From Innsbruck, on another very fresh below zero morning, we joined the early morning traffic on another autobahn back towards Germany. The road took us passed through some stunning countryside dotted with picturesque villages to both sides, each of them with their tall church spire/s in the centre, only a short drive from the next. The autobahn is a very efficient highway and rather than skirting mountains the road has been built straight through them. These tunnels range from just metres long to the longest being the Ahlberg Tunnel at almost 20km. Remarkable engineering feats.
Late morning marked our arrival in to Lindau, a town built on an island in Lake Constance (also known as Bodensee {German}). By the time we had reached medieval Lindau, our lunch destination, our clear, fresh morning had been left far behind and we were surrounded in a chilly fog which gave the island an almost ethereal feel. Our bus dropped us off near the water's edge and we were free to wander the entire island. Did we? Not quite. After exploring the area and discovering yet another spectacular church behind beautiful doors we found a cosy pink trattoria to share a pizza and drink hot schokolade. Revived by our hot food we moved on to find "Rapunzel's" tower, some more beautifully decorated medieval buildings and yet another church. This one dated back to the year 1000 and was dedicated to St Peter. Not the spectacular decor of many of the larger cathedrals but unique with ancient frescoes in a darkened space behind (yes) nother very unique door.
We happily climbed back aboard the bus when, Joseph, our bus driver, returned to the island, to escape the cold mist. This time towards the Black Forest and our hotel in Lake Titisee. Our arrival at the Maritim hotel in Lake Titisee was under clear skies and our room opened on to a balcony overlooking the spectacular and mostly frozen lake. Wow! What a sunset! Dinner was shared with our group in the main restaurant and was a very convivial evening sharing our travel stories so far. I think we were all much more relaxed knowing we were to spend 3 nights in one place...a chance to catch up on our laundry/travel diaries/blogs etc.
Our first full day in Titisee had us on the bus early to venture deeper in to the Black Forest along the Black Forest High Road (the Schwarzwaldhochstrasse). We stopped along the way at a cuckoo clock factory. Adolf Herr has hand carved cuckoo clocks in this place for decades. His forefathers had also carved cuckoo clocks before him. His work is beautiful and a piece will hang on our wall when we arrive home. He has also turned his craftsmanship to creating a very large cuckoo clock, almost the size of a small house.
This stop was also our morning comfort break and Adolf and his family shared their hospitality with us with a cuppa and a piece of Black Forest cake (when in Rome!)
The weather turned quite pea soupy for the rest of the day; and as we made our way across the Germany/France border we disappointingly didn't get to see the vistas as clearly as we might have. However, our next stop was Strasbourg, Alsace, France. Interesting to enter a city that looks similar to many of the medieval towns and cities that we've already visited and we really haven't travelled far (except into another country) and the language is completely different. The city is beautiful; the Munster (cathedral) is beautiful; the Christmas markets are beautiful; the fog? Not so much. In each Christmas market that we've been to there seems to be one or two very unique items on offer; whether it's craft or food. In Strasbourg we found the baguettes de fromage absolutely delicious and made a perfect lunch...c'est magnifique!
After lunch and a hot chocolate we rejoined our tour and moved onward to Freiburg, back in Germany's Black Forest. Another Munster (cathedral) shrouded in mist; another Christmas market; and ultimately, for us, a warm cafe with hot drinks and a view to the darkened cathedral while we waited for our pick up time.
Hot showers and room service was the perfect choice when we arrived back in Titisee, followed by an early night.
