Flashback Friday! - (Black Forest)
For one weekend, Emma, her mother, and I went down to the Black Forest, called Schwarzwald in German, in Bavaria. Bavaria is the magical place of Germany that actually looks like the German tourist towns of America (cough, cough, Frankenmuth), and is filled with people who have such a thick accent over their German that Emma had to speak in English with them to understand them. The town areas were neat, but a little creepy as they were obviously for tourists and again my mind went straight to Frankenmuth.
The towns all had at least one enormously beautiful catholic church, and while I have never followed in any faith of that sort, I do love and enjoy the architecture and stained glass windows. Often, as a result of the lack of a religious upbringing, I would marvel at strange fountain podiums that I didn't know were for baptisms and beautiful impressionistic stained glass artwork that I called a wonderful collaboration of interesting colors, shaped vaguely like a lion, and that someone else called Jesus. I think my favorite part of the churches were the massive piano organs that had their pipes on walls and ledges.
We visited Freiburg for a little bit, half a day at most, and I loved the bright colors, hidden ally passages between streets and pretty architecture. I wish we had had more time to explore the city. Everything was so wonderfully brightly colored everywhere we went.
I'm not sure where exactly in the area it was, but at some point, we found a lovely lake with a rocky shore that was fun to walk along, there was a present town on the other shore of it that had a lot of co-co clocks. we rented a rowboat and went out on the lake.
I greatly enjoyed seeing the largest waterfall in Germany and all the trails Emma and I found winding through the forest. One evening we went out and found one such trail on the outskirts of the town we were staying in, that in short order led us to a very old beer cellar. We couldn't see much inside except for some movement at which point Emma ran away down the trail. This trail was by far one of the most amazing trails I have ever hiked. It truly seemed like we were in an enchanted forest, following the mossy creek and small wooden bridges that crossed it. I could tell why this was where fairy tails happened, even if the originals were more gruesome than the Disney versions. Just walking over fallen logs and on paths cut through the rock of the mountain, I felt something truly magical about the place. Even the clovers glowed a little brighter.
I'm not sure where exactly in the area it was, but at some point, we found a lovely lake with a rocky shore that was fun to walk along, there was a present town on the other shore of it that had a lot of co-co clocks. we rented a rowboat and went out on the lake.
I greatly enjoyed seeing the largest waterfall in Germany and all the trails Emma and I found winding through the forest. One evening we went out and found one such trail on the outskirts of the town we were staying in, that in short order led us to a very old beer cellar. We couldn't see much inside except for some movement at which point Emma ran away down the trail. This trail was by far one of the most amazing trails I have ever hiked. It truly seemed like we were in an enchanted forest, following the mossy creek and small wooden bridges that crossed it. I could tell why this was where fairy tails happened, even if the originals were more gruesome than the Disney versions. Just walking over fallen logs and on paths cut through the rock of the mountain, I felt something truly magical about the place. Even the clovers glowed a little brighter.
