Black Forest Archive • Die Meurers

Bye-bye Black Forest

With a heavy heart we left the Black Forest. With a big lump in our throats. And some tears were shed… We have been 13 weeks and something in the area and we settled in well already. So it was very difficult to leave. Altogether we have been 95 days on tour for Schwarzwald Plus. A very clever touristic card. Everything that is offered by this card is free for the tourist. From the 80 experiences – that’s how the offers of this card are called – we visited 76 and took photos and described them. What we experienced we wrote in our weekly reports. Furthermore we went hiking, visited France and walked some adventure trails. We have lived in 14 different accommodations and met very many very nice people. We had a wonderful cooperation with the whole team of Schwarzwald Plus. We drove 6744 kilometers. I texted 20057 words. We

Week 15: Culture, Music and Action

Our time here at the Black Forest draws to a close. Last week was a grand final with high culture but also some action. First we moved again. From one amazing view to another: Holiday flat at Haus Sieglinde. We had the huge roof-top apartment and with it a beautiful panoramic view. The house lies also right next to the forest and hiking trails. So there was no argument against early morning exercise… We soon tried to do the second part of the trail in the valley of the hammers. The way is really nice and the church ‚Michaelskirche‘ is a must see. It is quite unusual with the woven wood ceiling and its octagonal form. Just beautiful! And we have seen the log flume. Last time we simply walked past it… At the end of the round tour we had again some problems with the signs. In the description

Tobbogan Run, Downhill Carts and Climbing Park

Waltzing is also about to look beyond one’s own nose. Okay! So far – so good! But this time it was really exciting and also physically exhausting… First we started with the toboggan run. For the photos we unfortunately had to slow down once in a while. Otherwise it would have been interesting to feel the thrill of speed. Probably every one makes himself familiar with the speed though. Especially when you are asked to follow the signs which say „brake!“ The lift upwards is exciting. You are pulled up with the sledge on a steel cable and at the end you feel like beeing on a roller coaster; only that on the other side it does not directly go down steeply… The track itself is actually quite diversified. You go down through curves, a tunnel, a roundabout but also through lovely wooded areas. Very enjoyable! For the photos we

The Meurers at the Hohenzollern Castle

We have visited the Hohenzollern Castle. Because castles play a big role for the Meurers. Already a few hours after our first encounter we visited a castle together. On the entrance gate stood: „Civil Registry Office“. The next day we visited another four different castles together. The rest is history. So exactly 14 years later right on the day we have been at Hohenzollern Castle: Even from a long distance you can see the castles with its many towers soaring on a hill above. By car you cannot reach the top. You have to park on one of the bis parking lots (with costs) and you can either walk up or use the shuttle service. This service costs extra. We choose the sportive version and walked. The ascent is really steep. Every street for cars has signs stating the grade, but for pedestrians there is no information. Here we would

TOP 33 photos from the Black Forest

Phew, that was a hard one. First we wanted to post our TOP 10 images, but that’s not enough. We selected our TOP 33 photos from the Black Forest out of over 1600 photos last night. And here they are:

Deep Purple Live in Concert – Summer Nights Festival Sigmaringen

Yesterday evening we had the chance to see Deep Purple live in concert at the Summer Nights Festival in Sigmaringen. What can we say – the band is still a real smash. The musicians by now quite in retirement age are up there on stage and go full blast as if they had never aged. The festival lasts for two days and Deep Purple played at the second day as the headliner. Before them Alan Parson’s played – sigh – like back then at record player times… With the opener „Highway Star“ the five gentlemen stated clearly that they are still too young for the scrap heap. We were amazed how energetic the boys performed their songs. The set was a good mixture of old and new songs from the album „Now What?!“ I had for the first time in my live a photopass and was allowed to get very near

Week 14: A Lot of Culture

Wow! Already fourteen weeks waltzing and time flies… We experience so much here… First we changed the flat again and moved in a completely new and lovingly designed holiday flat with a gorgeous view over Freudenstadt. Because of this view it is also called Panoramablick. We were very warmly welcomed and felt really at home. Saying good bye was as difficult as from a good friend. Also the last week was packed with tours and adventures. We have been to the Stadtmuseum Freudenstadt where by the way entrance is free! And we did a trip to Strasbourg. This beautiful town we reached with a one hour car drive and it has a romantic historic old town with very many small alleyways and the matchless French flair. And the cathedrale is definitely breathtaking and worth a view. After that we continued with culture and visited both castles in Rastatt: The Residential

A Short Trip to France

After having looked over to France while admiring the georgeous sunset at the Schwarzwaldhochstrasse we finally managed to go there as well. From Freudenstadt it is just an one hour drive by car. You cross the river Rhine at Kehl and soon the whole picture changes: Different traffic signs and a different language. We drove a couple of minutes through a new building area but after that were already in the centre. To find a parking place was no problem at all. We found a place in the car park Austerlitz, which is well organized and even won a prize for that. Each parking deck is lit with a different colour. That is eye-catching and you can remember it easily. From the car park we had to go directly to a café. First of all a café au lait. You only get that in France. Unfortunately not in these nice

Week 13: Segway-Tour and Ostrich Farm

Quite late but finally here: our weekly review. The last week has been again very interesting. The title of this post does not show all of it. On Saturday we moved – like every week. We went to the Hotel Schloss Silberberg. High above on a hill at the end of a dead end street you have not only a gorgeous view over the valley but it is also very quiet. The guests are a wild mix and rather international. There are a lot of activities offered in the hotel like fitness room, Sauna, Billiard, Darts and a youth room. We liked our stay there very much and met interesting people. But we could not enjoy the quietness very long and we were on the move again. We did a segway tour. First you get an introduction with theory and lots of practical exercises. It is not easy to step

Week 12: Photos, Pools and Archery

Again a week passed by… How time flies… Last week we had two different domiciles: An incredible creative holiday flat – but unfortunately without Wifi – and then we stayed at the Tanne Tonbach. An innovative hotel with unusual facilities like a beer merry-go-round or a tree house sauna. But the most unusual thing was that we slept in different rooms. But that’s why we are on tour; to try out new things. First we had to work some time on all the things that we did the week before, when we experienced quite a lot. But we still had the time to discover and visit interesting sites and events. In Neuenbürg we have been to an medieval festival. That was quite relaxed but also really huge. There has been a handicraft quarter, a camp, a jousting area and a market with quite a lot culinary offers. The atmosphere was