Fall is here! We took a lovely road trip and drove up through the Black Forest in SW Germany, stopping in Freiburg on our way to Baden Baden. We drove on the Autobahn part of the way - no general speed limit, but the advisory speed limit is 130 km/hour (81mph). Some cars were going a lot faster and literally zoomed by us!
The Black Forest gets its name from the dense growth of the trees that block out most of the light from inside the forest. Well, a lot of these trees provided a grand display of vibrant fall colors, so we timed our getaway just right!
Our first stop was Freiburg im Breisgau, a pretty large university town (230,000) approximately one hour north of Basel. It also serves as the primary entry point for exploring the Black Forest region. We spent a few hours wandering around the medieval old town and visited the 700-year old Münster.
There was a nice market in the main square with seasonal produce, flowers, apple cider and various other stalls selling items typical of the autumn season. The weather was gorgeous and we were able to enjoy our coffee / hot chocolate outside in the fresh air before pushing on to Baden Baden.
Along the way we passed through several picturesque towns and stopped again for a very short hike to a waterfall outside of Triberg. For lunch Matt had the regional wälder Schinken (ham) but we forgot to try the Black Forest cake (silly us)!
We arrived in Baden Baden with enough time to enjoy the neo-Baroque pedestrian area, Kurhaus (casino - coat and tie required!) and Trinkhalle before it got dark. There's a wonderful walking path running along the canal that was perfect for our evening stroll. It was a lovely little city with stately hotels, tree-lined avenues and groomed parks.
It was the Romans who discovered the healing powers of the town's twelve thermal springs and built its first thermal baths here 2,000 years ago. Although it's a renowned spa town, we didn't visit the baths (saving it for our trip next weekend to Vals). Although the 19th century Friedrichsbad "Roman" style bath sounded the most appealing to us, we read "no clothing allowed inside" and "several sections are mixed." Umm, no thanks (perhaps we're prudes)!
Lastly, we snapped some photos of the place where my sister (Molly) lived when she was here in the late 1980s! (17a Jagdhausstrasse).
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