A Taste of the Black Forest

Our arrival in Titisee did not look promising. It was hot and the small town was packed with tourists. Our lunch was okay, nothing special. But then we checked into our hotel, Treschers Schwarzwaldhotel. Ahh. Despite being right in the center of town, the hotel blocked the noise from the street completely. Our room had a little balcony and overlooked the lake. You couldn’t ask for a better spot to relax – and that was before we went down and lounged by the pool (after taking a dip in the much cooler lake).

We spent a whole day relaxing at a table on the terrace and down at the pool. Reading, studying languages, writing the blog, … maybe even a little snooze.

We did eventually bestir ourselves and use the free bus/train tickets the hotel gave us to visit Freiburg. We could tell we were getting closer to France when we found a French-style market surrounding the cathedral.

But we could tell we were still in Germany, because almost all the food vendors were selling sausages. (There was one lonely tofu sandwich provider.)

It’s nice to see bikes and bike lanes everywhere – something new from our previous visits to France.

When we got back to the hotel, there were nine Ferraris in the parking lot. This one probably cost more than the combined price of every car M and I have owned:

We sized up all the people we saw in the hotel that afternoon, but none of them really looked like Ferrari drivers. Or perhaps Ferrari drivers don’t have the same special aura as their cars?

I was impressed by the women’s traditional hats in Alsace, but I think the Black Forest has them beat:

The daily flyer on our breakfast table one day said these hats are world renowned. Once again, we’re out of the fashion loop – never seen them before. It also explained they were traditional in just three small villages, but have become a symbol of the whole Black Forest. Married women wore hats with black balls, while young women wore red ones from confirmation until marriage.

On our last evening we enjoyed an aperitif on the terrace, then a tasty meal.

For dessert, I tried the Marillenknödel (apricot dumplings), a Bohemian/Austrian specialty – far more delicate than I expected, and delicious. M enjoyed a chocolate mousse duo.

No black forest cake was on offer that night, but we have sampled it three different times. The best one by far (sorry, Germany) was at the Chateau de Haut Koenigsbourg in France. Those French pâtissiers just can’t be beat!