Triberg and the Black Forest

Saturday Kyle and I took a trip to Triberg and the Black Forest.  It was a USO tour and was well worth it!  We had a great tour guide that lives in a small village in the Black Forest, so she took us to places that are off the beaten path that we wouldn't have been able to see on our own.  We started off visiting the work shop of a master wood carver. Unfortunately he is one of only three left in the Black Forest.

We then went to visit a bee keeper at his farm.  He showed us the hives, and some people on our tour held one of the boards of honeycomb full of bees.  I did not partake in that.  (Didn't have my epi-pen with me :)  We got to sample some of the stuff that they make like honey rum, honey beer, honey gummy bears, and of course, honey!  Wandering around on their farm were ponies, chickens, cows, goats, and cats.  I think they were kind of like the Beverly Hillbillies of the Black Forest (in a good way!).

The bee keeper's farm

We stopped to have lunch at a generations old family farm.  Everything we ate was produced at their organic farm.  We had homemade bread, Black Forest ham, cheese, and pickles.  We even did some schnapps tastings of their homemade schnapps.  The grandma did the tastings with us and took us to see the backyard garage distillery.  It seemed a bit moonshine-ish, and it really warmed you up on the way down; especially the sweet potato schnapps.  That was a bit rough!

Nothing like the Black Forest ham from Kroger!

After lunch we went to see the shop of a cuckoo clock maker.  He did a little demonstration for us and told us about the process. He does absolutely beautiful work.  Cuckoo clocks were invented in the Black Forest.  This was the first time that the thought, "I need a cuckoo clock" ever crossed my mind.

We had some time to wander around the small mountain town of Triberg.  The first stop for Kyle and I was at a cafe to eat none other than true Black Forest cake.  It was definitely a lot different that the kind I've had in the US, but very tasty.

The quaint town of Triberg

Right at the edge of town is Germany's tallest waterfall.  We climbed up to the top.  Everywhere you looked was another gorgeous photo-op.  I think Kyle took probably 80 pics of just the waterfall.  I can't wait to go back in the winter.   The fall freezes over and they do a light show.  Sounds pretty amazing!

Happy 5 year Wedding Anniversary!

 After such a busy weekend with Munich on Friday and the Black Forest on Saturday, Kyle and I still had enough energy to go back for the last day of Spring Fest in Stuttgart on Sunday.  The USO had several tables reserved in Grandls Hofbrau tent.  Last week we spent most of the time wandering around the fest, so this time we spent most of the time in the tent listening to the bands and enjoying half chickens and Hofbrau hefeweizen.  Nothing like chicken and beer for Sunday brunch, but I guess its 5 o'clock somewhere.

Do I look German yet?