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