On the way down we stopped for the afternoon in Baden Baden, a spa town on the north end of the BF. It was very beautiful, a lot of high-end shopping and pretty parks. We then continued on to Alpirsbach, trying to keep Stella content as dinner time approached. Our hosts were very kind when we arrived (a little later than we had hoped!) and the accomodations were perfect. They even had gummis on the pillows and animal crackers for Stella. AND, they went to their milk lady at 8 pm to get us some milk for Stella. Now that's service! We took a little stroll to the town center and had some supper at a nice Gasthaus. Mmmmm more spaetzle, please!
The next day we went on a nice hike, with the help of some trail maps our hosts had. The route they recommended was very scenic along the river that runs by their town, but was not as physically challenging, nor into the forest as we had hoped. We happened along some gorgeous traditional BF houses and farmland.
After about an hour we decided to change routes, and thus begun uphill. The forest was beautiful and we were blessed with gorgeous, sunny weather for the morning, so it wasn't too dark. We were hiking to Schoemberg, the next town north. When we arrived it was clouding over and starting to rain, so we ducked into a cozy little Gastehaus for some lunch, instead of picnicking outside on our bread and cheese. A MUCH better choise, I might say. A little hefeweizen, some hot knudels, and we were ready for a nap! But we had to go home, instead. As we were leaving the restaurant, we happened upon the fire dept. preparing for a little party that night in celebration of the apple harvest. They were pressing cider, so we got a first taste of apfelmost. Yum yum! Even Stella approved.
Then, we decided to take a different route home, and Stella finally conked out on the way. It was somehow uphill on the way back, at least until about 15 min. before we arrived home! My Achilles was feeling it and was sore for a few days following. We absolutely crashed, and vegged out for the rest of the day.
The following day we visited another open air museum, this one about the culture in the Black Forest. It was very interesting, and Stella enjoyed watching the animals and playing on the carved wooden play areas. We also stopped in Trieberg for a look at the waterfall, which was quite beautiful. We had a taste of black forest cake (Unfortuneately this one was not so great. Our landlady's is MUCH better!) and a walk around the downtown area, checked out some cuckoo clocks, and piled back in the car.
Our last day was spent in Alpirsbach exploring the city. We did not have enough time to see their brewery, or even their cathedral, but did stop in their glassblowing place. It was very cool, and I am now in love with Schwarzwald glas. It is the coolest, handmade, glassware I have seen. It's a shade of green somewhere between sage, celery, and olive. I want a whole set! But it is a little pricey. I resisted the temptation.
We then headed home, and just as I was doubting the route our GPS was giving us, happened upon this:
Our first view of the forest from above. We stopped to take a photo and noticed this:
Paragliders! We ended up sticking around for about an hour (Stella was napping in the car), talking with a guy named Mike (stupid Heather didn't take his picture!) He is German, but speaks great English (as most do!) and used to be in bands that played on the military bases back, I think, after the war. He was really cool and super nice and very interesting to talk to. A very nice way to spend a gorgeous sunny afternoon in Germany. He told us all about paragliding (some people even use it to travel-Germany to Switzerland. You "hop" clouds. Crazy!). But, then we had to be on our way. We planned to stop in Strasbourg on the way home. It's a very nice city just over the border into France. Can I tell you how hard it is to remember languages when you're learning different ones? It took me 10 minutes to remember how to say "please" in French. AARRGgghh. Sometimes I feel like my head is going to explode! We enjoyed a baguette, some coffee, and some French pastries (I managed to convince Nick we couldn't leave without them!), but couldn't stick around long enough for supper. The French don't eat till like 8, which is Stella's going to bed time, so eating at 6 would have been a little difficult. We ended up at McDonald's about an hour later, having no luck with anything else on the way home. I must say, not eating at McDonald's for a LONG time makes a Big Mac quite tasty when you're hungry. It hit the spot!
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