The fasnacht carnival was in the town of Hausach and it took about forty minutes to drive there passing through Waldkirch again where there were preparations in place for a carnival there later that evening which caused a bit of congestion but nothing too serious and we arrived on schedule in Hausach and finding the place curiously quiet we parked the car in a town centre car park.
Posted in Europe, Food, Germany, History, Hotels, Natural Environment, Travel
Tagged Black Forest, Carnival Masks, Fasnacht, Germany, Hausach, Rammersweier Hoff Hotel
We had selected the Rammersweier Hoff hotel again mostly because it was inexpensive but also on account of its location about half way between the main cities of Baden-Baden and Freiburg and on the western edge of the forest in the Rhine Valley.
We had enjoyed staying there the previous year because it is a homely place, very traditional with Teutonic décor and an interesting collection of Black Forest ornaments, friendly staff and a great restaurant. In the morning we had breakfast in the brightly coloured conservatory and there was a good selection of hot and cold food so we filled ourselves up on the basis that this would last us through until evening meal.
Posted in Europe, Germany, History, Hotels, Natural Environment, Travel
Tagged Black Forest, Freiburg, Gegenbach, Haslach, Hausach, Offenburg, Rammersweier Hoff Hotel, Saschatorte, Schauinsland
It took only fifty-five minutes to fly the short distance and land at Kahlrsrue-Baden Airpark at nine-thirty in the evening and after quickly clearing immigration and customs we were soon at the Hertz desk to pick up our hire car.
Following our snow experience last year and the protracted and painful debate about winter tyres, this year I had ordered them in advance so without a discussion with the clerk on duty about whether these were really necessary, on this occasion I just paid the exorbitant additional charge of €55 and very quickly we had taken possession of a royal blue Ford Fiesta and the car hire company winter tyres sting was complete.
Posted in Europe, Germany, Hotels, Natural Environment, Travel
Tagged Baden-Baden, Germany, Karlsrhue Baden, Rammersweier Hoff Hotel, Sixt Car Rental, Winter Tyres
At breakfast on the final morning the sun was shining and there was a blue sky so we weighed up the options and decided to drive through the northern half of the Black Forest and spend the afternoon in Baden-Baden before catching the late flight home. Unfortunately by the time we had packed our bags and checked out of the Rammersweir Hoff the sunshine had disappeared and had been replaced by the familiar grey sky. (There was no additional charge for the repair of the cuckoo clock by the way).
The station at Triberg was a little way out of town so we caught a bus with lots of other people into a busy main street full of activity but whatever was going on must have just finished because within only a few minutes Triberg was just as quiet as Villingen.
Despite the detour Kim navigated us back to the main road and suddenly there was a complete change in the weather, the clouds parted and let the sun through and there was a late afternoon blue sky. We were glad of this because this meant that we could return to Gengenbach to try and get the pictures that we wanted.
Posted in Europe, Germany, Hotels, Travel
Tagged Black Forest, Cuckoo Clocks, Friedrichshafen, Gengenbach, Germany, Rammersweier Hoff Hotel
Triberg looked stunning under a covering of fresh snow and we started out to walk the main road which was difficult in the snow and ice because the town is very hilly and the main tourist road runs up a steep straight incline toward the waterfall at the top. The snow on the path to the waterfall was completely undisturbed and we were the first to use it this morning as we made our way towards the lower and middle falls.
Posted in Europe, Germany, History, Hotels, Natural Environment, Switzerland, Travel
Tagged Black Forest, Black Forest Gateaux, Cuckoo Clocks, Germany, Offenburg, Rammersweier Hoff Hotel, Sankt Georgan, Schiltach, Switzerland, Triberg
We had selected the Rammersweier Hoff hotel (http://www.rammersweier-hof.de/) because it was inexpensive and because of its location about half way between the main cities of Baden-Baden and Freiburg and on the western edge of the forest in the Rhine Valley. Also because last year when we had to cancel at the last minute they were really good about it and didn’t charge a cancellation fee even though they were entitled to. It also had excellent guest reviews and these were entirely correct. It was a homely place and very traditional with Teutonic décor and a collection of Black Forest ornaments.
In the morning we had breakfast in the brightly coloured restaurant and there was a good selection of hot and cold food so we filled ourselves up on the basis that this would last us through until evening meal.
Posted in Europe, Germany, History, Hotels, Natural Environment, Travel, United Kingdom
Tagged Black Forest, Gengenbach, Germany, Haslach, Hausach, Offenburg, Rammersweier Hoff Hotel, Triberg, Winter Tyres
Two years ago we visited Germany and stayed in the city of Baden-Baden in the north of the Black Forest and enjoyed it so much that we booked to return a year later. We didn’t make it however because on the day of the flight there was a little bit of snow across the United Kingdom which closed down all of the airports and cancelled all of the flights. Not to be outdone by inefficient English bad weather emergency response planning however we booked again to visit in January 2009 and this time with mild weather at Stansted the flight got away as planned.
Posted in Europe, Germany, Hotels, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Black Forest, Germany, Offenburg, Rammersweier Hoff Hotel, Sixt Car Rental, Winter Tyres
Have Bag, Will Travel 