By 8 a.m. the three of us were on our way to Freiburg--the German one, not the Swiss one--for a day in the Black Forest. Up until this point, I really hadn't been in Germany: I don't fully count shopping in Kehl as Germany, since it's such a boarder town, and I was less than a mile from France the whole time. Even Freiburg isn't that far into Germany, though... I really have to explore my neighboring country more...
Anyway, Alex, Jacqueline, and I wandered around the city for a while, then headed towards where we thought the Black Forest would be. Of course, we got lost and had to double back, but we eventually found a trail. It was quite cool how the city of Freiburg just suddenly transitioned into the Black Forest: there was a major road with tons of buildings on one side, and a famous forest on the other. Very casual.
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| City meets Forest |
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| A really pretty street in Freiburg |
It wasn't really too much of a hike, but the forest is quite hilly, and we took a trail that would give us a good view. Amazingly, many of the trees were still cloaked in their autumn gold and orange leaves, so it was a pretty walk. And steadily, we rose above the city, exchanging snippets of Grimm's Fairytales (remember Hansel and Gretel? and Rapunzel? Cinderella? yeah, all stories collected and published by the Grimm brothers in Germany in 1812, although the stories themselves were originally a bit more gruesome than the Disney versions of today. Some of the fairytales were set in the Black Forest, though).
What surprised me most about the Black Forest? I thought it would be a lot darker and creepier, but it really wasn't. Of course, we were on the very outskirts of the forest, where it was just beginning, so it is probably a lot darker as you hike further in.
We eventually found a viewing tower at the top of a hill, and climbed that, of course. It was quite high up so we were given a fantastic panorama of the Black Forest, Freiburg, and the snow-covered mountains off in the distance.
Two hours in the Black Forest was enough, so the three of us wandered through the main square in Freiburg only to find that the quiet little city had woken up: there were people everywhere, and the whole square near the cathedral had turned into a huge market. The three of us bought bratwursts from a local vendor as our lunch, then headed into a sweet little café for some warm drinks and chocolate cake.
At the café, Jacqueline ordered a slice of Black Forest cake (a local specialty, of course), but I ordered the double-chocolate cake instead. Melissa and I had accidently ordered Black Forest cake about a month ago in Kehl, thinking it was just chocolate cake, and we were extremely disappointed when it was filled with cherries and tasted strongly of alcohol (I later learned--real Black Forest cake is meant to be filled with cherries and is baked with a good amount of Kirsch, a cherry-flavored liqueur). Black Forest cake is not a specialty that I enjoy, and I was happy with my decision to play it safe with double-chocolate cake.
We left Freiburg soon after, and I was home well in time for dinner. I couldn't help but think how easy this little adventure was--you know, just taking a daytrip into Germany to hike in the Black Forest, back by dinner! Everything worked out so perfectly as well... the only hiccup is that I can't understand German at all. Perhaps I'll just have to learn a few words from my host parents!
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