The Black Forest

The Black Forest is a great plan for a winter break vacation in Germany as the climate is pretty mild. My first tip is to hit the Internet for guest accommodations as many people rent out the bottom floor of their house to visitors. We stayed in a little apartment in a house in the middle of a neighborhood with steep hills. When you’re walking you notice features like this water trough and detached stone garages that made us feel like we were thrown back in time. Plus, we could walk to a store mixed right in with the houses that sold the famous black forest ham….great taste and a tad less salty than Kentucky ham from my hometown.

A short scenic drive away is my favorite find--the barefoot park in Dornstetten (http://www.barfusspark.info/parks/dornst.htm. As hiking goes it is not challenging but very interesting with it’s carved trees and various walking surfaces.

It even includes cut but highly polished glass!

And at the end you are rewarded with a stand that serves nice cold Weiss Beer…ahhh the Germans known how to hike!

If you prefer city walking, we enjoyed the nearby town of Freundenstadt. During the weekends this beautiful area in the center of town is filled with stalls selling nice soaps and local vegetables, foods and crafts.

Don’t miss the black forest cake in bakeries… a little less sweet than the American version but richer I think!

Another good one-day road trip I recommend is the glass blowing shop in Wolfbach (http://www.dorotheenhuette.de/). You can watch or help make your own creation!

The prices are very good--around fourteen dollars for most of the simple pieces.

And if you’re looking for souvenirs there are also several wonderful cuckoo clock shops with prices ranging from twenty dollars to the thousands for the ornately carved dark woods.

Looking back on the trip I have to say one of the best parts was actually the drives between these stops. The roads chosen by our Garmin navigator took us along wide open fields then right through the center of neighborhoods on hill tops where you could actually ask directions from someone hanging clothes out on their lines.

We often forget till later that one of the best treasurers of traveling is being allowed to really think about what it would be like to live a different life in a different place.

Happy travels!

Pam and Nguyen