Schwarzwaelder Hof Freiburg im Breisgau

... losing over € 80,-- instead of possibly only € 20,-- when my friend chose not to eat. Quelle domage!

Happily we managed to spent what we weren't able to consume at the next market!

I would not go back to Ribeauville, yes to Kayserberg! Although, I must admit that this was not my first time to this area, the landscape is delightful, the food however was surprisingly mediocre everytime we ate out. Would love some insider recommendations.

Debra Engler

We did not know what to expect of the Black Forest as it was a spur of the moment sort of decision. All we new was that we were heading to Freiburg to camp. Freiburg is a thriving university city nestled between hills and vineyards with population of more than 200 000 people. Shona was not to keen on staying in Freiburg to long as she thought that any city could not live up to the expectation that she had of the black forest ...

We caught the wrong train and wound up in Gengenbach. While we were waiting for a train back we met a lady who told us the town had a beautiful old-town section. So we went discovering again. After a good look around we stopped at a pub while we were waiting for the next train and got talking to the owner. Turns out he'd been to Australia on holiday, so we had a good time talking to him until it was time to go.

Day trip from Villingen. Wolfach has a factory cum tourist attraction where they blow the glass manually. It was good to watch them making vases etc. in the traditional way. The highlight for me was dobbing Roz in to get up on the stage and blow her own vase. She did a good job, and we bought the vase and brought it home. A very special souvenir.

Home of the world famous Hubert Herr clock factory. Met Reinhard Herr, Hubert's great grandson, who still owns and runs the place. The clocks are still handmade and handcarved in the traditional designs. They even make their own clock movements. Spent an hour or so talking to the gentleman, and he explained ...

Stayed here a couple of nights. Just a really pretty place in the heart of the Black Forest. Got my first look at a woodcarvers shop and was blown away by the quality of the work. The fine detail has to be seen in person to be truly appreciated. Snow everywhere ...

... slip on shoes. Here comes the kicker... I take medicine twice a day, have to wrap my foot everyday after applying something that is medicated but smells like icyhot, have to wrap my foot in a weird medicated heliocast at night AND go to therapy three times a week. Oh yeah... I also have another appointment to see the doctor again this Friday. As though waiting for over an hour last Friday was not good enough. Sorry... only mildly bitter. At least it is beginning to feel ...

... The 15km climb" (429km to 517km) Promised to be the toughest day yet, a 90km ride with a 10-15 km climb up to 1139 metres. The day started off with more rain, this time however I pulled out everything I could think off to wear and not get cold...2 cycle shirts, a wind jacket a rain jacket, layer it up!! I even decided to wear my rain pants, not made for cycling, but anything to keep the rain out. However the shoes as well as the gloves never ...

... one in the US. The tram takes you directly to the center of weingaten ( the ghetto). It is definately lower income from the rest of freiburg but in a way it is still a nice place to live. It has a very small town eastern feel to it. You also don't see many Germans. Everything is a little run down but it still looks decent. The area also has excellent turkish, russian, and middle eastern food for very bellig. Maybe 2 to 3 Euro. Young children around 6 or 7 run around the area and take ...

... visit in the "Institut für Menschenrechte" (institute for human rights) - a hot and rather emotional discussion about the abolition of the general conscription (allg. Wehrpflicht) and the sense of military in general with R. S. from the campaign against conscription (www.kampagne.de) - a touching report from a denier of military service in the DDR; he became "Bausoldat" instead, so he had to use the spade instead of the ...