FREIBURG RESIDENTS RIDE FOR ECOLOGICAL REASONS (PAGE 22, DEC 12)

WHAT captures my imagination while walking through this classical city of Freiburg is the high numbers of bicycles and riders at every nook and cranny of the city. The city is virtually littered with bicycles.
Both the old and the young, male and female are spotted either pedalling their way up the gentle hills or slithering down the slope through roads and alleys with the characteristic hanging of bags on their backs.
Just like in Tamale, the Northern Regional capital of Ghana where I come from, bicycles are the major means of transport.
Ours is not about ensuring a clean environment, but something borne out of necessity, because majority of the people can simply not afford to acquire vehicles.
What, therefore, fascinates me is the fact that even though most people in Freiburg can afford cars, they have chosen to ride bicycles for ecological reasons of keeping the environment clean.
In fact, never in my life have I ever seen so many bikes in a city. The population of Freiburg is over 200,000, with more than one-third of the people using bicycles as their means of transport.
This number is more than the number of cars in the city. Other means of transport are trams, buses and trains.
There are bicycle parks outside the main train station and other spots where the bikes are all lined up and locked, while their owners are out and about at their respective workplace or at school.
Asked why the bikes are all locked, a student, who gave her name only as Aalina, explained that “they would be stolen if not locked; a lot of people have lost their bicycles through theft.”
Another landmark feature of this historic city is the canal system that runs through the city. The myth about it is that a visitor who accidentally steps into the canals will have to marry a Freiburg woman.
Indeed, the canal creates a very pleasant scenery as one watches the clean water run through the inland waterway through the artistically designed marble pavements.
And towering over the ancient architectural masterpieces of buildings in the centre of the city is the Freiburg Munster. I was told by my colleague, Julia Littman, that most of the surrounding edifices were the recreation of buildings that were destroyed during the Second World War.
It is, however, incredible that the 116 metres high Catheral did not give way to the bombs and still maintains its medieval exquisiteness.
Freiburg, which shares boarders with Switzerland, France, among others, also boasts of many tourist sites, including museums, theatres and other historical monuments that are dotted around the city.
It is also a citadel of education with five public universities and colleges with more than 40,000 students who are seen criss-crossing to their schools and faculties of studies in tight and skinny jeans.
Of course, one cannot miss out on the warmth of the people, most of whom encounter you with broad smiles and politely wishing you “hello.” The difficulty really for me is my inability to communicate in the German language as only few of those I encounter speak English.
For now, I can only say “Chao! Chaoo!!!” goodbye or see you.