We managed to sleep in till 6am this morning but unfortunately Kevin is not doing too well with his cold. We got packed up and headed down to breakfast at 8.15am. Just as yummy as yesterday and owner came over to see how everything was. I had pretty much the same as yesterday without the juice. After breakfast we quickly checked out the wellness center – which it would have been nice to enjoy (but we didn’t bring any swimmers). I phoned Mum & Dad to see how my puppies were and to see how they were. Then it was time to check out of the hotel and meet Simone for our next day of touring around the Black Forest.
Our first stop of the day was this amazing Farmhouse Museum.
The farmhouse above (I believe) was built here but the rest were moved here from other parts of the Black Forest. The homes were much bigger than I expected (compared to British homes I guess) but they did home 12-15 people, their animals and all their farming equipment (usually upstairs with a ramp access from higher ground). We spent almost 2 hours here.
This man spent a long time explaining all about basket weaving – in German, with Simone translating.
Inside one of the eating areas – love the cute little sliding windows.
And there were a few animals for us to make friends with.
We stopped for a cup of tea/coffee….
and a photo…
before heading into the heart of cuckoo clock country, passing by yet more cute little German towns. As you can see it turned out a beautiful day (even though we’d had a sprinkle of rain when we arrived at the museum).
We stopped at the worlds widest cuckoo clock…
and the world largest cuckoo clock (which we just missed arriving at 12.10pm)…
We got to go and learn all about the making of this one.
We then drove on to Triberg, famous for it’s cuckoo clock shops. We did have a look in a few but didn’t find anything we absolutely fell in love with. Kevin was partial to this one, with the puppy, but it really wouldn’t suit our home. I think if we do get one it’s going to have to be a modern one.
We had a lunch at a lovely outdoor cafe nearby a waterfall.
I love how many of the waitresses are dressed in costume.
Since Kevin wasn’t feeling the best he opted for something plain like pancakes & fruit. Though they were a lot more doughy than our pancakes they were yummy.
I had a delicious vegetable studel, which was chock full of veggies.
After lunch we went for a hike UP to see this waterfall. Thankfully we only walked up halfway :-). I really don’t know how Kevin managed today as he had body aches & pains and a bit of a fever.
It was worth the walk though. If you’re wondering what I’m holding – it’s a bag of peanuts for the squirrels. We didn’t see any, but we did spot a golden. For the record we have seen a Golden every day – I keep forgetting to include this at the end,so I’ll start putting them in my posts instead – because I know you don’t want to miss any Golden spotting we make :-). I’m sure Simone thinks we’re mad.
This was the only squirrel we managed to find.
We headed back down into town, visited a few shops and the town hall – with it’s amazing wood carved walls.
We spotted a Golden…. yep I know this is the one from the falls….
Next we drove to another town to visit a clock museum. Okay, it might sound boring, but it was really rather interesting.
And we saw a clock that Kevin (and our friend Noel) would love…
and a clock that I would love….
Simone also arranged a guide to show us the musical instruments that took over as an industry when clock making died out.
This one was so loud. I’ve never seen anything like it but it was used to get attention at carnivals.
Next we drove up further into the mountains to one of todays most unexpected highlights – Highland cows. I certainly didn’t expect to see these beauties in Germany. And Simone was surprised how happy we were to see them.
There were even some babies.
And Kevin got a shock from the electric fence (that wasn’t labelled).
Reluctantly we left them and headed to a nearby lake which is very popular with the locals. Definitely a very pretty spot.
We headed higher up into the mountains – past lots of ski fields and more snow. It had started raining a bit as well, so Kevin didn’t get out to play in the snow.
Next was Kevin’s highlight of the day – a coaster ride down the mountain. It was still a bit drizzly and had actually turned cold.
He had a great run down and said he only hit the breaks twice!
Then it was back down through the forest to the town of Freiberg.
Where we actually had to drive through the pedestrian zone to get to our hotel. That was a very odd experience I tell you.
We said farewell to Simone (who was going to stay at her brothers for the night), left our car to be parked and got checked into our room. We were lucky enough to get one of the renovated rooms and it is lovely (just very different to the one we’d come from).
Almost as soon we arrived we heard the church bells (which I had been warned about) and they went FOREVER. The hotel does provide earplugs!!! We worked out after they normally aren’t that bad and with the windows closed you could barely hear them.
We went for a walk around town trying to find something for dinner.
We’ve decided it’s better when the school just tells us where to eat. We haven’t had this trouble before as usually we have a plan/idea of where to eat, or have a motor home. We eventually found another healthy place and got some soup. No English menu but the guy we ordered from was in fact England :-).
Kevin had tomato soup and I had potato (but it was a little too peppery for my liking). The bread, as always, was amazing.
We headed back to the hotel and spotted our second Golden of the day. Couldn’t get a good shot though..
In case you’re wondering how Amy is going, she having a great time but is finding it tiring trying to speak German all the time (I think only the girl she is staying with speaks English). On the day she arrived they had made her a cake.
They have been going to school in the morning and then on outings in the afternoon. Yesterday they went to a museum.
Tomorrow : Exploring Freiberg and possibly driving to France!!!