Is It A Forest

 Today we have a guide and are out to explore the the Black Forest.  I booked the guide online and I liked Simone immediately. She started out with maps of the region and discussed some of the history, regional variations and a planned route.  As Dan would say anyone with a map is my friend. 

So what did we learn.  The Black Forest isn’t just a big forest but a region over 200 in length,  the two southern most sections in Germany Bavaria and Baden tend to have most of the wealth since the cantons are home to big industry these two areas are also heavily catholic compared with the Protestant area in the rest of Germany. At one time the area was completely deforested and has been replanted and now there are strict laws regarding lumber and cutting trees.   The area is highly agricultural and open space and meadows for cows and horses to graze. Yes there is a forest but small towns or villages is the rule.   The southern part of the area is less hilly than the northern part

Are first stop was a little town of Haslat. The best part was today was market day.  A stop at a local butcher Simone insisted we try real “Black Forest” ham.   Then to the bakery for a baguette that was flavored with the Black Forest ham.  Some shopping along the way. Yes Dan has 2 new treasures. The villages all seem to have enough water due to underground water supply or streams running through the town. A stop at the local church and a discussion of the tradition that occurs January 6 where children in the parish dress up as the 3 wise men, knock on all the doors in the village and bless each house. The resident then gives a donation for the blessing and a mark is placed above the door jam which means the home was blessed that year. 

We continued our tour. We have had intermittent rain although rain was forecast all day. It has been pleasant sun and not really cold   We drove into the forest and stopped at a farmhouse and small chapel. Here Simone told us of Naturkuhlschrank and the story of hiking the trails in this portion of the Black Forest.  It seems gamers or residents along the trail will set up a box in it could be sandwiches, desserts, beer, wine non alcoholic beverages and other things. This is down on the honor system and you deposit money in cash slot. There are even boxes where a farmer might have some cups and bottles of schnapps he has distilled available for tasting.  This too is done on the honor system.  You also see in some cities plots of land that like a community garden you can cut your own flowers or pick fruit from some of the trees or vegetables that are growing.  I will post photos of these things. 

We did go to see the world’s largest cuckoo clock and did see some of the clocks. The Black Forest is renowned for the clocks. No one is not coming home. The craftsmanship on some of the clocks is amazing. 

Overall impressions is the Black Forest is like that of the Alsace Lorraine lots of small villages, green pastures or farmed areas and lots of trees.