Have you ever been on the top of the beautiful little mountain Belchen (1414m) in the Black Forest? It is a tiny little ski resort with only one cable car that carries the passionate skiers, snowboarders, sledders, bike skiers (I am not kidding) and snow hikers up the mountains. It even took us, 3 ordinary snow pedestrians uphill.

We encountered constant weather changes on our way down. Quite astonishing how fast our bodies wish to sit in a warm and gemütliche Hütte when it is just a little bit too cold for our fragile bodies.

Rajendra and I visited my old friend Angela in a tiny village called Wembach and her 2 sons. Their home is in the deepest depth of the Schwarzwald. If you pass the Feldberg (1493m), a ‘famous’ German winter resort you are almost there. (If any of you is from Austria or Switzerland, please don’t laugh, it is quite a high mountain!). Driving through the area you can see a lot of coniferous woodland which gives you the impression of a black and dark forest. The Romans gave it its name. They called it the “Silva nigra”. Quite abruptly the architecture of the houses change. There are still a lot of old houses with a half-hipped roof, auf Deutsch: Krüppelwalmdach! They are built the way they are in order to resist the tough weather- and landscape conditions. Many houses are build on slopes and they need to bear up with a lot of wind, rain and snow.

Angela was thinking about what to serve an American and she almost baked a Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte herself, but due to work obligations she did not have the time. The alternative plan was to go to the ‘Ochsen’ in Schönau and get THE cake there. We got a ‘Schwarzwälder’,  a piece of  Linzer Torte and one Bienenstich (bee bite).  I doubt that the Romans gave that cake its name…In the picture you can see the kind of typical interior of all old Gasthäuser (restaurants) in Germany. Germany’s traditional Gasthäuser have often animal names. Such as Ochsen (ox), Hirsch (stag) or Lamm (lamb) but I have never heard of a Ziege (goat), Kuh (cow) or Hund (dog). Just thinking about it makes me laugh! If anyone has some wisdom to share about the origin of the names please do.

Well, one last word to what we have consumed:  For dinner we had ‘Raclette”, something an American had never eaten before …

Thank you Angela, Omaru and Leigermai for hosting us. We had a wonderful time with you.