Day 17

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Amber's Journal:
Today was another beautiful day. We visited three more towns in the Black Forest. First we went to go see Lake Titisee, the largest lake in the region, which is ironic because it is actually very small. The town of Titisee, however, was cute and fun and gave us our first taste of the famous Black Forest craftsmanship. This region is very well-known for their cuckoo clocks, wood carving, and Christmas decorations. We walked through many shops, marveling at everything. I had my heart set on finding a unique hand-carved Nativity set but unfortunately they were quite expensive. Next we went to a town called Furtwangen to go to a clock museum. Preston cracked me up all day because he could never remember the name of Furtwangen or the German name for the Black Forest which is Schwarzwald, and it always came out sounding like jibberish every time he tried. It was pretty funny. Anyways, the clock museum wasn't as exciting as I was hoping but there were a lot of cool clocks to look at from all time periods. Furtwangen the town wasn't that cool either so we left and drove to a town called Triberg to see some supposedly cool waterfalls. When we got there we decided the town looked cooler than the falls (especially compared with the falls in the Alps), so we walked around town instead. Triberg had twice as many shops as Titisee. There were two shops in particular that were filled with AMAZING hand carved wood products. One of them was primarily Christmas stuff and had beautiful Nativities but they were super expensive. There were some really amazing clocks too. We actually bought a little cuckoo clock that is hand-carved and hand-painted. Our drive through the Black Forest to all of these towns was beautiful. I love how every place we have been on this trip is so unique and so beautiful in it's own way. The Black Forest is so green and when you crest one of the hills you get spectacular views of the thick, tall forests and the lush green valleys. And it's really cool being in a place that isn't super touristy and Americanized. After we got back to the hotel we watched the sun set from our balcony. I think it's the first sunset we have taken the time to watch this whole trip. Just before it set the sky was the prettiest blue I think I've seen in a very long time. I love being able to enjoy things like that with Preston. We had a fun time today, just being silly and singing to the radio and such. We had originally planned to go to Freiburg this evening but I'm glad we didn't because we enjoyed ourselves so much in the smaller towns. On a side note, we have not seen any wildlife this whole trip. Well, a couple of squirrels in the Czech Republic and tons of birds everywhere, oh and a dead possum in the road here, but that's it. It seems so strange to us that even in the Alps or the Black Forest we haven't at least seen a deer or something. All we ever see are cows, sheep, goats, and more cows! Tomorrow we plan to go back to Titisee for a bit before we leave for France. Maybe we will even stop in Freiburg, who knows?

Preston's Journal:
I left this in the car last night and didn't feel like going out to get it. Yesterday we left Lauterbrunnen. That beautiful, waterfall-filled valley was left behind. We drove to Grindelwald to get some souvenirs. This town is also in a very pretty valley but it's a more touristy town. Driving from there, we went through Interlaken, up to Bern. We stopped at the Bern Temple for a few minutes, which was very neat (as usual with any temple). We were able to make it to our hotel outside of St. Margen, Germany. I guess it's like a spa place that we're staying at, and there is almost no English around here whatsoever. It has made for a much more cultural experience than we have had up to this point. Even ordering our dinner last night was much more interesting without any English. But we're in a very nice, big room. This morning we had breakfast and headed to Titisee. Oh, by the way, we're in the Black Forest region of Germany. At Titisee, we were able to drive around in circles a couple times, finally finding a parking place at a hotel with internet we could use. Titisee is a town next to the largest lake in the area, which isn't very big. But they have a very neat market along the road leading down to the lake. There are tons of cool shops. After looking at stuff we drove to Furtwangen, where they have a clock museum (as the Black Forest is knows for it's clocks). It was neat, but not extraordinary. After going through, we drove to Triberg where there is a waterfall, but we didn't see it because it seemed weak compared to the ones in Lauterbrunnen. In Triberg we looked at all the shops. We ended up buying a cool (but still cheap by comparison) cuckoo clock. Dinner followed. It has been lots of fun without English, and being with Amber has been great...especially when I can't remember the names of places. The weather, as well, has turned out perfect for us on basically the whole trip.

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Comments

[Larry]

Black Forest Nativity!
I enjoyed reading your blog! If you ever decide on a nativity set (woodcarving), I represent a carver who lives and works there. almosteurope.com - Glad you had a great time.. Larry Hallas

[Stuart Rubenstein]

Grandfather Clocks at a shop in Titisee
I am so impressed with the selection of grandfather clocks that you have displayed in this store. Stuart http://www.grandfatherclocknow.com