Black Forest adventures

Note: this is a post I wrote for a magazine called GoGirl, which you can read online at http://travelgogirl.com. I'm double-dipping and I don't care!

“I wonder why they call it the Black Forest?” I say aloud as we wound our way through the streets. It’s a Sunday- the day when everything is closed in Germany- and the three of us have decided to celebrate a day off by going for a walk in the infamous Black Forest. A quick Chrome-assisted Google search (instant translation for the win!) has given us dozens of walking trails to choose from, and we’ve selected one with nearby parking and options for a 3, 5, or 11-kilometer hike. Even though we’re not 100% sure what we’re getting ourselves into, we’re excited to be spending the day outside.

After a brief scrabble and series of parking misadventures, we find ourselves following a steep road up the side of a large hill. Even though it’s not hot outside, the road is un-shaded and we quickly find ourselves sweating in the sun. Up, up, up…the road narrows, becomes more like a path, as we climb towards what we hope will be a trail through the Black Forest. Right now, as Hannah is quick to point out, our path is neither Black nor particularly Forest-y. She speculates that the forest was named in jest.

Much to our relief, the path eventually becomes more level. We’re still in the sun, overlooking the towns in the surrounding valleys, but the view is spectacular and we don’t appear to be lost- a major risk of finding hiking trails that are labeled according to unfamiliar standards. We take a few moments to photograph the scenery, catch our breath, and drink a little water before pressing on. And around the corner, we’re rewarded when we find the Forest.

It sounds dramatic to say that- “we find the Forest”- but the way our trail intersects with the tree line, it’s entirely true. Up ahead, our bright, sun-soaked trail leads straight into a straight edge of forest, composed of extremely tall trees with absolutely no branches growing from the lower 40 or 50 feet of their trunks. It’s almost as though a razor were used to create the line. And from this vantage point, the answer to my question is evident: where the trees are growing, the foliage is so dense that the forest appears to be in a constant night. It’s enough to give me a brief chill.

Once inside, however, the atmosphere is significantly less intimidating- and lighter- than it appears from the outside. Grasses as long as my leg cover the forest floor, and we can hear a few birds high overhead. The path winds its way among the trees, which are spaced far enough apart that we can envision the princesses of European legend- Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Clara, and even Disney’s Belle- meeting witches, falling asleep, and having their fairy-tale adventures around every corner. Every now and then we pass rickety-looking deer stands- the only reminder that we aren’t the only humans in here. Beyond our footsteps on the dirt path, and the hushed conversation we pass back and forth, the forest is serene and very, very quiet.

As our path proceeds throughout the afternoon, the forest changes as well. The long grasses and branchless trees give way to more scrub and shorter, coniferous trees, and we start to encounter more people- some running, some on horseback, many with dogs. We stop and picnic on the side of the trail, drinking radler and trying to suppress the subsequent belches when other hikers are nearby, and watch the local insect life parade across the path in grave peril of being trampled. “Why did the beetle cross the road?” Hannah asks us at one point. “To make an album cover!”

Eventually, when we pick up our bags and return to the hike, we find that the trail winds back to the village by way of private roads. For a while, we walk past hillside homes with overwhelming views of the forests and valleys, small leafy bushes and low-hanging branches brushing against us as we stroll by. Our trail switch-backs through the same scrubby hillside flora we had encountered on our way up, and we’re back in the city centre. As we walk back to the car, we make plans for our next hikes- an all-day trek through the trees, a backpacking expedition through the entire region, Sunday afternoon strolls like the one we’ve just had. And as we talk, it becomes increasingly obvious that our brief afternoon hike was only the beginning of our Black Forest adventures.

APO, etc.

A quick update from me, since Nick doesn't seem to remember to write here- we have an APO address now, which means you all can mail us letters without having to spend tons of money (and also means that whatever you mail us will likely arrive, too!). If you want it, send one of us an email and we'll pass it along.

Other news...Nick and I are both enjoying working, although poor Nick's workdays have gotten much longer because of our one-car situation and the fact that I work a surprising amount of overtime. We were pretty grateful for a three-day weekend for the 4th of July, which we celebrated by hosting friends at our home and sleeping in as much as possible. There will be pictures- our stuff shipped on the 9th and is scheduled to arrive in the UK this week, and from there...well...we'll see.

I got a horrible rash on my knee this week which started out looking like Lyme Disease and now just looks awful. The doctors have put me on four medications, including antibiotics and steroids, to try and keep it in check while they figure out what it is. Right now we're waiting on the results of a biopsy to find out whether it's vasculitis (aka angry blood vessels) or something else as yet undetermined. Currently, we're taking bets on what it is!

The only other update for now is that we're apartment hunting again. Our landlord has informed us that he would like to move into our current apartment once our lease runs up, and since our commute is less than ideal, we're not overly bummed. On Thursday we saw a great condo in Kindsbach, which is about ten minutes from my office and fifteen from Nick's, but someone else signed the lease before we could get to it. At any rate, we'll keep you posted (har!) about what our address change will be.

-Erica

Intermission

As of Monday, I'm a full-time employee who spends her days shaking up the Army from the inside out! The corollary of this is that I've hit the ground running and so neither Nick nor I has had much of an opportunity to write full posts for this. Instead, here is an intermission of three photos and a video (all taken by Hannah) from the past few weeks!

Drinking Radler- a mix of light-coloured beer and lemonade. Don't knock it 'till you've tried it!

Nick eating dinner at Big Emma's- a restaurant renowned for its horrifyingly huge portions. That's a salad in front of him.

Hannah and me in Cork, Ireland, with a man pretending to be a hurling statue.

And, last but not least, I give you a video taken in our very own backyard...Cat on a Leash!

In the great outdoors

Sooo clearly Nick and I have broken the last promise made in this blog- he hasn't written and I haven't forced him to. However, since I haven't been writing either, it's shame on both of us!

Hannah (my sister) has been spending the last three and a half weeks with us, and in between my jaunts back and forth to work- where I'm not officially on the clock yet, but filling out unbelievable amounts of paperwork and going through security screenings like none other- we've been exploring this area a bit more. As it turns out, the Rhineland-Palatinate region offers some beautiful options for outdoor sports! And happily enough, it offers these options at a variety of athletic levels...so we haven't had to embarrass ourselves too heartily.

Last weekend, the three of us drove 90 minutes over to the Black Forest- so named either for the dark colour of its pine trees or the density of its foliage- and spent an afternoon following some of the hiking trails therein. It didn't start out particularly forest-y, since we had to walk through the town of Etlingen to reach the trail and then had to follow the trail along the road (and in the sun!) up a rather steep hill through scrubby little plants. But then, when the road leveled out, there it was ahead of us: a path winding in and out of the tallest trees I've seen in a long time, with no branches lower than 40 or 50 feet up, and thick grasses on either side. It was so bright outside the forest, and so dark once inside, that it felt a little like going from day to night- but once our eyes adjusted, we had a ball looking around and imagining fairy tales coming to life in the trees around us.

Hannah and I have explored other, more local hiking trails since last weekend, and we've discovered a few things about them. The first is that they often intersect with bike paths leading between the towns surrounding Kaiserslautern, so narrow and rocky trails will suddenly become broad and flat- and occasionally paved- and the signage will change to indicate the kilometers between your current position and the next "big" town. The second is that there are many trails that intersect for long stretches of time and, when you don't know German, it can be difficult to tell which trail blazes you're intended to follow- especially since many of these trails all start at the same point. And the third is probably the best: Radler, a 50/50 mixture of lemon soda and light beer, is not only encouraged for hikers to drink, but is also delicious, refreshing, and produces some excellent belches.

This weekend Hannah and I are heading to Italy for two days of beach and chick time, while Nick gets to stay home and mow the lawn. Monday everything will change completely, when Hannah heads back to the States and my job begins- and, hopefully, Nick and I can start the process of buying and registering a car.

Hope you all are well- Philly people, I hear it's hot there!- and finding some relaxation in between work, classes, and other sundry commitments.

-Erica

Is brea liom Eireann...

Hannah and I have returned from our five-day jaunt in Ireland! There will be many photos and stories to share once she uploads the pictures we took, but in the meantime it's time to settle back in to being in Germany. At least for now- we're talking about taking a trip to Madrid or Venice this weekend!

I have it on good authority that Nick will be writing his first post on here this week- and by "good authority" I mean "he said he should and I'll hold him to that." So keep checking!

Early days

...and by "early days," I of course mean "in terms of my time spent in Germany," not "in terms of when I've been getting out of bed." Nick picked me up from Frankfurt-am-Main Sunday afternoon, and while I managed to make it until 9:30 before crashing, we did sleep for 15 hours. This morning was another late rise- but in our defense, we were up until 2 AM waiting for our third piece of luggage to arrive from the airport.

Other than sleeping, we've really spent the past couple of days settling into cohabitation- in GERMANY. Every day I've spent an hour or two going through one of the rooms and rearranging anything I please, and yesterday we made a "menial tasks" run to purchase sundry housekeeping items. Fortunately, Nick is still enthralled with the novelty of getting to live together, so he doesn't object to all this nesting. The cat, on the other hand, is less than thrilled- while she's currently asleep on my shins, she's spent the past couple of days running away from me and yelling at the neighbourhood cats out the window.

Last night we went out to dinner with some friends of Nick's. The place we were at- an Indian restaurant over near Kaiserslautern- makes delicious food but leaves something to be desired in the spice department. According to Nick, this is indicative of German tastes. Spicing on any food, regardless of ethnic origin, is kept to a dull roar. This is compensated for by the ice cream of Dolomiti, an Eiscafe (ice cream shop) that makes, among other things, chocolate spaghetti sundaes. We opted to share a banana split last night, but have decided that Dolomiti could reasonably become a Friday night tradition. Hooray!

Hannah arrives tomorrow, so I get to pick her up in our rental Audi (don't get excited- the car is junk) and give her a tour of the area. Since you all can't be here to see it too, I included the picture at the top to give you an idea of what Landstuhl looks like. I took it in March, so things are significantly greener now (and there's less snow), but the basic layout of the town remains the same. We live about 10 minutes to the top right of the picture.

-Erica

Moving time!

Things are getting underway for us to make a home in Germany! Yesterday, our movers came to collect a bunch of our belongings and ship them over to Nanzdietschweiler for us- I'm impressed at how quickly they can pack even the most fragile belongings in ways that seem completely damage-proof. We'll have to see if everything actually arrives in one piece, though...!

Yesterday was also the day that our landlord in Germany, Dennis, brought over the local equivalent of window screens. Instead of wire mesh, the Germans use very fine netting when they have the urge to put a barrier up in their windows. This was something we learned when we realized that Dennis had no idea what screens were after we asked him about them. According to our friend Hannelore, it's because "there are no bugs in Germany." Somehow, I doubt it. Either way, having the nets up will allow us to leave windows open during the day without letting the cat out or any insects (or arachnids!) in.

Other than that, things in the US are wrapping up quickly. In a week I'll finish putting our remaining belongings in storage, have graduation, and get back up to NH for fourteen days of appointments and family time. In between are job interviews, paperwork like nothing else, and (hopefully!) some quality time spent doing nothing at all. I can't believe how quickly this time has arrived, but then again...for a while I thought it'd never get here!

-Erica