The Black Forest-Schwartzwald

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Monday, May 31st:

I do remember what I had to eat last night! I had Leberknödel Suppe (liver dumpling soup) with ribbons of french crepes in it...and a salad. I sort of read the menu wrong, and I thought that I was going to get a soup and salad, then a crepe with Nutella on it for dessert. When I finished my soup and salad, I waited and waited for my crepe with Nutella! When I complained to my mom that the waitress was taking so long, she informed me that I had already eaten the crepe...it was what was in the soup! LOL!!! Oh well...that’s what I get for trying to show off and pretend I am fluent in reading German!
So, waking up this morning was awesome! Kenya and I were so cozy in our down bed...and we both had our own down comforter duvets too! The sun was peeking in the open window and we could hear the traffic starting in the streets below. When I had gotten up around 4:00 that morning to go ze bathroom, the toilet wouldn’t flush! Now toilets in Europe are way different than those in the States. There is no tank that you can see, just a button on the wall...the small button is for #1, and the large button is for...well, you get the picture! After dismantling the wall unit (for the small button mind you!) and trying to figure it out, I was just too tired to take the time, so I warned Kenya when we woke up that the toilet had not been flushed yet. It turns out (and yes, I completely figured this out on my own...trust me!) that the night before, when I was running the bath for Kenya, that I had completely turned off the cold water, because the bath was not getting warm very fast! Let me explain...in this very fancy hotel, the faucet controls for the warm and hot water are on the complete opposite side of the bathroom from where the shower is! Aaand...those control all the water in the bathroom! So, if I had not figured that out, I would have had to gotten out of the shower all wet, and adjust the water temperature and get back in! Makes a ton of sense...huh? My dad apparently struggled a bit and he actually called the front desk to tell them that there was no hot water (he had run the shower for 20 minutes to no avail). LOL My parents and I had a good laugh about it over breakfast!

Breakfast!! It was AWESOME! It was a buffet, and we had all the bread, butter, marmelade, nutella, Schmierwurst, eggs, sausage, and bacon we wanted...oh yeah...fruit too! We were the only ones in the dining room, and they had PLENTY of food, so we pilfered a bunch of food for lunch on the road. It was pretty comical to watch us...first Kenya got up and took a roll and about 6 individual packets of nutella...then I got up and took a roll and 3 individual prewrapped cheese wedges. Then my mom and dad got up and got their rolls and condiments, and finally Kenya got up again and got about 5 Schmierwurst packages...we stuffed everything into my purse (thankfully it was nearly empty!) Teaches that hotel to be so friendly and have everything prepackaged for our plunder! We were giggling so hard that I’m sure they were wondering what was going on...probably didn’t take them long to figure out that their empty display/dishes did not equal what was left on our table as far as wrappers and garbage was concerned! Hey...we DID pay for it...it was included in the exhorbitant cost of our room! LOL

The plan today was to drive through France and stop in Strasbourg, one of the bigger cities in France. Since Donaueschingen was situated on the edge of the Black Forest (Schwarzwald), my mom wanted to take the long route through since she had not been to it since she was a child, and she wanted to show us how it looked different than anywhere we had been in Germany, thus far. The Black Forest was named that because the forest used to be so dense, it was impenetrable. The architecture in the houses is noticeably different too. The top of the roofs angle down, in the front, to protect the open eaves of the attic…which, in the older days used to house some of the livestock. Some of the homes are half timbered outside as well (meaning you see the wood beams on the outside of the home in between the stucco). We took several country roads off of the main highway to get a close up look at some of the farms and villages. There was one village that had a tiny roadside chapel that was built in 1775! Kenya and I marveled at the fact that it was built the same year America was born! Inside was very rustic and it had a large bible, some candlesticks, and a statue of the Virgin Mary. I would LOVE to have been able to look at the records that bible must of held! Unfortunately, the door was locked, so we could not get a closer look.

Later on in the morning, we came across this farm, that was also a hotel or bed and breakfast, and there were some calves in the field. They were dancing and frolicking like nobody’s business! I had never seen cows frolic before, except for on T.V. They were running around and kicking their feet up in the air and tossing their heads…my mom and I agreed that the cows from California (from the commercial) are not the happiest in the world…it is the cows of the Black Forest that are…and we had proof! LOL!!

It was really fun to explore the back roads of the Black Forest, but we had a LOT of ground to cover today! So we headed back toward the freeway and soon got to the border of France. We went through the town of Kehl to get into France and boy, all of the signs were different, and we had to get used to reading them in French now! Again…we were disappointed that there were no border guards to stamp our passports!  I pretty much used the driving time to read, but once we got close to Strasbourg, I started to pay attention. We were looking for the best exit to take, since these bigger European cities are pretty difficult to navigate, if you don’t know the area. It was a little hard to do when the speed of traffic was 140 kilometers per hour! So, wouldn’t you know it…the perfect exit (city center) came up too fast, and we passed it…it just went sailing on by!!! By then, I think my mom and dad came to the consensus that it would be too difficult to turn around and/or take the next exit to find the way back to the town center, so we just drove on. Now it was my time to be Miss Grumpy Pants! LOL So my nose went back to my book, and we topped off our stay in France by stopping at a rest area to eat our lunch that we had purloined from the hotel, earlier that morning. (hee hee…I have never used that word before in my life! But it seems to fit!) My dad was pretty happy with how many packages of Schmierwurst Kenya was able to get and he happily gobbled them up! 

My mom could see that I was disappointed about not getting to see Strasbourg, so she asked if I wanted to stop in another city that we were going through…Metz or Nancy. We were already seeing signs for Luxembourg, and I felt like we were all pretty tired of driving, so I said no, let’s just get to Bitburg, where my Uncle Tom lived. Bitburg is a city approximately 45 minutes from Luxembourg City. We were all getting excited by then because we knew we were close to getting there. I took some great pictures from the car of some of the old ancient Roman ruins in the city. We got a little lost again, so my dad got a little anxious again, but we found our way eventually, and soon we were going through Echternacht, which is where my uncle goes to buy gas, chocolate, and cigarettes. We stopped at a gas station, and Kenya and I went in to the grocery and bought some rich milk and dark chocolate…ahhh…yummm…our endorphins were elevated again and we were all happy as we drove through Bitburg. When we got to my uncles’ house, which used to be my grandparent’s house, my uncle had put up a huge Bitburger Pils banner welcoming us there!!! Plus a HUGE American flag too! It had been 25 years since I had been to my grandparents’ house, so there were only a few things that looked familiar to me…the orchard, the pool (now empty), and the back garden. The orchard has about 12 fruit trees in it, and I used to climb them as a child…Kenya followed suit and started climbing them like a monkey! She got stuck up the first one a couple of times, but when I showed her the ones that I used to enjoy in the back of the property, she clambered right up and down like an expert! She had a favorite one where she could even spy on the neighbors! 

My aunt (Monika) had a cake waiting for us…an orange cream cake…omgeee…it was soooo good! Aaaannnnd……the best part of walking into their brand spankin’ new stainless steel, ultra-modern kitchen?????? They too had three magic buttons!!!!!!!!!!! My mom and I did a happy dance right then and there!!! I swear, if I had $1800.00 to spend on one of those espresso machines…I’d be ALL over it! Hmmm…I just may have to look into it when I get home…  We of course had an espresso with our cake and they didn’t even blink twice when Kenya had her own cup! So, I mentioned that they had a new kitchen! It was really a beautiful space! The workers had just finished it the week before. The glass stove top was amazing…it had a magnetic knob that came off, making it child proof. And the functions were all like using a touch screen, once the knob was present…hard to explain, but very chic and modern! I loved the cabinets and drawers…they all had mechanisms so that when you closed a drawer or cabinet, it closed slowly and softly…of course, it you are the type who slams drawers and cabinets when you are angry, you would get no satisfaction at all! LOL Everything had its place in the kitchen…it was so beautifully organized and the granite countertops were pretty too! It was sure a difference from my Oma’s kitchen, but a good change at that.

Kenya and I got to meet my uncle’s dog Falco. We had heard so much about this dog from my mom and dad who had visited a couple of times in the past 5 years. Falco is a Bavarian mountain dog, and he really is the best dog in the world! He went to obedience school when he was a puppy, and wow…does he obey!!! We took him for a walk, and he stayed right with us even though he was unleashed. Talking about taking walks…Bitburg has the BEST walking trail that goes around this big forest. The total length of the walk is about two miles, and it is mostly on even ground. Kenya, my mom, uncle, and I took Falco for his evening walk that night, and we vowed to do it every morning and night for the rest of our stay! My dad’s attack of gout was really affecting his foot, so he stayed behind and got pampered by my aunt…who takes pampering to a whole ‘nother level!  I swear, anything we asked for or mentioned…it was her mission in life to provide!!! She made our stay awesome! And it was only the first night there!!! So blessed are we!!!

Kenya and I shared my mom’s old room…my aunt had twin beds in there, so we each had our own space. My mom and dad were given the master bedroom (my grandparent’s old room), while my aunt and uncle stayed in the “mother-in-law” under their garage…they had built the garage and the mother-in-law apartment approximately 10 years ago, and it had a sauna, a bedroom, a bar area, and a large porch with a picnic table and heat lamp. They use the garage and the surrounding cobblestone driveway for large parties they throw occasionally. The old garage attached to the original structure houses my uncle’s beer refrigerator…LOL…and he told me he doesn’t drink that much beer…me thinks he was fibbing a bit. German people drink beer like soda pop!! Anyway, since it was a long day, we turned in about 10:00 p.m. and were fast asleep before too long. Looking forward to exploring the town tomorrow!!

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