On Wed, Oct 03, 2007 at 11:20:26AM -0400, Fabian Neuhaus wrote:
> Chris Menzel wrote:
> > On Fri, Sep 28, 2007 at 10:41:41AM -0700, Duane Nickull wrote:
> >
> >> Apologies - this was meant for Michael personally.
> >
> > Michael's a native of the Great White North. I don't know about his
> > German, but a priori it's more likely he speaks French. :-)
>
> The fact that Michael is not German is also confirmed by the fact that
> he agreed to Saarbruecken as venue. I lived there for a year and, to
> put it positively, it is very unlikely that the participants of FOIS08
> will be distracted from thinking about ontology. In the end of October
> it might be even too rainy for hiking through the woods around
> Saarbruecken. The city was flattened during WWII, thus there are no
> important architectural sights. Unless you are a
> gray-concrete-building aficionado -- in this case you will love the
> campus! :-) (01)
LOL! It is true, however, that the bar is set awfully high by towns
like Tübingen and Freiburg with their glorious settings, unscathed
medieval "Altstädte", and their old universities. A few older buildings
in Saarbrücken survive the war, including the Saarbrücken Schloss and a
few churches, but architecturally it has to be admitted that the town
is, well, rather unlovely, esp by German standards. On the bright side,
the surrounding woods are beautiful, and there are lots trails right
from the univerity onto the Schwartzenberg, which has wonderful hiking
trails and a high tower on the top affording a nice panorama of the
surrounding countryside. (I think it is still open in October.) Worth
visiting in the vicinity are the Völklingen Ironworks about 10 km up the
Saar, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
(http://www.unesco.de/309.html?&L=1), the nice little French town of
Sarregueminnes about 15 km south, and the historic town of Trier,
Germany's oldest city, which is about a 90 minute drive north. The
restaurant scene in Saarbrücken is surprisingly good; there is a
particularly good Thai restaurant on Mainzer Strasse. (Fabian, what was
the name? "Siam"?) There are also a number of nice clubs, restaurants,
coffeshops, and theaters in the "Nauwieser Quarter" near the downtown
area. (02)
-chris (03)
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