Visiting Baiersbronn

The Black Forest is legendary in the Western Psyche, home to Grimm's Fairy Tales, the Disney stories it expropriated (Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood), and Cuckoo Clocks. A place of surpassing and haunting beauty and many a scary story cooked up during a medieval period rife with superstition.

We had taken the train from Zermatt to Koblenz, Germany to visit a family friend of Cyndy's and then rented a car there to drive to the charming village of Baiersbronn at the edge of the forest. We stayed in a wonderful lodge, the Hotel/Restaurant Falken. (Excellent food, great breakfast, charming proprietress and perfectly located.) For the next two days we used it as a base to explore the stunning forest thick with great oak, chestnut and pine trees and ancient villages where we found everything from the famous Triberg Waterfalls to famous Black Forest Cake, steaming hot chocolate, the world's largest cuckoo clock and the House of a 1000 Cuckoos. (Yes, we bought one.)

Visit. You won't be disappointed as you wind through the mountains, along its rivers and impenetrable forests. It's easy to see why so many tales were spun here, and still keep us riveted.