Day 4: Black Forest

It's up early to catch our flight from Berlin Tegel to Stuttgart.  We thanked Detlev and said our goodbyes.  We flew Eurowings which is a discount airline that offers cheap ($89 CAD) but you get nothing.  Not even a glass of water!

After picking up our rental van, we set off for our tour of Schwarzwald (Black Forest) in the south-west of Germany.  Richard was our driver today through the twisty and hilly roads. We started the Black Forest Road and entered the hills at Freudenstadt while continuing to admire the breathtaking scenery.  We stopped at Mumulsee (elev. 1036m) where a hilltop lake has become a tourist destination. You can buy fruit flavoured schnapps, cuckoo clocks, fresh bread baked in an outdoor oven and, of course, Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte (Black Forest cake). Check out the views:

Hillside village in the Black Forest

Every village has a church on a hill.

View along the Black Forest Road

Mummelsee is a tourist hot spot for middle aged tourists

The lake at Mummelsee

Marilyn enjoys the late summer sun while admiring the lake

Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte

A view east towards France

We took a side trip off the Black Forest Road to Sashbachwalden which offers Schnappsbrunnen (Schnapps trails) where hikers come across small streams with Schnapps bottles you can sample and pay a small fee. After a short hike due to fading daylight, we finished the Black Forest Road at Baden Baden. We enjoyed another German meal at Gasthaus Sur Zeg. When the server and owner realized we were from Canada we received a free schnapps after dinner and we left some Canadian coins as souvenirs. The adventure concluded with a search for a hotel for the night. The only place we could find was the Waldhotel Post in Bad Liebenzell. The drive over dark hilly twisty roads included a section down a closed road that needed a barrier to be moved to complete the trip. Despite a mix up in the reservation we finally got rooms at 11:00 and fell into bed exhausted.

Houses in the alpine style with window boxes

Some are half-timbered

Hillsides are filled with fruit tree orchards or grapes

Even Sashbachwalden's community center has an alpine look

A Black Forest Road view

Gasthaus Sur Veg in Baden Baden

The view from my balcony in the morning was worth the trip the night before.  

Morning view of Bad Liebenzell

Morning fog in the valley

The Waldhotel Post