Today in the Purple Binder was an ambitious driving route, a 270Km circuit through three villages in the Black Forest. But over breakfast we realized that we had an Earl (Day Trips in Germany) writeup for one of the villages, and his trips tend to take some time. So we headed for that place, the town of Triberg, first; and afterward visited a second town, and headed home. Total distance 240Km, time: 9 hours. Here's the route, roughly.
Triberg
Triberg is built on a steep slope with a rushing stream parallel to its main street.
Triberg Hauptstrasse, literally Main Street.
This stream enters the town down what is billed as "Germany's highest waterfall." Well, maybe, if you don't require a waterfall to be a single drop. This waterfall is a stairstep series of cascades.
Total drop of 496 feet.
There is a very scenic, paved path up alongside it. In the woods along and above the stream (also along the roadsides) a pink wildflower is blooming prolifically.
Pink wildflower: what's my name?
At the top the path crosses the falls on a bridge.
Bridge at top of path.
After crossing the stream, the path wanders across a hillside giving some nice views of the town.
The path then leads past a small church, little more than a chapel really, but the interior is heavily decorated with wood-carvings. This is the Black Forest and wood-carving is, or was, a local specialty.
Exterior, with pink wildflowers.
Center of altarpiece, click through to see details.
This church also had an ornately decorated and painted lectern and organ; go to the gallery to see more pics.
We also stopped in to a regional museum that had a good account of how the Black Forest came to be home to, first, a glass industry, then a straw-plaiting industry, then clock-making. It had a number of examples of automatic music machines that could be made to play bright, circus-y music for a euro.
After this walk we splurged on lunch in a hotel where local pond-raised trout were a specialty. Marian had "blue trout." The fish's skin is turned light blue with a vinegar bath; then it is poached whole and presented on the plate in a lifelike posture, swimming through melted butter. Before we thought to take a picture, she'd skinned it and eaten half. So just imagine.
Black Forest
From Triberg we drove through the valleys of the Black Forest.
The Romans dubbed this region "black forest" because the conifer woods were so dark (and no doubt, full of sniping Saxons). It is still heavily wooded, although there seemed to be a village every few kilometers, and farms. The German roads, at least here in the south, have very few places where one can safely pull over and take a picture, but we did find a stopping place to snap a typical farmstead.
There are no ugly, messy or junky farmsteads in Germany, at least so far.
Schiltach
Schiltach, the guidebook said, was "postcard perfect," and they got that pretty much right.
Several more "postcards of Schiltach" in the gallery.
The Historische Altstadt, historical Old Town center, is a mass of half-timbered buildings, most dating from the 1800s but some earlier, all lovingly maintained and painted in complementary pastels.
While there we had coffee and cake, and Marian had Black Forest Cake in this very appropriate setting.
Window Boxes and Hanging Baskets
All through this part of Germany people hang window boxes of flowers out of every window. Often just bright red geraniums but other colors too. And the villages usually have a basket spilling colorful flowers on every lamppost. Just a couple of examples to end on.
Tomorrow: castles and spectacular scenery!
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