Miles: 1656/170
Coordinates:+48° 45' 37.72", +8° 14' 23.46" (Baden-Baden)
Going deeper into Germany. The main theme of today was the journey itself, driving through the Black Forest (Schwarzwald auf Deutsch). We will not lie to you. Getting there from Lindau was not fun. Probably it is not the best idea to drive around the German shore of Lake Kostanz in the middle of August. There were many moustachioed caravaners on the one-lane roads and we didn't like it. Doing 60kmh for hours is not fun - especially when your view is 2 bikes on the back of a caravan.
But once we hit Scharzwaldhochstrasse -a typically efficient german word that is much more innocent than it looks, meaning Black Forest High Street- all the day's misery evaporated. It is a cliche, but -as all cliches- it is true: no words can describe the scenery, the smells and the sounds. Rolling hills (up to 1,100m) of thick fir forests with colourful flora (all sort of berries) at the edges & eagles (yes, eagles!) circling and screeching overhead. Just drive through there and experience the serenity and awe that these surroundings transmit for yourselves. It is that good!
Many scenery-absorption-stops later we descended to Baden-Baden, at the edge of the forest. Calling B-B palatial is an understatement. It is utterly posh, well-heeled and -as you expect from a spa-resort - septuagenarian. Even the dogs that we saw at the park were of a considerable age, the poor fellas. Nevertheless, it is definetely relaxing, impressive and much better value than spas back home.
A little anecdote, for the close. There is a fine line between being posh and being rediculous. Playing polo (the horse-riding kind) is definetely posh. Being in your polo uniform at 11pm, sipping a glass of champagne outside a park-hotel's garden while on horseback, by yourself, is way past the line.
Auf wiedersehen
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