Rainy day in Waldkirch

There was a zoo, beer garden, kid-friendly hike, and high tree-top adventure park a few minutes walk from our AirBnB in Waldkirch so we had an easy day exploring until the rain forced us in for a chill movie afternoon/evening. 

First, we set off on the "sensory path," a steep climb up the mountain, passing various adventure stations on our way up to the tree-top path. 

A glimpse of the local castle ruins across the river. 

Waldkirch

There was a great playground at the top of the mountain, but that wasn't even the main attraction. We were there to check out the Webaumkronenweg-Waldkirch, a tree top adventure park. It features Europe's longest tube slide. We passed the bottom of the slide on our way up the mountain. Jude was really bummed to learn that the slide was closed due to the rain. The playground in the park, treetop walks, and barefoot path were still really cool and luckily, as were we leaving, I asked again about the slide and they agreed to let us go! Maeve wasn't keen so she and I ran down the hill to meet the boys after their ride. 

I took a video of him walking barefoot proclaiming, "ow, ow, ow, ow" the whole way! 

At the bottom of the mountain, we tucked into lunch at the Stadtrainsee Restaurant. Unfortunately, the playground outside was too wet. 

Our AirBnB came with free zoo passes so we checked it out for a bit until the rain came pouring down. Cool to see the local lynx and a very ornery alpaca. 

Adventures in Freiburg

Our second AirBnB was a short train ride away from Freiburg, the capital of the Black Forest and a large, bustling university town. It is purported to be one of the sunniest and warmest cities in Germany. Not today! 

Charming Waldkirch was having its weekly market, but we had a train to catch. 

From the train station in Freiburg, we did a walking tour of the city center. The square around the cathedral was very pretty and was also hosting a market. We had to try the "Lange Rote" (Freiburg's famous long red sausages sold from numerous food carts outside the church). 

Beautiful ornate wood carvings in the church entrance. A net protects them from birds.

We then walked along the perimeter of the city and playground hopped. The main one was very impressive. The city is tucked up against a forest and later, we walked through it, finding another play area. 

We had one final destination in mind, a local beer garden. Obviously not a day for drinking outside, but the interior of Hausbrauerei Feierling was warm and the food delicious. A perfect spot for a few rounds of beer and exploding kittens. 

Beer brewery food didn't cut it for our picky eater, so we stopped at McDonalds in the building connected to this historic tower (seems wrong!).

Beautiful evening skies back in Waldkirch

And big excitement for Maeve's first lost tooth! Since this trip, Maeve has lost her second tooth while visiting the Christmas markets in France. Now we are wondering what country we'll be in when she loses tooth #3! 

Kloster Allerheiligen, Lotharpfad, Wolfach, and the Black Forest Open Air Museum

There is always more to do in an area than we have time for, but we wanted to see the Southern Black Forest as well, so we packed it up and hit the road, making some great stops along the way.

It was another dreary, rainy day, but it made the ruins of the All Saints' Abbey that much more mystical and left the popular waterfall hiking trail practically empty. 

We drove along Route 500, which cuts through the Black Forest from north to south. Presumably, there are views along this scenic drive, but none were to be seen through the fog. We stopped for a picnic lunch in a protected shelter next to the Lotharpfad hiking trail. Hurricane Lothar tore through this area in 1999, destroying the forest in its wake. This hike goes through this area to show the process of forest regrowth. It was a fun (but wet) little hike up and down various boardwalks to protect the growth. 

The skies started to clear as we came down the mountain. We drove through numerous little cute villages. I made Pete stop in one, Wolfach so I could take some photos of the colorful main street. 

We made it by late afternoon to the Black Forest Open Air Museum, where numerous old farmhouses from different eras have been brought and restored to show the history of the area. There were some playgrounds and some play rooms in a few farm houses, but we were not over the moon about this place. It was cool to see how people lived with their livestock in these big buildings. The little house restored as a cafe with local wine was also a nice touch. 

These fetching (??) red hats are traditionally worn by single ladies in the region to announce their availability. It is one of the main symbols of the Black Forest that they highlight at the tourist shops! 

Today was Pete and my 14th wedding anniversary. It was a very casual day and it ended at a very casual restaurant where the owner was obsessed with pool and was shocked that we didn't know the famous American pool players. We tried to explain that there are some bigger sports in America... 

And then we made the rest of the drive to Waldkirch, our home base for the rest of our Black Forest adventures!