It was a decent sized branch we had jumped over. I hadn’t seen it coming. I spotted a park lane in the distance and pulled over. We still had 350km to cover on our way back from Heidelberg. Our Civic is equipped with these funny tubeless tyres; spare wheel not included. We checked for signs of damage; there were none. Sneha and I sat with our heads down—until our heavy breathing subsided, our nerves no more hyper, and our heart rates back to normal.

Sneha and I remember yet another road incident from the past—our visit to Cherating. A couple of things didn’t go well on that trip. The stingray incident was one. This following is the other.

We were driving back home, and it started raining heavy. On one of the troughs on the highway, I was trying to overtake a truck—in poor visibility, in spite of wipers functioning at maxed-out speed. On one side was the concrete wall, the truck I was overtaking was on the other.

The truck began lurching towards us, and I was half way through its length. That was when we entered the trough, only to be hit by a ton of displaced water—completely blinding us. Because of the speed of both vehicles traversing through a mass of water, the water stayed in the air for a few moments in what seemed like an eternity, and knocking the living daylights out of us. That was a close call.

Now we know what it feels like—to be stuck between a rock and a hard place.

It was here at the University of Heidelberg that in 1860, two great scientists—Gustav Kirchhoff and Robert Bunsen—developed Spectrum analysis, which later became a stepping stone for quantum mechanics.

When you arrive at a place armed with information like this, you tend to look at it in different light. The aura of such places make you feel as if you’re on a scientific pilgrimage. Yet, we managed to retain our tourist-y approach and did go out to venture into this lovely city.

Most notable are ruins of the beautiful 13th century Heidelberger Schloss high above, and overlooking the old town. It’s miserable to note that, it was destroyed by a mere bolt of lightning. (If only they had arresters then, we’d still be basking in its magnificence.) Among other things, the castle contains unusual treasures like the second largest beer keg in the world.

On the way back, we enjoyed a ride down to the Kornmarkt in the funicular railway, whose travel is almost like a vertical drop.

Heidelberger Schloss (Castle): Schloss 1, 69117 Heidelberg, DE.

University of Heidelberg: Grabengasse 1 D-69117 Heidelberg, DE.

When you’re about to visit eco-friendly regions like the Black Forest in your not so eco-friendly transport, you might experience an unconscious sense of guilt—however remote that sounds. In our case thankfully, the new German regulation helped. Our car got classified as low emission—Group 4, and Dekra promptly issued us a green sticker.

Weather was the other concern. The ten-day forecast on MSN was anything but encouraging. Snow, this Spring, was putting me off so much that I kept pestering my colleagues about whether it was worth investing in winter-tyres. Regulation helped here too: Winter tyres are strongly recommended between November and March—but not mandatory.¹

Spring is an odd season to visit the Black Forest. You have a fifty percent chance of a good weather, with a good measure of unpredictability. On the plus side however, you don’t see tourists thronging the streets.² 30th March, however, was our day; and to our delight, it was a twilight of Sun and snow—with snow cleared hill roads, while the hills and valleys donned their shining bright white coats.

Home to the world’s largest Cuckoo clock, Schonach is a tiny town about 50km north-west of Freiburg. It’s hard not to let a sigh out wherever you look. Every frame appears picture perfect. Campers, bikers, kids, young and old remind you that you haven’t actually died and gone to heaven, but that it’s a place on earth.

The clock and its associated wooden gear wheels occupy an entire 15′ house. The wooden cuckoo peeks out of the large window whenever the clock strikes an hour. The associated pump mechanism makes the swoosh sound like a cuckoo—something that kids couldn’t have enough of. The owner was kind enough to let our kids—Aaryana and Saanvi—have a go at pulling those tugs to hear the cuckoo over and over.

Triberg is an adjoint town tracing the origins of Danube. Full of mountain bike and hiking trails, it also has a decent shopping street—selling the popular and skilled wooden craft that this region is well known for. Watching skilled craftsmen go about chiseling cuckoo-clock frames, and biblical characters of out of butter-like wood makes you go hmmm with awe.³

The day rolled over as if we’d hardly spent it wisely; but then good things last only for a few moments. It’s what you savour in those moments that counts, I guess.

Cuckoo clock: Untertalstr. 28 78136 Schonach im Schwarzwald, DE.

Triberg Waterfalls: Hauptstraße 57, 78098 Triberg, DE.

1. That said, if you’re involved in an accident, and you’re not riding on those special tyres, you could become an easy goat.
2. July and August are such times, we hear.
3. Planning to buy a clock? Then, buy one here. The prices may seem exorbitant, but believe us, they’re twice over everywhere else.

On our second night there during our stereotypical tourist-y stroll, we chanced upon an old Belgian couple drive into Kaiser Joseph Straße. They were lost, and were looking for directions to Colmar in France! Yes, that’s how close Freiburg is to France, and to Switzerland.

The couple asked for our help. It was about 9pm—and the street was but deserted. When we saw that they were using a road map—apparently from ANWB—we were not surprised. It’s not that ANWB’s maps aren’t good—in fact, they’re excellent, but that navigation using maps in the night is obviously difficult. What did surprise us though was that they had a Tomtom, but didn’t know how to use it! Anyhow, its presence helped us help them better—I mention this because they didn’t understand a word of English. But I digress.

Freiburg exudes a certain quiet charm—like the mosaic decorated cobblestone pavements; the medieval architecture, traditional buildings with modern signboards, street names labeled in German Gothic fonts; Bächle¹—that it is hard not to fall in love with this city.

The area near the main station bustles with activity: lots of bicycles on streets, folks and tourists enjoying their coffee out on the cobblestone streets; kids trying stunts with their BMX bikes in front of Konzerthaus; Randstad trams taking people to and from the city center; college kids queuing in front of the multiplex, et al.

When we were planning our trip to the Black Forest region, Freiburg was a mere “stopover, rest, and continue point” on our radar. Now, I would beg to differ. This is a must visit place. It might even make you want to live there, forever.

Address for your GPS navigator: Konrad-Adenauer-Platz 1, 79098 Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, DE.

1. Not to be mistaken for wastewater gutters; in the ancient times, apparently, it was used for water supply and firefighting.

With two weeks of mid term holidays for kids, we made our unplanned trip to Cologne, Germany happen—last weekend. The lack of planning cost us, but in retrospect, Cologne was one of the delightful short holidays we took. Some notes from the trip.

Autobahn (driving) sense. One of the first things you’ll notice is the speed with which they come at you from behind, flashing an invisible sign that seems to read: “Get out of my way.” Many—if not most—stretches of Autobahns have no speed limits, and so, as you can imagine, GP doesn’t just happen at Hockenheimring.

Germany this autumn. With speeds at over 140kmph, we couldn’t take pictures of the bright and cheerful autumn trees along the A3 autobahn, but it was a sight that lifted our spirits in an otherwise foggy weather.

Rhine. This beautiful river—meandering through Cologne, and flowing at ease towards the North sea—doesn’t look like it has a history of devastation. At the entrance of Schokoladen museum, I was shocked to see a picture labeled “ice flood” depicting Cologne with Rhine frozen in spate! It is hard to imagine floods, but frozen meters high above, with people waiting for the river to thaw, indeed boggles the mind.

Dom. The greatest attraction and the prime reason we went to Cologne was to see the magnificent Cologne cathedral, better known as the Dom.

Köln Dom © Bruno D Rodrigues, CC.

“Note how its lacy spires and flying buttresses create a sensation of lightness and fragility despite its impressive mass and height” is how Lonely Planet describes the Dom, and I absolutely agree. At an impossible height to width ratio of 3.6:1, this structure makes you work to get it all in one frame. Mortals like me could only manage parts of it.

Cologne Cathedral During WWII © The Rocketeer, CC.

Dom amazes me with this one fact, in particular: it withstood the onslaught of allied bombings and sustained fourteen hits, but refused to collapse.

This is what The Rough Guide to Europe has to say about Dom and Cologne:

“One of the largest Gothic buildings ever constructed, Cologne’s Dom is built on a scale that reflects its power—the archbishop was one of the seven Electors of the Holy Roman Empire, and the Dom remains the seat of the Primate of Germany. The chancel was completed in 1322, but then the extravagant ambition of the plans began to take its toll. In 1560 the project was abandoned, to be resumed only in the nineteenth century, so what you see today is an act of homage from one age to another.”

“The Domschatzkammer in the cellars, entered from the north side of the building, contains a stunning array of treasury items, the original scriptures from the medieval south portal and items excavated from Merovingian royal graves.”

Artifacts in the Domschatzkammer really spelled the meaning of power—for us—in the medieval times. It is no wonder how influential and powerful the holy Roman empire was.

View Larger Map

Cologne (Köln) city. “Cologne does spoil its visitors: it heaps on the magnificent architecture, splendid museums, superb theater and concerts, excellent dance clubs, and enormous department stores, and then, if that wasn’t enough, it heaps some great food and beer on top.” —Lonely Planet. I don’t think I can beat that succinct description.

Eau de Cologne. In spite of great icons like the Dom, Cologne interestingly is defined and popularized by a fine print. Eau de Cologne is a fine example. I mean I have known Cologne before I knew Dom, thanks to a product I used.

Determined to visit the home of Eau de Cologne, we visited Glockengasse No. 4711 to pick up a few original Eau de toilette products, whose ingredients have remained a secret to this day. They have a delicious fragrance, I admit.

We also visited Römisch-Germanishes museum to learn a thing or two about Roman occupation of Germany; and also because Aaryana is learning about Romans in school this season.

We could have easily spent a couple more days exploring Cologne, Rhine and those alluring shopping streets, but it was time to head home. Cologne, and Germany—in general—is beautiful. I’d recommend it to anyone.

Cologne Cathedral: Dompropst Margarethenkloster 5, 50667 Cologne, DE.

Eau de Cologne: Glockengasse No. 4711 Cologne, DE.

Chocolate Museum: Am Schokoladenmuseum 1a 50678 Cologne, DE.