Schwarzwald

The Black Forest in Germany has always held magic for me, at least in my imagination. I imagined it to be heavy with pine trees, so heavy that a person would find it difficult, if not impossible, to navigate their way through the forest. I wasn't too far off in my imaginations for the Black Forest is very thick with tall pine trees. But there are also lakes, waterfalls, rivers, hills, mountains, and resorts. The photo below was a Bed and Breakfast right on the lake. What an ideal spot for a get-a-way!

The Black Forest, or Scharzwald as the Germans' call it, is really a wooded mountain range in southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and to the south. The highest peak, Feldberg, has an elevation o f1,493 meters, or 4,898 feet. It is rectangular in shape with a length of 200 km (120 mi.). The Danube begins in the Black Forest.


The main industry is tourism. The Black Forest ham comes from here as well as the Scharzwald Gateau (Black Forest Cake) made with chocolate cake, sour cherries, and a sweet cream cheese filling.

For my uncle, it was the interesting name of the beer that held his interest. Here is a closeup below.

A rather unfortunate name for a beer, wouldn't you agree?

Here we are soaking up the sun on the side of the lake waiting for our afternoon meal.

It wasn't all lakes, mountains, and food. There were some shopping areas as well in the Black Forest and we had to hold Fred back from purchasing these bright neon green kicks. Sometimes you just have to say, "No!"

There were castles to conquer--this one in Feldburg, Germany.



Poor pets to rescue!


Romantic gardens to explore!


Sadly, a poor damsel in distress!
And an occassional tired swimmer that needed rescuing. (I wish!)