There was simply nothing here to spoil the picture book mood and character and in the pretty triangular market place at the heart of the town the fasnacht festival bunting hung high above the cobbled street and old town well, the merchant’s houses and the town hall with its striking Teutonic wall paintings. After walking around the town we found a little place at the side of the river Schiltach and stopped for refreshment in the immaculate café that was serving fresh cakes and treats.
Posted in Europe, Germany, History, Hotels, Postcards, Travel
Tagged Black Forest, County Durham, Gengenbach, Germany, Offenburg, Schiltach, Triberg
The Fasnacht Parade in Schiltach, Germany
The sun was shining now and outside the café a crowd was beginning to congregate because at two o’clock there was an afternoon children’s fasnacht and more and more people in costumes were beginning to gather. There was half an hour to go so we had a second drink and then walked out into the pleasant sunshine and took up a position to watch.
Posted in Arts and Crafts, Childhood, Europe, Germany, History, Travel
Tagged Black Forest, Family, Gengenbach, Germany, Offenburg, postaday, Schiltach, Triberg
Posted in Cathedrals, Europe, France, Germany, History, Hotels, Natural Environment, Switzerland, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Baden-Baden, Black Forest, Fasnacht, Freiburg im Breisgau, Gegenbach, Germany, Offenburg, Schiltach, Triberg
After a short journey we arrived in Gengenbach which is a small town and a popular tourist destination on the western edge of the Black Forest.
After parking the car we walked into the Altsadt which was gaily decorated with bunting and flags for the festival. In the main square Gengenbach has a traditional town hall which is claimed to be the World’s biggest advent calendar because the twenty-four windows of the eighteenth century town hall represent the twenty-four windows of the calendar. It reminded me rather of a massive gingerbread cake!
Posted in Europe, Germany, History, Hotels, Travel
Tagged Black Forest, Gengenbach, Germany, Rammersweier Hoff Hotel, Schiltach, Six Nations Rugby
Triberg didn’t excite us today in the way it had twelve months previously and so we didn’t stay for all of the hour and a half that the parking ticket allowed and we left the town and headed for nearby Shiltach.
Leaving the town we turned off the main road at Sankt Georgan and began to climb towards the town of Schramberg and then I had another disagreement with the lady navigator in the satnav. For some inexplicable reason she directed us off the obvious way and took along an alternative route along some very minor roads. There was no explanation for this so I strenuously questioned her competence, shouted at her and then turned her off and plotted my own route back to Schramberg and then to Shiltach where we arrived soon after.
Posted in Europe, Food, Germany, History, Natural Environment, Travel
Tagged Black Forest, Gengenbach, Germany, Offenburg, Schiltach, Triberg
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).
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
Have Bag, Will Travel 