Eurail Magic, Hiking, and Mass

Friday night after trying to go riding with the Mannheim Rennrad group and missing them because mannheim is a really hard city to race through, nearly worse than boston. I started out and saw two german cyclists going at t reasonable pace. I managed to join them and they said I could go along as long as I could handle 50km (Ha). Of course moments after this taking place, my tire went flat. (I shouldnt really say of course, my luck as of late has been absolutely phenomenal, I have nothing at all the whine about, but still). An old german man came and told me he saw another cyclist get a flat in the same spot and that there must be something bad on the ground there. I tried to take the tram, but the tram driver would have none of that or at least thats what I gathered he spoke pfelzish so he could have been saying he loved bicyclists, or that my shorts were so cute, but I dont think so since it sounded angry. I pedaled back a bit dismayed.
At that point someone decided to go see Mamma Mia, the movie. It was absolutely not what I expected at all, and I dont know that after watching those old ladies sing those songs I will be ever able to hear them the same again. I also realized that when you go to movies with nonenglish speakers asking them what was said when you missed a line is nearly completely worthless. Afterwards we went out for asian food (germans dont discriminate much among that tiny landmass), it was quite good, but I am still not sure tea+alcohol is a good idea.
So basically the moment after I got my eurail pass, I felt regret. 10 days of travel in a two month period is a pretty hectic schedule. Plus for quite a few of the trains you need to make reservations and pay even more money to ride them. And since it appears at the very least difficult to get a bike on an ICE train, I felt as if I might spend my weekends traveling to cities I didnt really want to go to just to "justify" my eurail pass.
So I felt this way basically until I walked into Mannheim station at around 1130am on saturday. I just looked at the list of outgoing trains in amazement. I could hop on a train going to berlin leaving in 20 minutes, Interlaken in 15 minutes, Paris or München in about an hour. I was in complete awe. I hopped on the train to interlaken, feeling much much better about my purchase.
I didnt actually make it to interlaken or even switzerland, I got off at Freiburg, figuring that was far enough away. Once there, I explored for a bit and then headed off into the forest to go hiking. The trails there were in excellent shape and pretty steep which of course means I was able to get fantastic views over the city and across the Rhein valley. There were a number of trail runners which impressed me quite a bit as the path was not easily runnable. I would have exhausted myself in a number of minutes trying. I was sweating up a storm just walking.
After getting back I was able to join some of the french people at Lea's apartment. This was really enjoyable although I felt a little imposing. This group would have without a doubt been speaking french had I not been there, and because I (1 of 6) was there they must all resort to english. We ate some great food that lea cooked, and I had leek for the first time (I think?). We also played some games her roommate had, including Jungle Speed (fantastic, even without alcohol) and some german trivia game. It was wonderful when we we're playing that because I can for the most part follow the gist of german conversations especially when spoken slowly. I was even able to answer some questions correctly. Finally I learned my favorite explaination for what BASF stands for , (Besten Arbeiter Sind Französich = Best workers are french)
Sunday was a little less eventful. I did manage to wake up in time to go to the Catholic, possibly even jesuit (58 minutes!), mass down the street. I didn't really have the faintest idea what was going on, but it was enjoyable and if I concentrated really hard I could kinda keep track of the storys and serman. It was spoken slowly enough but from what I can tell the language is dated and the priest mumbles more than I am used to, but nonetheless interesting. Plus I figured I better go to mass, since I do have quite a few things I need to be praying for, and I dont want god to get the impression I am taking my time here for granted. Not many young people there though, some families but lots and lots of old people.