Not as Black as it’s Painted

 We stayed in Regensburg for Thanksgiving weekend, and were ready to go somewhere else the following weekend; we chose Zurich, Switzerland. We easily booked a hotel with credit card points (Chase Sapphire is everything it advertises) and planned the route. When we visited Neuschwanstein we missed the Black Forest by 100 miles or so, and did not realize until after we left the area. On this trip, we resolved to visit the area as it was mostly on the way to Zurich.

Triberg Wasserfalle

Google helped me to locate a city in the heart of the Black Forest, Triberg. In addition to fitting our only criteria (location) this city had an additional attraction, the Wasserfalle. The waterfalls are the highest in Germany, cascading down the mountainside for 163 meters. In the winter, they close off most of the upper parts of trail for safety, but you can pay €1.25 to hike closer to the fall and its pool.

Triberg Wasserfalle

Immediately after parking the car, we could hear the sound of the water hitting rocks, and it was not difficult to locate the ticket booth. As per usual, we had to hike upwards, to see the tourist site, but also per the norm, the view was worth the short walk. Judging from the labyrinth of paths that were closed above us, there is more to these waterfalls than meets the winter eye. I would gladly stop back in the warmer months to view more of the trail system developed by one of the former rulers in the area.

Black Forest Cake
Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte

After we (very carefully) made our way back down the path, we stopped in a local restaurant for a quick bite of the local specialty, Black Forest Cake or Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte. Black Forest Cake is layers of chocolate cake sandwiched together with whipped cream and cherries. This cake, like beer, falls under certain German regulatory laws; it is not Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte if it has not been made with kirschwasser. Literally translated it means cherry water, and it is an alcohol made from distilling cherries, and it was a great contributor to the flavor of our slice. I am fairly certain that the cherries between the cake layers were soaked in liquor as well. Alcohol makes the Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte taste vastly different from its American counterparts.