Except that didn’t happen at all. If you read my previous posts, days 1-5, you’ll note that rain barely entered the picture. The forecasts called for high chances of rain. We had clouds, mist, etc., but the rain was intermittent at best. Eventually, we started to ignore the forecasts. Rain or no, it was time to see what was around us.
But first, we had some housekeeping to attend to. Literally. About a week underway, and laundry was running low, especially for the boys. Something had to be done.
This is a common problem for long trips, especially ones that involve walking about, and rain – both can force a mid-day clothing change on you. Unfortunately, hotels view laundry as a profit center: the Lamm listed their laundry service at €4.00. We inquired, and indeed -- €4.00 per piece. That t-shirt? €4.00. They said they could wash a pair of socks plus an undergarment as one piece, but even with that, we did the math, and figured that washing all the stuff we needed would come in somewhere around $200. No thank you.
Your only other option, of course, is to find a Laundromat and do it all yourself – ideally you would have worked that out before your trip, but where’s the adventure in that? We set aside the morning to make this happen. There were challenges: type Laundromat into Google search in Germany and you will likely get dry cleaning places, or even clothing stores. I thought I knew where one was, so we loaded up the van, and headed to central Baiersbronn. We found a tiny little Laundromat, three washers and two driers (wha?) and, $40 and three hours later, we had clean clothes.
Well, the morning looked pretty grim, anyway. Overcast, light drizzle, threatening. See above. But when we were done with the laundry? Sunshine! We packed up the van and headed to the neighboring towns to see what was what. Mitteltal & Baiersbronn aren’t much to see by themselves.
Neighboring Wolfach is about 30 minutes away, down the twisty but scenic Wolfach valley. The town is bisected by the river, as well as a broad, cobbled main street. It wasn’t the glorious half-timberedness we’d see later on, but the locals were trying – including a town museum that is best described as “plucky”. Local costumes through the ages, plus tools and replicas of the timberman’s trade: did I mention that there’s a sawmill nearly every 500 yards in the Black Forest? Makes sense, right? To get all those logs out of said forest, the lumberjacks would tie them together in rafts of three, then attach those to make a very long train of rafts to float down to the Neckar, which would take them to Heidelberg, and then the Rhine.
Wolfach also has a working glass blowing factory - the Dorotheenhuette -- that you can tour and, if you’re into that sort of thing, blow your own vase. We didn’t think transporting hollow glass in out suitcases was a good idea, so instead, we shopped for ornaments. That’s our thing, if you recall from a previous post: we like to collect an ornament from every trip we take. This place was a veritable warehouse of such, and our mission was quickly accomplished.
I also picked up some local whiskey – the Black Forest can’t grow grapes, or grain. It’s a forest. So the locals made a go at distilling the local fruits, and have gotten good enough at it that they’re branching out to grains. My whiskey was a game effort, and I’ve heard raves on (though could not find) Monkey 47, a gin distillery. Over the course of the trip I’d snag Kirschwasser, Williams, Pflumli, Apfel, and even a cranberry liquor which I needed for a cocktail back home. Some of this even made it back to the states.
An afternoon wine/ice cream at their cafe, and…there’s another day. At this point, you can definitely say we’re not overdoing things. Indeed, the previous night we hit upon the secret of the trip. Europe takes a dim view on any drink colder than room temperature, including white wine. There’s no such thing as a “cold case” in the convenience store. So, the previous night, I arranged with the quickie-mart across the street from our hotel to stash a few bottles in their freezer for 30 minutes. Bingo! Cool Riesling. Over the course of the week, we’d refine the process – starting with an empty mini fridge from the hotel, and making the wine purchase in the morning, before leaving. We’d hit Aldi on the way back for breads and cheeses & such. Our meals were simple, but the wine was copious, affordable, and quite good for what it was (I found a dry Grauburgunder that I especially liked). $30 for the six of us, including the wine – why, at that rate, we’re making money. We can’t afford to leave vacation!
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