Colmar, a medieval city in the Alsace region of France

Leaving Freiburg in southern Germany, we drove west across the Rhine River into the Alsace region of eastern France where we visited the small city of Colmar. It is a very popular tourist destination due to the beautifully restored medieval buildings, including impressive cathedrals, museums, and half-timbered homes, some with a distinct lean in the upper levels. On most any given street, the homes are painted in various pleasing colors, somewhat reminiscent of rainbow row in Charleston, South Carolina, but even more spectacular. The French definitely have an artistic flair...

Schwabentor: the Gateway to Freiburg

First built in the 13th Century, the Schwabentor is one of two remaining gateways in the medieval defensive wall of Freiburg. We walked through this impressive structure each day on our way to and from the city's historic center.

The exterior wall includes a working clock

The city's patron, Saint George, is depicted as a dragon hunter on the exterior wall

The interior

Painting of merchant with wagon on interior wall

Coping with the summer heat in Freiburg, Germany

It's been unusually hot this August in Freiburg, in southern Germany, including today with a high of 93 F.  The restaurants and stores we've visited, as well as the flat we're staying in, all lack air conditioning so we've felt the heat. People cope in various ways including an evening beer at a local beer garden and dangling one's feet in the local river.

Our favorite Freiburg Beer Garden

Cooling feet in the Dreisam River, Freiburg

Black Forest Cemetery

My partner and I are in Freiburg, in southern Germany, from mid-August to mid-
September, on a home exchange with a gentleman who is staying in our Asheville house during this time.
Freiburg is a vibrant University town located in a valley surrounded by the Black Forest.
Today we drove up to the Black Forest, a patchwork of forest, fields, and picturesque villages. Among the latter was Saint Margen, which has a historic convent and church. Behind the church, was a beautiful cemetery, with meticulously maintained living plants adorning each grave. Among the visitors were two small boys in cycling outfits watering a gravesite of an elderly woman.  Perhaps the grave of a grandmother? It was quite touching.

Church cemetery with living plants