Day 19
Last night’s dinner was nice and relaxing. I had fried trout with almonds and Jill had pork cordon bleu. Had a few beers and watched the locals. We were seated at a table with a German couple who spoke no English, so we didn’t have much conversation. The owners spoke no English either.
Tonight we are in the little town of Knebis in the northern Black Forest at a middle class Kurhaus-Bad resort. These types of establishments are popular around here and feature pools, sauna, massage, inhalants, etc., none of which we will do. But the room is only 80 marks, about $55.
Pretty lousy weather again today – it rained a little in the morning and was around 50-55 and cloudy the rest of the day.
Unfortunately most of this morning’s planned activities were scenic drives and views which were not too impressive due to the weather.
We got to the town of Trieberg just before lunch and walked around. Went to the Schwarzwald (Black Forest) museum, the highlight of which was several mechanical one-man bands you could play for a Mark. Piano, accordion, drums, horns, etc. – pretty fun.
Then we went back into town and bought a cuckoo clock! Spent around $150-160 and got a nice little model with birds on it. The owners of the store are fighting the “tourist cuckoo clock” image by spending about 15 minutes with everyone who comes in the store explaining what makes their hand-made clocks better than the factory jobs down the street. We went for the quality pitch. The ones I saw in the other stores I wouldn’t want in my house.
Then went just outside of town and had yes another picnic lunch before hiking to a waterfall for about an hour.
Then cruised through the Black Forest to our current hotel. We just finished watching SesameStrasse on TV! Still can’t understand much though.
It’s funny how much American influence there is in the music, TV and movies. We have heard James Brown on TV commercials, seen James Bond on TV, and heard the B-52’s on the radio.
We also saw on TV a soap opera called “Schwarzwald Klinik”, or Black Forest Clinic. Sort of like General Hospital I guess.
Day 20 >>>
Tonight we are in the little town of Knebis in the northern Black Forest at a middle class Kurhaus-Bad resort. These types of establishments are popular around here and feature pools, sauna, massage, inhalants, etc., none of which we will do. But the room is only 80 marks, about $55.
Pretty lousy weather again today – it rained a little in the morning and was around 50-55 and cloudy the rest of the day.
Unfortunately most of this morning’s planned activities were scenic drives and views which were not too impressive due to the weather.
We got to the town of Trieberg just before lunch and walked around. Went to the Schwarzwald (Black Forest) museum, the highlight of which was several mechanical one-man bands you could play for a Mark. Piano, accordion, drums, horns, etc. – pretty fun.
Then we went back into town and bought a cuckoo clock! Spent around $150-160 and got a nice little model with birds on it. The owners of the store are fighting the “tourist cuckoo clock” image by spending about 15 minutes with everyone who comes in the store explaining what makes their hand-made clocks better than the factory jobs down the street. We went for the quality pitch. The ones I saw in the other stores I wouldn’t want in my house.
Then went just outside of town and had yes another picnic lunch before hiking to a waterfall for about an hour.
Then cruised through the Black Forest to our current hotel. We just finished watching SesameStrasse on TV! Still can’t understand much though.
It’s funny how much American influence there is in the music, TV and movies. We have heard James Brown on TV commercials, seen James Bond on TV, and heard the B-52’s on the radio.
We also saw on TV a soap opera called “Schwarzwald Klinik”, or Black Forest Clinic. Sort of like General Hospital I guess.
Day 20 >>>
