On Sunday April 28th, we woke up in Breisach, Germany and our morning excursion was to the Black Forest. Interestingly, no one really knows why it’s called the Black Forest…the most likely story is because of the densely packed trees, which are very dark green.
This is the sunniest part of Germany (so Black Forest doesn’t seem to fit…), and more tourists visit the Black Forest than any other area of Germany. We had a scenic bus ride through the countryside – rolling green hills, towering pine trees, and SNOW! The area grows a huge variety of fruits and vegetables, and many of the fields are terraced which was interesting to see. White asparagus is one of the main crops; they cover the plants to keep them from turning green.
Our destination was a cute little place full of the things that the Black Forest is best known for…cuckoo clocks, glass blowing, and cake! Our time there started with a demonstration of how cuckoo clocks are made; the shop there has them in every imaginable size and shape! And they have one that’s the size of a house, too! Everyone was focused on it when it cuckoo’d every 15 minutes.
From there, we watched some glass blowing in another building, and then took a lovely walk out to St. Oswald’s Chapel which was consecrated in 1148. It will always blow my mind how old so many buildings in Europe are!
We finished up our visit with a demonstration of how Black Forest Cake is made. We learned that the most important ingredient is Kirsch, a colorless brandy. Overall, it wasn’t the best excursion…seemed like a sales pitch to buy clocks and glass and cake. They had offered a hike in the black forest…wish we had done that instead…oh well.
We rode the bus back and enjoyed some delicious Black Forest Cake with our lunch…yum!
From Germany, we headed into France for the afternoon. Our excursion was focused on the Colmar pocket during WWII; it was here that US and French forces fought to overthrow the German occupation of the region. We drove through the heart of the Alsace Region of France, which is known for it’s wines.
We visited the Colmar Pocket Museum, plus the US war memorial on Mt. Sigolsheim. It was so beautiful to see the American flag flying in honor of the 12 units that fought for liberation.
The museum is in the town of Turckheim which had some really beautiful and colorful buildings. The weather was rainy and windy, so it wasn’t ideal, but still very interesting.
Our final stop of this excursion was the Audie Murphy Memorial in Holtzwihr, France. If you’re not familiar with his story, he’s the most decorated soldier in US history, and he single-handedly held off German soldiers in the Colmar pocket at the age of 19. After the war, he had a long acting career, including playing himself in “To Hell and Back”. His memorial is erected at the exact site of his one-man-stand against the Nazis. Again, so nice to see the American flag there.
We learned during both of our tours that storks are prevalent in this area, and they come back to the same nest year after year. The nests are huge (I guess they have to be to store all the babies before delivery!) and they are everywhere!
We closed out the evening with a traditional German dish for dinner – thinly sliced beef in broth with root vegetables…it reminded me of my Mom’s beef stew! And for dessert, stracciatella gelato which was so yummy. We sat with a really nice couple from Salt Lake City. Plus, we got to see a gorgeous sunset looking across the Rhine. Ahhhh. Life is Good.
