The Hotel Lamm’s breakfast doesn’t quite match
Steigenberger, but there’s was vast price difference between the two, and the
Lamm breakfast did the trick. After fighting for my share of pretzel bun, I usually
left the table well fed, ready for an hour of heavy duty sightseeing.
For the first day in the Black Forest, we left the forest.
Odd, I know, but I had an eye on the weather – I had activities planned for
full sun, partial sun, and full rain. This day was going to be a partial sun
day, high chance of rain, which meant we needed a location where there were
both indoor and outdoor sights. I punched Baden-Baden into my mapper, and off
we went.
It was, as predicted, an overcast day – our drive along the
Schwarzwald Hochstrasse was completely obscured by clouds. That’s perfect for
a city walk, though. But, honestly, Baden-Baden didn’t do it for me. It had
some handsome buildings, plus an attractive promenade. We found a bookstore
with an English section
Interlude:
I purchased and read Nick Hornby’s Funny
Girl. Quick sketch: Life is ups and downs. When you reach your high points,
do you know it? How do you stay there? What happens when you’re not at one – is
it necessarily sad? Actually pertinent questions on a vacation. Worth the short
read, as are all of Nick’s works.
along with shoe stores that were
wildly overpriced – even for the cheap sneakers I was trying to replace. I
don’t really know what I was expecting – posh, I guess, with the sort of
ultra-high end shops that make for interesting viewing and fantasy. And a
really ornate old-fashioned Casino, too, please? The one we saw – from the
outside, granted – looked rather Spartan.
When in doubt, I look for a ruin,
preferably Roman – I was well aware that the Romans had built bathing
installations here 2,000 years ago. And after a lengthy trek up and down
flights of city stairs, I found the ruins – in an underground museum that was
closed from noon to 3. Mission fail.
It was time to leave. All the restaurants reeked of touristy failure, so we got sandwiches at a grab-n-go installation that
turned out to be perfectly serviceable, at a reasonable price. Baden-Baden,
you’re not going to soak me, though it was raining by then, so yes, I was
mildly soaked. I’m sure B-B is delightful if
you hit the actual baths, and take a curative. No doubt the service is first
class. It’s just not worth a visit.
Do you know what was worth a visit? The “old” castle high
above the town! Based on what we saw, this is not a particularly popular
destination. Supposedly, there’s a funicular that takes you up the other
adjacent mountain for better views, and yes, this was a twisty drive. Also, the
snack bar was not operating.
Still, the solitude made the visit that much better. This
felt like an authentic ruin (and I do love a good ruin) – quiet, isolated,
mysterious. The castle had delightful details and remarkable verticality: it
was a long and twisty way to the top, with different offshoot paths and viewing
angles.
It was a perfect place for the boys to use their new toys!
And Holman and I made it all the way to the top, for some
breathtaking views.
Anyway, the ruin really salvaged the day. We jetted back to
Mitteltal for dinner.
OK, the scoop on Mitteltal: the town itself has three main
restaurants – a Biergarten style place that we never saw anyone in; a pizzeria;
and the Hotel Lamm restaurant. I’m leaving out the Bareiss hotel and its
associated restaurants, most of which were within walking distance. I’m leaving
these out because they were simply well beyond our spend limit for this trip.
The Bareiss is a serious luxury hotel – their two main restaurants have five
Michelin starts between them. I had a dream that we’d have at least one meal
here, but the total would have reached four figures, and been wasted on the
boys. We could have split up over the course of the week, one couple dining, one watching he kids – but one of the
baseline principles of the trip was that, whenever possible, we stick together.
The Bareiss, and all its Michelin stars, will have to wait.
We had Pizza.
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