Black Forest

Before we left Strasbourg, we took a side trip to the Black Forest in Germany. It's a beautiful area, the forest is very dense. Of course, we made a stop at a shop for the obligatory Black Forest souvenir - a cuckoo clock. There were some very intricate and beautiful ones. Of course, I succumbed and bought one. It's not as elaborate as I would have liked, but I couldn't see paying a lot of money on something that I may soon tire of.



While at the cuckoo clock shop, I had a piece of Black Forest Cherry Cake. It was soooo good. They gave us a copy of the recipe, I can't wait for a reason to bake it.

After our shopping and cake, we made a visit to a farm museum. There were several houses. We had a presentation at the oldest house. Honestly, I don't know how those people survived. They probably only lived to their mid 30's. There was no chimney so the smoke from the fire went throughout the house. This helped preserve the wood and retained the heat, but it didn't do much for the health of the residents. They also probably believed that the lack of a chimney would prevent fires. We could still smell the smoke in the house. The barn was also part of the home which didn't do much for the health of the occupants.

There were several disagreements between the Catholics and Protestants at the time. This is not a church. It is a Catholic house. I guess the people really wanted to show everyone what their faith was. The second house belonged to a Protestant family.


It was a wonderful day that was capped off with another wonderful meal. I had French Onion Soup (what else), Roasted Duck a la Orange followed by Mint Creme with Raspberries. Of course, there was unlimited wine, every time I took two sips, the waiter refilled my glass.

That night we set sail for Heidelberg, which for some reason, I was very excited to see.