We have a 4 day holiday this weekend, thanks to a Bank holiday on Tuesday and a bridge day Monday, yay for Germany! So we decided to take a road trip to the Black Forest, a visit to Freiburg, and a dip into France to Colmar and back home.
So, the true first stop was actually here:
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yes, folks... a T"K" Maxx, just south of Ulm at the halfway point to the Black Forest... but alas, it was too good to be true... to our (well let's be honest, "my") complete and utter disappointment, it is NOT like TJ Maxx, no, not even close and therefore no longer worth talking about... We'll just leave it with the good news is that we will not ever have to go back!
So... our next "first" stop is a small town called Hinterzarten in the southern Black Forest.
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| Hinterzarten |
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| Our hotel |
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| room |
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| checked in... |
So we picked Hinterzarten for it's proximity to the famous Lake Titisee. However, we both declared the town a bust! Haha yes, pun intended. Yep, after a trek through the town and a not so scenic hike around the lake, we were not so impressed. Turns out that
our town actually has better hiking trails and despite the purchase of a trail map, we were not able to find any good scenic trails. The town and lake are charming but can be done in a couple of hours. We were really hoping for a nice vigorous hiking trail in a dense thick forest, but the trails that we tried were heavily traversed wide paths with streets and highways in close visual and audible proximity. Not the serene, thought-provoking commune with nature that we were hoping for. We are crossing Lake Titisee and Hinterzarten off our list but will give the Black Forest another try later. There has to be better, scenic wilderness trails in the famous Black Forest.... Right?
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| Lake Titisee in the background |
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| Kiwi got to practice some off leash training... |
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| on a trail |
**side story: The hotel we stayed in included breakfast and as we were waking up, the aromatic smells of breakfast cooking and coffee greeted us. Well, Kiwi, of the canine species and in possession of a pretty good nose had been formulating a plan all morning unbeknownst to us. At first crack of the door, Kiwi bolts down the stairs to the breakfast room (where dogs are NOT allowed) and proceeds to cajole the bed and breakfast owner as well as the surprised hotel guests for a bit of sausage please. I run after her and to my embarrassment she tries to play keep-away with me under the tables and chairs while other hotel guests look on with what I can only hope is amusement. It took a good 10 minutes to finally "catch" her and haul her upstairs. Suffice to say 10 minutes later, we head down to breakfast feeling pretty sheepish on behalf of our wiley dog. (side note: German dogs are super trained and obedient (i.e. not allowed to have any fun) and would never ever dare to cause trouble and we are now clearly marked as tourists by Kiwi's shenanigans)
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| on the bank of Lake Titisee |
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| checking the water |
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| yep, it's water |
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| mmm... good |
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| carvings along the lake trail |
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the last leg of the lake trail, yes, the trail is on the side of the road.... what???
Next stop Freiburg.... |
Ha, ha, ha...sweet sweet Kiwi causing a little morning confusion. Glad she is keeping her American Spirit alive!
ReplyDeleteTanya...what a scam with T"k" MAXX...at least you have IKEA!
xo