Day 7: The Black Forest

The Black Forest

We took about an hour's bus ride up into the hills and then into the Black Forest. There is some debate over why it is called the Black Forest but it is a very dense forest and just seems quite dark. We were taken to an obviously touristy spot with a Best Western, small cafe selling Black Forest Cake, a shop selling lots of cuckoo clocks and a shop demonstrating and selling glass blown objects.  The building itself was a great big cuckoo clock.  We all gathered round to wait for 11:00 but I have to say, it wasn't very exciting.

See what you think.

Cuckoo clocks have a special place in my memory because my grandpa Walther, a Swiss immigrant to Iowa, had a cuckoo clock.  He wound it up every day by pulling on the pine-cone shaped weights. In fact, the very last thing he did in his life was wind up the cuckoo clock. As he pulled down, he just went down on the floor and died.

 What a great way to die!!! His time just ran out.......

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Behind the inn was a walking trail that went under this bridge.  They told us that the Nazis bombed this bridge to smithereens 10 days before the war was over.

  The Allies then made the captured soldiers build it right back up.

 What a waste of time and energy war is.

 When I painted it, the black bled in one place (oops),

 but then it made sense: out of the ashes, the new bridge rises.

So, I made it bleed all over the bridge and it totally changed the painting

from an ordinary boring bridge picture to something more meaningful.

Most quotes about burned bridges say that you shouldn't look back.  But I have learned that I have burned a few bridges in my grief or my anger... 

and I need to rebuild those bridges in order to move on. 

There was a lovely walking trail that we went up beside a small stream.

The only time we really got out in nature on this trip.

Absolutely wonderful to breath in fresh mountain air.

Had a bit of a scare when my legs just crumbled beneath me and I ended up on my butt with legs splayed.  Didn't want to even move for fear I had done something to my artificial hip!  But it was fine.  I just need better hiking shoes..

This was the moss and rocks I slipped on.

I am smiling because I didn't damage anything..

On the bus they showed us a "bollenhut" which is a pom pom hat that 

married women used to wear. (Paulette modeling).

 On the right is a photo from the 1900s of a woman wearing it.

The glass-work was exquisite and beautiful but EXPENSIVE!!!  I wanted to buy these for Andrew (since he collects gecko type artwork) but took these photos

for him Instead since the one on the left is €1080 and on the right €173.  One euro was about one dollar give or take a few. Made our purchase decisions pretty easy.