Day 8: 19/04/06 Triberg
Along the Black Forest Railway
Triberg
Easter eggs on trees!
What the hell?! We marched again this morning to get back to the train station so that we can move on to our next destination. According to Tk's plans, we were supposed to take a train to Freiburg, a city in the middle of the Black Forest, which has been very much influenced by the French. However, after scrutinizing the travel guide, Tk realised that there was a hotel in Triberg which cost us only 20euros per night with breakfast included. Since his original 21-bed dorm cost almost the same, we decided to skip Freiburg and go straight to Triberg, which is a town embedded in the Black Forest famous for its cukcoo clocks.
We had some problems checking out in the morning. The pub was not open when we wanted to leave, so we were forced to wait for the guy to come back. Well, my 20euros was with him!
We were cheated by the travel guide again: it told Tk that there was a direct train from Freiburg to Triberg. Hence, we went all the way to Freiburg, only to realise that there wasn't any! We went to the information counter to ask for directions. In the end, we got to back-track to Offenburg where we could change to the Black Forest Railway to reach Triberg. Luckily we were using Railpasses.
The Black Forest Railway (Offenburg - Konstanz) was listed in the Railpass Guide as one of the most scenic routes in Europe. In the Black Forest the dominating landscape was low hills and valleys covered with conifers. Every now and then there would be pastures and farms filling the landscape. The conifers were predominantly dark green, hence the term Schwarzwald (Black Woods) was given to the area.
Both Tk and Yj fell asleep on the train; when I told them there was nice scenery along the way they were both blaming me for not waking them up. Well, who asked you to fall asleep in the first place... At least I woke you up in time to get off at the right stop :)
There was no map of Triberg provided by the guide, so we took a photo of the map at the train station and referred to that. The description of the way to the hotel was very scary according to the travel guide, especially after our Heidelberg experience; however, propably becaused we had been prepared by the Ultimate March, the walk to the hotel was not as tiring as expected.
The hotel was run by a family; the lady who served us was friendly and really helpful. The rooms were really neat, comfortable and spacious; the only bad thing about that was the little ledge above the beds which Tk knocked onto numerous times. Pillows were another complaint; they never seemed high enough no matter how we folded it. However that was a problem throughout Europe. I don't remember the name of the hotel, but if you were to go to Triberg, ask us for directions. Rate in 2006: 68euros/night for a triple, breakfast included.
There was nothing much to see in the town itself; as it was already close to the evening we decided to just walk around the town and see what was interesting. We went into this shop filled with all kinds of woodcraft and cukcoo clocks owned by an elderly couple where Tk saw his perfect cukcoo clock; by the way that was an important item on his shopping list. He decided to buy it the next day. In another shop he saw a soft toy which said 'All You Need Is Love' on a heart held by 2 dragons; and he was considering to buy it for one of his DOTA friends to make up for the 'An Idiot Who Came To Heidelberg And All He Bought Was This Shirt' shirt he missed. I wouldn't know Tk was such a shopping king until I went on this trip with him.
We walked to another side of town and went along a small stretch of a panorama walk before turning back. We were able to see the whole town of Triberg from the path and even the hills far away on the other side. It was nice but we didn't went on for long, as we needed food; we went back to the hotel for dinner after hunting all over the town for cheap and decent food (which we failed). During dinner we met this guy from Shanghai who was working in Triberg temporarily; he had been there since Feburary and was learning some technology in order to help a German company set up operations in China. We talked over dinner and, being a long-time customer which the family had bonded emotionally with, he was given free dinner (I didn't see him pay for his pasta...). As we conversed using English most of the time among ourselves, the conversation with this PRC-Chinese guy exposed Yj's weakness in expression in Chinese. That would be another interesting topic I would elaborate later as this trip continued.
We had some problems checking out in the morning. The pub was not open when we wanted to leave, so we were forced to wait for the guy to come back. Well, my 20euros was with him!
We were cheated by the travel guide again: it told Tk that there was a direct train from Freiburg to Triberg. Hence, we went all the way to Freiburg, only to realise that there wasn't any! We went to the information counter to ask for directions. In the end, we got to back-track to Offenburg where we could change to the Black Forest Railway to reach Triberg. Luckily we were using Railpasses.
The Black Forest Railway (Offenburg - Konstanz) was listed in the Railpass Guide as one of the most scenic routes in Europe. In the Black Forest the dominating landscape was low hills and valleys covered with conifers. Every now and then there would be pastures and farms filling the landscape. The conifers were predominantly dark green, hence the term Schwarzwald (Black Woods) was given to the area.
Both Tk and Yj fell asleep on the train; when I told them there was nice scenery along the way they were both blaming me for not waking them up. Well, who asked you to fall asleep in the first place... At least I woke you up in time to get off at the right stop :)
There was no map of Triberg provided by the guide, so we took a photo of the map at the train station and referred to that. The description of the way to the hotel was very scary according to the travel guide, especially after our Heidelberg experience; however, propably becaused we had been prepared by the Ultimate March, the walk to the hotel was not as tiring as expected.
The hotel was run by a family; the lady who served us was friendly and really helpful. The rooms were really neat, comfortable and spacious; the only bad thing about that was the little ledge above the beds which Tk knocked onto numerous times. Pillows were another complaint; they never seemed high enough no matter how we folded it. However that was a problem throughout Europe. I don't remember the name of the hotel, but if you were to go to Triberg, ask us for directions. Rate in 2006: 68euros/night for a triple, breakfast included.
There was nothing much to see in the town itself; as it was already close to the evening we decided to just walk around the town and see what was interesting. We went into this shop filled with all kinds of woodcraft and cukcoo clocks owned by an elderly couple where Tk saw his perfect cukcoo clock; by the way that was an important item on his shopping list. He decided to buy it the next day. In another shop he saw a soft toy which said 'All You Need Is Love' on a heart held by 2 dragons; and he was considering to buy it for one of his DOTA friends to make up for the 'An Idiot Who Came To Heidelberg And All He Bought Was This Shirt' shirt he missed. I wouldn't know Tk was such a shopping king until I went on this trip with him.
We walked to another side of town and went along a small stretch of a panorama walk before turning back. We were able to see the whole town of Triberg from the path and even the hills far away on the other side. It was nice but we didn't went on for long, as we needed food; we went back to the hotel for dinner after hunting all over the town for cheap and decent food (which we failed). During dinner we met this guy from Shanghai who was working in Triberg temporarily; he had been there since Feburary and was learning some technology in order to help a German company set up operations in China. We talked over dinner and, being a long-time customer which the family had bonded emotionally with, he was given free dinner (I didn't see him pay for his pasta...). As we conversed using English most of the time among ourselves, the conversation with this PRC-Chinese guy exposed Yj's weakness in expression in Chinese. That would be another interesting topic I would elaborate later as this trip continued.
posted by Hiu Yeung at 22:55
1 Comments:
That's why I need you to check. Those things you will have a deeper impression...
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