Blogs from Titisee-Neustadt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, Europe

Nach der 6. Woche in Stuttgart bin ich wieder zu meiner Mutter gefahren und nach der 7. habe ich mir einen Ausflug in den Schwarzwald nach Titisee vorgenommen. Die gestrige Hinfahrt verlief problemlos und die Straßen zu meinem Ziel waren meist 3- oder 4-spurig ausgebaut. Das Wetter war sehr schön und nach dem Check-in habe ich auf dem Zimmer noch einen Kaffee getrunken und bin danach zum See. Der ist wirklich sehr sehenswert und es gab Touristen aus vielen Ländern. Ich habe mir auch ein Stück Schwarzwälder Schinken gekauft und werde diesen in den nächsten Tagen essen. Nach meinem Spaziergang bin ich noch in den Spa Bereich meines Hotels mit Sauna und Dampfbad. Anschließend habe ich für nur 25 Euro ein gutes 5-Gänge Menü gegessen. Der Tag ging dann mit dem erfolgreichen Fußballspiel der deutschen Nationalmannschaft ... read more

I didn't bother to write up yesterday as it was another train trip to Freiburg following up places we hadn't been to, doing some shopping and getting very hot again. Today is our last day in the Black Forest and we chose another fairly long hike for the day. The hike was the Black Forest Highlands Heritage Trail (Heimatpfad) which took in both heritage and historic spots. We took the train to Hinterzarten about 5kms from Titisee and set off on the route marked with water wheel symbols. The first part of the trail goes down alongside a river in a narrow gulch to several mills with water wheels mainly used for sawing timber and milling grain. We crossed under the main road and to a location that used to have rope makers, millers, barrel makers, ... read more

Today was a day out of the Black Forest mountains and to the city of Freiburg about 40 minutes by train from Titisee. Our Visitors Pass gives us free travel on trains, buses, boats etc. What a surprise we had at the Bahnhof to find a wonderful bread and cake shop within it. There were amazing looking cakes, tarts, croissants, pastries and breads of all sorts. A pity we hadn't picked up the location earlier as it's only about 200m from where we're living. The train after leaving the Titisee area goes through steep hills and deep gorges before arriving out in the lowlands to the west. I'm not sure about the Black Forest name but there are 1000s square kilometres of forest intersperced with medieval villages. Freiburg is the largest city in the area. It ... read more

There was a major event going through Titisee all morning. Thousands of cyclists (over 4000) on mountain bikes passed through for several hours competing in the Black Forest Ultra Bike Marathon. There are five classes of race ranging from 117kms and 3150m in height to 43kms and 900m in height. The route includes both road and off road with various categories for age groups and teams. They were certainly flying as they hit the downhill into Titisee. Fortunately the streets had been shut off for the race or pedestrians would have come off second best. All of this coincided with buses and trains disgorging hundreds of day visitors so the town soon turned into crowded streets of people wandering, shopping, eating or drinking. The more energetic ones set off on hiking trails of which there is ... read more

It's been a day and 315 km since our drive among the birds. The hot air balloon took us not further than 20 km, so we drove with M&A to Titisee, back in Germany. Now we camp in front of the water, swim to the other edge and paddle in circles. (Yes, I know it is stupid to paddle in circles, but Elisa and I can't manage better than that :') The black forest around us provides the perfect environment to relax. We feel no excitement about the fact that it is not long to go for one whole year into a world trip. We are fine. If you are wondering why the lake is called Boob lake,... well it isn't! Boob in German is written with double t "Titti". Always thinking dirty...... read more