The Black Forest

So after all the excitment of Liechtenstein it was time to head back to the Land of the Low.

The route back from the Alps to The Netherlands was straight up and along the autobahns of Germany, so with a day or so to spare we decided to take a detour through the Black Forest. But firstly, to answer a couple of burning questions...

1) Is there a forest? Yes! Although, interspersed with a fair amount of pasture and farmland.
2) Is it really black? Well, no not exactly, but rather what those in the know call a "dark canopy of evergreen".

Trivia aside, the Black Forest has long associated with ice cream and gateaux in our minds, and while we didn’t discover too much ice cream, the original Black Forest Gateau did not disappoint! Soaked in kirsch and dripping in cream and cherries it certainly brought a smile to Eric’s face.

Hmmm...Black Forest Gateau!

The region was bursting with the new growth of spring, even though it was only just April, with cherry trees in full bloom and bright flowers blossoming out of window boxes across the villages as we drove by. Pretty little villages full of half timbered houses and evocatively named “pilstubes” (beer cafes) beckoning us around many a corner. We could definitely spend more time here.

The view from our camping spot at Schiltach

A very pretty town indeed!

Sampling the local brew

But the unexpected highlight of the region was undoubtedly the cuckoo clocks!

We had spent most of our time in Switzerland avoiding these gaudy, tacky, tourist fancies, but by the time we got to the Black Forest – and the real home of the cuckoo clock – and saw just how beautiful the German versions were, we had to admit that we both secretly wanted one!

Hmmm...now which one?

And so after much deliberation between the various different models, we are now the proud owners of an authentic Black Forest cuckoo clock – made on the premises of the Hexenlochmuhle, and crafted using the power harnessed from the actual watermill (muhle).

This one!

It was made right here in the workshop...

...powered by this very watermill!

Hexenloch (or “Witch’s Hole”) is a wondrously cool and creepy little valley which apparently is so cold that Lonely Planet states you can see banks of snow months after it has melted elsewhere. Not so true in our case, but after the near tropical weather conditions in St Anton and the rest of the Alps at the moment, you can’t imagine much snow lying around the hillsides or witches holes of Germany.