Black Forest Cake

23rd September

Der Bodensee was completely fogged in this morning, from the 'Hotel' window which fronts the lake you could not see the water at all.
The fog was still around for a couple of hours as we made our way north west in the Astra. Freiburg in our sights, we let TomTom do the talking.

About 60 k's out there was this highway sign with Frieburg crossed out and another sign, 'umleitung --> ' . Now the vaguest memories of the high school German don't help, not a jot. But since the trucks are all leaving the highway, we decide, its a detour.
TomTom is now urging us back on to the highway, but we keep following the trucks and 'umleitung'.

This road has now become the prettiest of drives, we are in the Black Forest ducking and weaving in and out of the curves on this narrow black strip. The trees hang over the road and treeferns fill the gaps, then when we get to a clearing sprays of flowers line the road shoulders.

By the time the 'umleitungs' run out, Sheryl tracks us to a spot well north of Freiburg, and getting there is no longer the goal.
Serendipity is the only way to describe the next spot. Tucked away in a little town called Malek we chance across the Krone Hotel while looking for another.

Decorated beautifully, there's a welcoming feel to it, we score a room with a balcony overlooking the garden at the back which boasts six real flamingoes. We watch them prance and perform in an orderly circle, but it's really only for their own sake.
The hotel restaurant is a Michelin leader, so our breakfast was perfection.

I have already picked out a candidate for our next stay, a town by a lake in the middle of the Black Forest. Should be good!
Well, it would have been, save the busloads of tourists, so while there, we opted for a bit of picnic investigation.

Bucketlist item alert...

Tucked away on a road made impassible by bridge works we uncovered a little picnic spot. For over two hours Sheryl and I shared this little grove, eating fresh crusty bread, smoked salmon and capers, emmental cheese and koppa proscuitto, and we were totally alone for the whole time. Apart from the times we have spent in our many rooms together, this was the first day in five weeks of travelling when no-one else was around.

We wandered off down a trail, and Sheryl made another delightful find. Up off the track, in hilly terrain was a little walk trail into the forest. Moss drapes over the ground, everything is moist, Alice in Wonderland mushrooms are on every surface, the ground is spongey. It's not swampy, just thick with mulch. It's dark under the canopy. I sat down on a tree stump and listened. There was just silence.
So here, on this day, I ticked off another bucket list item. A walk in the Black Forest. And I just can't think how the melody goes.


Click here if you want to know




We reluctantly left that little patch of paradise because we are on a loose timeline, to get north.

The sun was higher as we walked back, and illuminated large stands of what we think are wild snapdragons, that line the track back to the car. Bees crawl into the throats of the flowers, then emerge with their backs covered in pollen. Cicadas now click in bursts and waves around us.

Strassbourg was the next place I wanted to visit, and we had already secured accomodation - In a Chateau!!
We stuck to the recommended paths from TomTom, and fortunately there was quite a bit of Black Forest left around the A5 at we cruised up.

Another bucketlist item alert...

On the A5, with three lanes in our direction I pushed the Astra over the old ton on a German Autobahn. I would have much preferred to be in an Z4 with the top down. It was only a brief thrill, and I pulled back right and was overtaken by an Audi A6 doing about 240! In fact the 130Km speed 'limit' and strict keep right rule means that your driving is always being tested.

You do feel like you've achieved something, having several hundred autobahn k's under your belt, much more than any other road experience anywhere else in the world.

Strassbourg was kind of stress bourg when we found it, it's a busy city and becoming more car unfriendly. TomTom found the city centre for us, but it was unhelpful, so we navigated back out to the Chateau.



The Chateau building is in two obvious parts, an older part which has been there many centuries, that's where our room was. The floor is all uneven under the new carpet, like the sag of years have been covered up, there aren't to many structural straight lines, the timbers are bowed and thick with paint. But, the rooms and interior are all refurbished and modern.




The newer part of the Chateau buildings is at least two hundred years old, and decorated with the most amazing wood furniture. Huge murals and tapestries hang on the walls. The floor is hardwood, darkened to almost black with layers of lacquer. So the old part is the newest, and the newer part is the oldest. Sheryl loves it.

After sorting out the best ways to get around, we park the Astra out of town and get the tram in.

Strassbourg is a nest of roads in and out, little alleys and cobbled streets. The largest and most obvious edifice is the Cathedral, but when you are down in the streets it's quite hard to find.
We walked around in the drizzle for a time, and eventually it loomed large.

The Cathedral itself is well worth a visit, you can take photos inside, unlike in Rome. It's quite dark inside though. I find the the Gothic style fascinating.
There's a massive astronomical clock inside that is marvelous to behold. It's a beautiful piece of engineering art.

We continue to wander around the city. While looking for a genuine French gastro experience, Sheryl digs up a local who is willing to take us to a Restaurant. Our new friend Alain guides us around to a local place, practices his english on us for over an hour, talking travel, sport and European politics. He is an interesting character.
We swapped details, and he insisted on paying for drinks and our nice french dinner. We blessed our good luck, (but made sure we still had our wallets when we left). We think Alain is just a nice friendly, generous guy. May there be many more.

September 24th

After Strasbourg we visit a little town of Hagenau. It was significant in WWII, and I was curious to visit. But apart from the endless pastry shops we encountered, the visit was a bit of a fizzer. The Museum of history, built in 1905, does bear the unmistakeable wounds of a machine gun strafe across its doorway. The history, it turns out, is that the town was pretty much razed in the war.

We'd pre-booked a night in a cheap hotel 10 minutes out of Heidelberg. We learnt that hotels in the middle of cities are expensive, and often difficult to get to, plus there's the parking thing.

The Hotel Zagreb was really cheap, had free wifi, free undercover parking. The room and bathroom were acceptable, so we stayed two nights.

September 26th

Heidelberg castle does not disappoint. The place is massive. Sheryl did find the 303 steps up to the castle from the carpark very trying. But, we agreed that that the time there was worth it.

Looking for a bit of decent local food, we discovered a cobble stoned market place where the locals dress up in medieval costumes, do performances, bake bread and these amazing curry chicken / cheese scrolls and serve local beer in clay tankards. All the wooden structures are also done medieval style. It was a really pleasant time for both of us.

September 27th

Unfortunately the weather is closing in a bit, so our visit to the Rhine Valley is slightly marred. In addition, TomTom navigated us faithfully to a place I chose called Rudesheim, UNFORTUNATELY ITS THE WRONG RUDESHEIM!

So we have burnt a couple of hours getting that sorted, time that we would have had to explore. We get our bearings in the Tourist info office in Bingen, and book that nights hotel room.

We get to the Landmark hotel on Oberwesel, and work out that its in the same town and just up the road from the Castle that we have booked into for the next night.

Like the earlier hotel, the Landmark also has Michelin leader status, so dinner was a real experience.


September 28th


Today, Sheryl and I found ourselves in the car, in the middle of the Rhine River.