as Kuching-Kuraks (no wonder our government needs foreign talents!), and where rats (fried or steamed or soaked in wine) are considered delicacies!

Oh. Did I mention that there we pay 20% of our monthly wages to the CPF (Council for Protection of Felines)? We can use the money to pay for housing, buy investment products (to buy more rats), send our children to institutes of higher education. What's more, we get the money back when we're older. They upping the withdrawal age? No worries! Kuching-Kuraks are living longer anyway. It's a wonderful scheme. Maybe they could learn a bit from us. Politically difficult? Oh well. Not much that I can do.

So, time to shower and prepare for my tutorial questions. If there's one tomorrow.