Schwarzwald

This past weekend we drove two hours south to the northern part of the Black Forest and stayed at...you guessed it...another youth hostel. You never really know from the pictures what its going to be like, but again, it didn't disappoint. There was meadow all around it, a play ground and a soccer field! Oh happy day! The beds can be hit or miss but these beds were sooooooo comfortable that I didn't want to get up. Well, I never do, but this time because the bed was so comfy. And my absolute favorite part, as usual, is waking up to breakfast and coffee already made. Its the best thing ever.

Leaving the youth hostel to check out a nearby village. A beautiful creek runs through here, or as Marc calls it, the sewer.

There's the youth hostel in the distance.

Magical polka-dot fairy tale mushrooms.

Heading deep into the black forest. The Brothers Grimm were inspired by these woods to write stories like Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Hansel and Gretel.

Walking around in here I have to say that the forest floor seems different, almost like another miniature forest. There were delicate little trees that looked just like the big ones, but tiny. And itty bitty ferns. Maybe all forests are like this and I was just swept up in the fairy tale stuff, but I can see how this was so inspiring for stories. Its a wonder I didn't break into the song from Sleeping Beauty, which I have been known to do.

Pretty sure Hansel and Gretel built this after they escaped as a safe house for other kids lost in the woods.
That's one theory.

It's difficult to capture the colors and beautiful light on a cellphone, but this is pretty good. 

After the walk we went to a place called Mehliskopf which has skiing in the winter and bobsleds and other stuff in the warm months. We definitely needed to do the bobsleds.

Tobin just made the cut to go alone as a ten-year old.

Doren and I headed up the hill. I'm not a fan of roller coasters, going downhill, or speed in general, but we had to try it.

Whew! Glad that's over. It was too fast and scary for me even though I had the brakes on the whole time. Now to the ropes course where my kids do the scary stuff while I watch safely from the ground. They did a ropes course at the weird Pinnochio Park in Italy and loved it, so we figured this would be pretty much the same.

They look like they're going to fix a telephone wire.

Jonah's like nbd. 

Its pretty much the same but a LOT higher.

Toby did just fine on the first course but ended up having to be rescued from the second one. It was pretty scary and I felt really bad for him. A guy had to climb up and use a special tool to detach his harness from the cable while everyone was watching and waiting. I was worried he would feel bad or embarrassed about having to be rescued but fortunately he was fine. Jonah, on the other hand, isn't phased at all. He steps out onto the ropes like its a sidewalk. One part was literally a tightrope with nothing to hold on to. He wasn't scared at all! This is the same kid who will scream and wail if one of the five foods in the world he's willing to eat happen to touch each other on his plate.

Maybe in a few years, pal.

The youth hostel didn't serve dinner on Sundays so we walked across the meadow to that village to a restaurant. Oh my, the Spaetzle! They baked it with grilled onions and cheese. It was divine.

Devouring the (plain) Spaetzle.

The next morning we had our breakfast with only one other couple in the whole place. The staff asked if we could check out a little earlier since a bunch of kids were coming and they needed our room. Sure enough, as we were walking out, no less than one hundred teenagers poured through the doors with backpacks and suit cases to take over the whole place. We made it out just in time!

Before heading home we went to the nearby town of Forbach to find the Goat Path I'd heard about. We barely found the entrance only because a man was feeding the goats and we saw them rush towards him right as we passed. It was a little slice of goat heaven. A deep grassy ravine with a rocky stream running through it and goats trotting around with tons of space.

One of many adorable houses. This is the only time I had my camera ready.

The goats were way down on the other side but when they saw us coming they trotted across a little bridge and up the hill to greet us.

These apples were such a deep, blood red. Kind of like Snow White's apple. COINCIDENCCCCCE???

Juicy and delicious but rather tough. There's your fiber.

Jonah singing Old MacDonald had a goat. Look how impressed they are.

Now to the cow side...

Look out for cow pies!

I mean...do they even know how beautiful their life is? The commercial says "Happy cows come from California" but I've seen how cows in California live. 

Happy cows live in the green meadows of the Schwarzwald!

It's so darn PEACEFUL!!

It would be sad to be in the Black Forest and not eat Black Forest cake spiked with liqueur. Alas, we couldn't find anywhere that was open at the time so we didn't get any. We also didn't see any cuckoo clocks, which is a shame because this is where they come from and, like, my favorite thing. BUT we did manage to get some very thinly sliced Black Forest ham!

We walked around the village of Forbach and found a really cool wooden bridge. We took a little trail along the river and found an amazing playground!

This piece would be lovely in our living room.

Speaking of benches, I melted right into this big, comfy one.

That's it for this trip! Hopefully someday we'll go deeper into the region and do ALL the Schwarzwaldy things.