We had some breakfast sandwiches before leaving Freiburg and oh- I got trapped in a bathroom by the way. Once again the bathroom adventures continue. It was at the train station and you had to pay eighty cents to get in which was ridiculous and then I couldn't figure how to get out. They had a six foot rotating metal turnstile and it was kind of confusing, and it wasn't until someone went by me, that I figured you need to go to the left side and push your way out. Whatever. Next time I will just hold it and wait until I can find a free bathroom.
Once we got to our car and paid for parking (kind of funny too because you paid for parking on the opposite side of the street in a totally different garage) we headed for Titisee, a small town about a half hour southeast and located on one of the few lakes in the Black Forrest. We drove through the mountains, and on even smaller German roads. It was a flashback to Hawaii, because the roads were very winding and narrow and not very accommadating when I had urges to read. Luckily, by the time we had arrived in Titisee it had stopped raining, the sun had come out, and it was fairly warm. The whole town was very picturesque and it was surrounded by enormous mountains and the Black Forrest. We stopped for lunch at one of the German restaurants that served Chris' favorite beer Rothaus. It is called "pinecone beer." Tannenzäpfle as it is called literally means little pinecones. I still have no idea why they call it this, but the beer is excellent and I'm with Chris on it being a favorite. By the way, I ordered a pizza with sharp salami,mushroom, field greens and artichokes and I was in heaven.
We toured the town for a little bit and took a boat tour around the lake. I got some fantastic pictures of the town with the mountains in the background and how really beautiful it is out there. I was so glad the weather held up or we probably wouldn't have even tried it. As it was getting later in the day, we decided to go ahead and make the drive to our hotel and get checked in. This has probably been my favorite place we have stayed so far. It is a house a german couple owns with little apartments that you can stay in. The hostess was very friendly and came over and shook my hand and said you she would try her best to speak English to me even though hers wasn't very good (so she claimed). All I know is it was waaaay better then my German. Our apartment was very nice and clean, and the rooms were chilly which was a nice change. Most of the places we had stayed in previously either do not use AC or do not turn it on so it get quite stuffy. And the location was beautiful of course, so I was very excited to get to spend the next two nights here.
The town of Badenweiller was located down the hill where we walked to have dinner and explore the downtown area. It was a very small town, but very pretty and old fashioned. The streets were all cobblestone and it had a fairly big sized church with a clock that chimed on the hour, a bath house, and a park with a historical section where the Roman baths ruins are located. While we were there they were also having a classical symphony so as we ate dinner we could hear such songs as Nessun Dorma playing in the background.
The hotel offered us a nice breakfast in the morning with several selections of fresh juices, cold cuts, fruits, cheese, bread, etc. On this day we planned to drive over to Switzerland to the third largest city called Basel. A note on Basel's road systems....ridiculous!!! We came to a nine way intersection undergoing construction so Chris' reaction of course is I guess we just go (chris side note: there were also no yield, right of way, traffic lights, or signals of any kind)....We did make it though despite all the confusion and I don't think we broke too many Swiss laws. One of the places we stopped at was the Zoo. According to our guide book it was one of the best zoos in Europe. It was still a little rainy, but they had so many different houses in which they kept the animals it didn't matter. It was a very neat experience because they allowed you to get very close to a variety of animals including lions, hippos, girrafes, elepephants, rhinos, etc. and a Mediterranean pelican who kept trying to steal Chris' umbrella. We took a video so you can see the size of these things. This one was still young but some of them grow to be as tall as me!
We toured the surrounding area of Basel and spent a lot of time driving to various wineries in Germany, all of which happend to be close. The whole area was beautiful though and worth the scenic drive and expensive bill that awaited us at the next gas station when it was finally time to fill up our car (after exchange rates it was 100 dollars and we got 650 km on that tank). We enjoyed our last night by eating at one of the restaurants located in the little town we were staying in, driking wine, and trying to catch some more of the classical concert that was ongoing. On Sunday we are going to pack up our stuff and spend the next two nights in Switzerland!
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