germany
Germany
23rd October 2007: Saarbrucken, Germany
Entered Germany at Saarbrucken on the way to Heidelberg and didn't even need to stop or show passports at all. Duzi2 was humming along nicely along the autobahn when we realised that speed limits seemed to be a thing of the past in the far left lane. We even took Duzi2 into the fast lane twice, but got flashed each time so decided to keep to the slow or middle lanes from then on.
We decided to visit Heidelberg to see the Schloss (castle) which was huge and incredibly beautiful. Some of the outer walls had fallen down given a unique view of a cross-section of the castle's structure and rooms inside. The views from the castle down over Heidelberg aldstadt and its many bridges reminded us of the old quarter of Prague.
We had a quick look in the castle shop for a country sticker, something we haven't found yet, and happened to see a lovely little Heidi Haus cuckoo clock with Heidi, Peter, a goat and grandpa in the garden and other characters that move around the top. Extravagantly we bought this to hopefully post home soon. We didn't stay too long at the castle as we still needed to find a place to stay in Baden-Baden and truck stops weren't a popular option for our second night.
We arrived in the posh town of Baden-Baden to find there are no campsites, but luckily one youth hostel. We managed to get a room and safe parking from Max. We were told off by a very grouchy frau "This is a PREEVIT parking place this is NOT acceptable your car!", we are in Germany after all. Duzi2 was banished to the dark public car park next door.
We have both been amazed by the stunning autumn colours so visible in the trees everywhere, in various shades of gold, yellow, amber, red, brown and orange. It's such a pretty time to see this beautiful countryside.
Looking forward to a good, warm nights sleep and a hot shower.
24th October 2007: Baden-Baden, Germany GPS Info: N48°46'36.8" E08°13'28.7"
Miles today: 91 Total Miles: 687
After a warm nights sleep we overslept and missed the hostel breakfast due to not changing the time on my watch. Was a good excuse to then head into the streets nearby where we found a little supermarket selling all sorts of typical German christmas biscuits and chocolates. Paps you would have gone crazy and spent too much money.
Spent a few hours updating the website at an internet cafe and updated GPS info from the laptop. Who needs a freezer when the temperature is so cold!
Happy 30th birthday Jo! We hope you have a fantastic day.
In case we don't get to update later, Bren, we wish you a very special 30th birthday for tomorrow, just before you become a mom!
Walked into Baden-Baden in search of "Gondrom" a bookshop Max (from YHA) had told us to try, for an English travel book of Europe, to help us find campsites.
On the way, true to Ross & Heidi form, we were distracted by TCHIBO !! (one of our favourite shops in London) and we went in to see what they had. Ross found some gloves, which he hadn't thought he would need, but realised he was now freezingly wrong. Also bought some ButterKuchen, Kessekuchen? and choc-chip cookie from them for sustenance...
There were unfortunately no suitable English guide books available, so lets hope we can find campsites easily enough without one. We quickly popped into another Internet cafe to send an email to Bene (our UK neighbour) about their offer of us staying in their home on the Med (south of France).
Left Baden-Baden along local roads to head into the Schwarzwald (Black Forest) rather than spend another night with the grouchy Frau. The roads were beautiful and very scenic towards Villingen & Schwenningen with typical wooden, A-framed, flower-boxed houses.We drove up a really steep winding pass in the dark reaching 879 metres past cute cuckoo clock shops, then decided it was too beautiful to miss and took Duzi2 most of the way back down again. We stopped in Hornberg to find a campsite, but no luck so asked for permission to camp in a field in Gutach. We set up the tent in the freezing cold and with both of us shivering madly we quickly munched our way through our "breakfast" of ham & cheese rolls, for dinner!! before settling in to sleep with duvet and sleeping bags over us.
Thursday 25th October 2007, Gutach, Schwarzwald, Germany GPS Info: N48°14'3.2" E08°12'57.9"
Miles today: 178 Total Miles: 865
We woke up to a chilly morning with huge, beautiful homes nestled into the high forested mountain sides surrounding our field. A farmer was busy loading his freshly cut hay onto his tractor drawn cart in the lush green field next to us.
We packed up and headed back up the steep, stunningly beautiful pass in daylight this time, passing through lots of long, inclined tunnels. We stopped at one clock shop that looked just like a cuckoo clock itself, to browse through. We also learned that the cuckoo clock originated in this Schwarzwald area. Some of the clocks in the shop were amazingly detailed wooden works of art.
Both being hungry now, we crossed the road to try out some traditional real Black Forest cake with some coffee and hot chocolate, while other locals popped in for their regular hearty lunchtime fare.We were served by an old man who had been a wrestling champion reigning for thirty years, who proudly explained all the medals on display on the wall. We nodded politely during his conversation, but a lot of it was lost in translation.
Continued through the area to the Swiss border at Schaffhausen.