 |
| Aarau |
We slept well on the pull-out sofas and were away again by 9.30am. We had arranged to arrive at our home exchange place at 5pm so had the whole day to play with. However it was still raining and we didn’t really feel like marking time in towns along the way so headed straight to Aarau, not too far from Freiburg. A number of immigrants came from the villages around Aarau, so I wanted to have a look at the lay of the land and what the main town had to offer. It had stopped raining and we had a short wander around the centre of Aarau. I had expected a small town but it is in fact a large thriving town, surrounded in part of defensive walls and towers dating back to the 13
th century. Had a good breath of fresh air and then onto the last leg to Freiburg. We could have gone to Zurich, not much of a diversion, but we just wanted to get to Freiburg where we can happily base and pace ourselves for the next 1½ weeks.
 |
| Aarau |
We arrived a little early at 4pm so no problem getting the key from the neighbours as had been arranged. It is a pity we will miss seeing our hosts Diliana and Korlio. They are over in Bulgaria with Diliana’s family while we are here. We had a great time with them while they used our house in Nelson in January. Their house is a 2nd floor apartment in one of the numerous apartment blocks in this modern part of Freiburg. It is very light, airy, 4 bedrooms and will be extremely comfortable while we are here. However, a quick walk-around the area confirmed that none of us would want to live long-term in such a mono-styled suburb. It is all very neatly laid-out, with lots of nice paved areas, a combination of muted and brightly coloured apartment blocks, tram-tracks nestled into a central grassed strip between the road lanes, road edge vegetation demarking parking zones etc. It is very pleasant but feels very structured and organised but every block looks just like the next. Virtually the entire population seems to be young families. Haven’t seen an old person yet. It is a 20min tram ride into the centre of town, and we are planning to take it on Wednesday as this is market day and the market is supposed to be the biggest in Germany.
