The Black Forest

This past weekend Shelly had a 3-day weekend so we packed up the dogs and went to the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) to do some hiking. The Schwarzwald is our favorite area of Germany so far. Everywhere you go there is beautiful countryside and quaint villages - basically, just what you imagine Germany would look like. The forest is a great place for anyone that likes being outdoors, as there are miles and miles of trails where you can hike and bike throughout the forest to enjoy the scenery.

We arrived at our gasthaus (guesthouse) on Friday evening, and after unloading the car, feeding and walking the dogs, Shelly and I went to check out Triberg. Saturday morning we took the dogs to Triberg with us and hiked the trails around the waterfall. After a radler (beer mixed with lemonade) and some black forest cake we bought a cuckoo clock and took off for another trail. Our second hike was to a point called Brent that allowed for views to Mt. Blanc in France and the Alps of Germany and Switzerland.

Sunday we visited Freiburg, which claims to be Germany's sunniest city. We had great weather all weekend so we can't confirm Freibrug's claim, but it was hot. An interesting thing about Freiburg is that in the Middle Ages the Wiese river was diverted into numerous small canals that served to drain off excess water and extinguish fires. Now the canals just add a unique point of interest to the city, and are a handy way to give water to the dogs.