Halloo, Hallay O Frabjous Day!

Well, what a day!  Every day has lived up to expectations, but this one exceeded them all. It was warm!!!!  And finally, I could live out one of my European fantasies- to sit in the sun in a cafe & have a drink (beer, of course, because when in Rome- no- the Black Forest, one does what the good citizens of the Black Forest do).  How good was it to just sit and watch the world go by & Wolfach is one of the most picturesque places in the world in which to do this.


Being in the Black Forest is like living in a 3D postcard.  Every village is something out of a story book & every one has so much history and is so proud of its heritage and  culture and history.  

Street scene in Wolfach

This morning, we went to the tourist office in Freudenstadt where we are staying for 4 nights and found information to get us started.  Off we went on the tourist route to find Triberg, which we subsequently didn't get to by car because on the way, we took a right turn instead of a left and ended up in Schilbach.  What a find!  Living history & a much better tourist office, where we gained heaps of fresh information which then led us to Hornberg where, courtesy of our visitor tax, we were able to take a free train to St Georgen, passing through Triberg on the way.  Bill was in his element.  There were 36 tunnels and a number of viaducts. Apparently, this route is a very famous tourist one so it was a real "boy's own" train adventure, almost to rival the one he & Michael still talk about from Greymouth to Christchurch in New Zealand.  Of course, he emailed Mike to let him know!

While we were waiting for the return train from St Georgen we found a DFO for clocks!  We had a great time talking to the guy who manages the outlet and may go back to buy a clock as there are some that are "one offs" and they are beautifully made. You can also shut them up at night which would be a great advantage.  Saves building a sound proof room to store them in!  Why didn't we think of that when the kids were small!

After consulting the guide book, we decided to move on to Wolfach, which has a mind blowing, glass blowing factory.  One of the mind blowing bits is that it is actually open every day all day.  Many places around here are literally open half a day during the week & on bank holidays whenever they occur so it was great to find somewhere so user friendly & we showed our gratitude by taking lots of photos & spending lots of money on their really beautiful things.

Glass eyes- circa 18thC

Much more beautiful glassware circa now.

After consulting the guide book, we decided to move on to Wolfach, which has a mind blowing, glass blowing factory.  One of the mind blowing bits is that it is actually open every day all day.  Many places around here are literally open half a day during the week & on bank holidays whenever they occur so it was great to find somewhere so user friendly & we showed our gratitude by taking lots of photos & spending lots of money on their really beautiful things.


Wolfach is a very old town and still has markets but not today and it was there that we finished our day's touring with a local beer at a biergarten (note the German slipped in there) while we sat and watched the world go by-in the warm.  The weather really turned on a great day for us & the temperature exerted itself to around 21 degrees!  In fact, I took a plunge this evening and wore a short sleeved top & sandals to dinner!


Speaking of the German language- not in it- managed that in France but it's all a mystery from here on- we learnt today that any names ending in "ach" mean that the place has something to do with water, and we proved this when we were at any place with the suffix "ach" as everyone was on a river or had a canal running through it.  So- there's your bit of education for today.


Oh, & I must also tell you the other great news- there is Black Forest cake, in the Black Forest!  And boy, is it good!

Typical Black Forest architecture

Hotnberg