Black Forest (Schwarzwald), Germany

Cuckoo clock (wooden clock) and traditional German 'dirndl' are famous here

I wonder why some people might recognize this area as a 'fairy land'. What's up black forest? What do you know or heard about the black forest (BF)? Cake? Perhaps yes. But it is more than a cake. Pulling the hand break from my daily business, I came here to breathe the real Schwarzwald's atmosphere. Unlike her neighbour the Bavarian district, BF (not BFF ya!) has much fewer big cities and more calm. Freiburg is the biggest, I guess. As far as your eye could see, the forest here seems quite dark and weaved with sharp tapered pine trees. Well, I guess that’s why they call it 'fairy land'. It's no wonder Brimm brothers from the neighbouring Hanau region had written  so much folklores and fairy tales. Hansel & Gretel, Red Riding Hood, Cinderella etc....see? The base of those stories is the German forest (Mowgli and his wolf pack story was set-back in an Indian jungle indeed). As a foreigner, I see this place shall be or I might say, supposed to be Germany's pride.

Left: the way to my hotel in Titisee, Right: Farmhouse in Schwarzwald

My trip: Bern - Freiburg - Titisee - Schaffhausen

From Bern, I arrived in Freiburg in the afternoon and found a restaurant for my gastronomic desire. Having kebab set in a Turkish restaurant, I continue my journey to Titisee town in the Baden Wurtemberg district by rail - thanks to Deutche-Banhoff (DB). I couldn't sleep along the way here though the train was so quiet and had a smooth trip. Passing through the German countryside, it was a great sightseeing. You could find neither Volkswagen tower nor Olympic stadion here. No Siemens factory, no Audi assembly plant. It was almost dark when I arrive in Titisee-Neustadt. I stayed in Titisee on that night. Seebachstuble hotel. It was a nice stay. Good service and the room keeper wore their traditional dirndl costume. Their staff able to speak in English. I visited the small town of Titisee which is situated by the Titisee (lake Titi). This lake is surrounded by hilly dark forest. Whatta peace and tranquility place here. Oh yea, one more thing. Black forest is also famous with the cuckoo clock – thanks to the woods from the forest that surrounds this area. I’m not sure where they got the clock making technology, but all we know that Switzerland is famous with that right? I heard the Swiss learned it from the Middle East's Abbasid Caliphate and Islamic kingdoms in Spain prior to the Renaissance era. 

Peaceful scenery by the Titisee

And the last but not the least; the black forest cake. Yup, I can say this cake get its name from this place, though this statement is not so accurate. Apparently, the fermented cherries from this region had been used as one of the essential ingredients to make the cake. So on with the red cherries on the top – typical black forest cake decoration. The next day, while waiting at the platform to enter the train, I heard someone say ‘Assalamualaikum’ as the train door was opened. What? A Muslim here? A German-Turks probably – problem…problem….

Lovely haus ey?

Titisee town

Cuckoo clock and toys shop: make me remember the story of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Blackforest cake (source: wikipedia)

Typical roof design for Swiss-German haus