Bond James Bond
February 5th, 2007, 12:32 PM
Offenburg
Location of photos
http://img459.imageshack.us/img459/8384/offenburgmapku2.jpg
1. A few hours later we arrived in Offenburg. The scenery along the way was lovely! Our train pulled into the station.
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/9046/offenburg1ti9.jpg
2. After debarking, we walked around the historic heart of the city and ate lunch at the central plaza.
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/19/offenburg2sb0.jpg
3. Then we checked our luggage into a hotel next to the train tracks.
http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/10/offenburg3yb7.jpg
4. The heat wave was still on, so for a couple of hours we walked a few blocks to the west and went for a dip.
http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/2676/offenburg4vg6.jpg
5. Afterwards we continued our jaunt around the central city. There was a modernistic office complex alongside the river.
http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/2299/offenburg5dr3.jpg
6. And back at the other end of downtown we explored more of the old city. Some new buildings were rising amid the old.
http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/597/offenburg6vt7.jpg
7. We visited an old church
http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/4871/offenburg7di9.jpg
8. And some institutional structures.
http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/9673/offenburg8ui6.jpg
9. At the end of the day we rented a car and decided to drive around and explore more of the city. We saw some modern parts
http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/1801/offenburg9je5.jpg
10. And plenty of faceless apartment blocks.
http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/2686/offenburg10yk4.jpg
11. Not to mention some industrial areas. I have a confession to make: I'm fascinated with the stark brutality and hard geometric forms of industrial areas, so pardon me if I take so many pictures of them!
http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/3580/offenburg11gv6.jpg
12. As I did in Freiburg, I once again noticed that many of the houses and other buildings in the newer neighborhoods and outlying villages had solar panels on their roofs.
http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/7866/offenburg12cd4.jpg
13. But not all of them.
http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/1157/offenburg13wy0.jpg
14. It was still hot and we were tempted to jump into this house's pool!
http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/5523/offenburg14sn0.jpg
15. But instead we stopped at this gas station and got ourselves some drinks.
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/4575/offenburg15zw3.jpg
16. We drove past some more institutional-looking buildings.
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/8211/offenburg16rl5.jpg
17. And some more residential areas. Once again, it was interesting the way the farms so closely abutted the dense residential areas.
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/1628/offenburg17xy3.jpg
18. Same thing here. These apartments appeared to have great views of the little lake to one side, and the fields on the other.
http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/5885/offenburg18lz7.jpg
19. More industrial areas.
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/163/offenburg19yl6.jpg
20. That night we ate at a pub in one of the little outlying villages to the south. We got really drunk, too!
http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/5149/offenburg20ke7.jpg
21. The next morning we headed to the east parts of the city to visit some of the vineyards. There were neighborhoods and villages climbing the hills, placed carefully among the vineyards.
http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/1684/offenburg21az5.jpg
22. This was far up a hillside. The views from here were wonderful!
http://img349.imageshack.us/img349/7312/offenburg22lg3.jpg
23. More of the same. We bought some nice Reisling from a little store in a village.
http://img349.imageshack.us/img349/2285/offenburg23gj0.jpg
24a. On the way back down the hill heading toward town, we passed by some quaint newer houses, dressed up in Alpine fancy.
http://img349.imageshack.us/img349/1796/offenburg24aet7.jpg
24b. So I just had to take a little detour and see them up close. They were so cute! I want one of those A-frames!
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/8462/offenburg24biw9.jpg
25. We then passed through some more commercial and industrial areas and went into some stores. Hans saw some plants in this Home Depot-type store he just *had* to have, but me and Franz talked him out of it!
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/9045/offenburg25om0.jpg
26. We also saw some more of these little garden plots. Hans, our plant and gardening buff, told me his parents had one of these in Frieburg, they're called Schrebergarten (http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,410799,00.html).
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/1204/offenburg26wn3.jpg
27. It was still hot and we saw many people in their swimming pools.
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/153/offenburg27xj7.jpg
28. In fact we were tempted to go for a dip in this lake! For some stupid reason, the car we rented didn't have air conditioning. :(
http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/1156/offenburg28hn7.jpg
29. Another cute village.
http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/208/offenburg29lz2.jpg
30. We continued to be hot and complained about the heat and the lack of air conditioning in our car. On the map we saw an outlying lake to the west of the city, so we thought we'd check it out - it seemed enticing! But how disappointed we were when we got there!
http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/4719/offenburg30tq1.jpg
31. On the way back toward town, the heat was making us silly. Franz, who was driving, decided to drive around this circle five times!
http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/2169/offenburg31vv1.jpg
32. So we stopped in this shopping center to get some more refreshments. Go away heat! I thought Europe was supposed to be pleasant in the summer! :(
http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/6506/offenburg32rk1.jpg
33. My obession with industrial areas continued. Even the industrial areas often directly abutted fields.
http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/1272/offenburg33xv8.jpg
34. More industry. Beautiful!
http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/8950/offenburg34qk2.jpg
35. But don't worry, I see beauty in the cute little villages, too!
http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/8311/offenburg35nv9.jpg
36. More swimming pools! Even later in the afternoon it was tempting to just dive into some of these!
http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/6438/offenburg36ef3.jpg
37. But instead we just drove through some more little villages surrounding the city.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/3483/offenburg37el0.jpg
38. And I also got more of my industrial fix.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/3809/offenburg38te6.jpg
39. More.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/1933/offenburg39so8.jpg
That sure was nice! Too bad we can't stay here, and we must go on. Time to head north to Karlsruhe!
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/3124/offenburg40ou0.jpg
Location of photos
http://img459.imageshack.us/img459/8384/offenburgmapku2.jpg
1. A few hours later we arrived in Offenburg. The scenery along the way was lovely! Our train pulled into the station.
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/9046/offenburg1ti9.jpg
2. After debarking, we walked around the historic heart of the city and ate lunch at the central plaza.
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/19/offenburg2sb0.jpg
3. Then we checked our luggage into a hotel next to the train tracks.
http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/10/offenburg3yb7.jpg
4. The heat wave was still on, so for a couple of hours we walked a few blocks to the west and went for a dip.
http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/2676/offenburg4vg6.jpg
5. Afterwards we continued our jaunt around the central city. There was a modernistic office complex alongside the river.
http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/2299/offenburg5dr3.jpg
6. And back at the other end of downtown we explored more of the old city. Some new buildings were rising amid the old.
http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/597/offenburg6vt7.jpg
7. We visited an old church
http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/4871/offenburg7di9.jpg
8. And some institutional structures.
http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/9673/offenburg8ui6.jpg
9. At the end of the day we rented a car and decided to drive around and explore more of the city. We saw some modern parts
http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/1801/offenburg9je5.jpg
10. And plenty of faceless apartment blocks.
http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/2686/offenburg10yk4.jpg
11. Not to mention some industrial areas. I have a confession to make: I'm fascinated with the stark brutality and hard geometric forms of industrial areas, so pardon me if I take so many pictures of them!
http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/3580/offenburg11gv6.jpg
12. As I did in Freiburg, I once again noticed that many of the houses and other buildings in the newer neighborhoods and outlying villages had solar panels on their roofs.
http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/7866/offenburg12cd4.jpg
13. But not all of them.
http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/1157/offenburg13wy0.jpg
14. It was still hot and we were tempted to jump into this house's pool!
http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/5523/offenburg14sn0.jpg
15. But instead we stopped at this gas station and got ourselves some drinks.
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/4575/offenburg15zw3.jpg
16. We drove past some more institutional-looking buildings.
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/8211/offenburg16rl5.jpg
17. And some more residential areas. Once again, it was interesting the way the farms so closely abutted the dense residential areas.
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/1628/offenburg17xy3.jpg
18. Same thing here. These apartments appeared to have great views of the little lake to one side, and the fields on the other.
http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/5885/offenburg18lz7.jpg
19. More industrial areas.
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/163/offenburg19yl6.jpg
20. That night we ate at a pub in one of the little outlying villages to the south. We got really drunk, too!
http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/5149/offenburg20ke7.jpg
21. The next morning we headed to the east parts of the city to visit some of the vineyards. There were neighborhoods and villages climbing the hills, placed carefully among the vineyards.
http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/1684/offenburg21az5.jpg
22. This was far up a hillside. The views from here were wonderful!
http://img349.imageshack.us/img349/7312/offenburg22lg3.jpg
23. More of the same. We bought some nice Reisling from a little store in a village.
http://img349.imageshack.us/img349/2285/offenburg23gj0.jpg
24a. On the way back down the hill heading toward town, we passed by some quaint newer houses, dressed up in Alpine fancy.
http://img349.imageshack.us/img349/1796/offenburg24aet7.jpg
24b. So I just had to take a little detour and see them up close. They were so cute! I want one of those A-frames!
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/8462/offenburg24biw9.jpg
25. We then passed through some more commercial and industrial areas and went into some stores. Hans saw some plants in this Home Depot-type store he just *had* to have, but me and Franz talked him out of it!
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/9045/offenburg25om0.jpg
26. We also saw some more of these little garden plots. Hans, our plant and gardening buff, told me his parents had one of these in Frieburg, they're called Schrebergarten (http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,410799,00.html).
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/1204/offenburg26wn3.jpg
27. It was still hot and we saw many people in their swimming pools.
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/153/offenburg27xj7.jpg
28. In fact we were tempted to go for a dip in this lake! For some stupid reason, the car we rented didn't have air conditioning. :(
http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/1156/offenburg28hn7.jpg
29. Another cute village.
http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/208/offenburg29lz2.jpg
30. We continued to be hot and complained about the heat and the lack of air conditioning in our car. On the map we saw an outlying lake to the west of the city, so we thought we'd check it out - it seemed enticing! But how disappointed we were when we got there!
http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/4719/offenburg30tq1.jpg
31. On the way back toward town, the heat was making us silly. Franz, who was driving, decided to drive around this circle five times!
http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/2169/offenburg31vv1.jpg
32. So we stopped in this shopping center to get some more refreshments. Go away heat! I thought Europe was supposed to be pleasant in the summer! :(
http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/6506/offenburg32rk1.jpg
33. My obession with industrial areas continued. Even the industrial areas often directly abutted fields.
http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/1272/offenburg33xv8.jpg
34. More industry. Beautiful!
http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/8950/offenburg34qk2.jpg
35. But don't worry, I see beauty in the cute little villages, too!
http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/8311/offenburg35nv9.jpg
36. More swimming pools! Even later in the afternoon it was tempting to just dive into some of these!
http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/6438/offenburg36ef3.jpg
37. But instead we just drove through some more little villages surrounding the city.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/3483/offenburg37el0.jpg
38. And I also got more of my industrial fix.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/3809/offenburg38te6.jpg
39. More.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/1933/offenburg39so8.jpg
That sure was nice! Too bad we can't stay here, and we must go on. Time to head north to Karlsruhe!
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/3124/offenburg40ou0.jpg