I have been writing this blog for 5 years, in English. It crossed my mind many times to start writing in Croatian, my native language too, but who has the time and will to write a bilingual blog? With this current, “stay at home” situation, I finally wrote my first blog post in Croatian, about a couple of good days spent in Schwarzwald, the enchanting Black Forest. Now let’s see how telling the same story in English while trying not to merely translate what I wrote in Croatian, will go.

In March I wrote about Turin, which was a part of our autumn road trip through Italy and Germany. After Turin, we crossed the Alps and headed to Southern Germany, where our dear friends Branka and Otto have a small hotel in a small town surrounded by the Black Forest. The town of Badenweiler has a very “Mitteleuropean” flair, and it’s so neat and delightful that Luka called it “a bubble of prosperity”, which is quite a proper caption. There are the thermal baths and a charming “Inhalatorium” building that look like a setting for Wes Anderson’s movie, flowers in the windowsills, flowers everywhere actually (also in big pots on the streets, arranged in bold colors), half-timbered facades, lovely little gardens, view of the Black Forest and the vineyards all around, old-style taverns and restaurants and a couple of expensive boutiques for the elderly visitors of the baths. Even the doctor’s office is in a fairy-tale house with geraniums in the windowsills, steep gable roof, and a giant ceramic frog on the reception desk.

Early autumn weather was sunny and mild, with morning fog stretching over the treetops and meadows and golden afternoon sun- perfect for day trips to surrounding towns and French villages (that lie just over the border), cycling in the forest, evening walks and swims in the thermal baths.

Badenweiler is a small town situated in the historic region of Markgräflerland (known for its wines), that builds its tourism around the healing thermal springs and mild climate (I would add the allure of the Black Forest, the proximity of French region of Alsace, and food and wine offer to its appeal). Already in the 1st century, the Romans discovered those thermal springs and built a large thermal complex (of course they did), which served as a source for building material in the later centuries (just like our Arena in Pula). Today, you can visit the Roman site in a lovely park next to the Cassiopeia Therme.

Visiting Badenweiler without visiting the thermal baths would be like visiting Italy and not having an aperitivo in the evening, or visiting a ski resort without skiing, you get the picture- we would soak ourselves in its hot, steamy waters in the evening, after a bike ride in the Black Forest or a slow drive through the French wine region of Alsace (we’d bring baguettes, stinky cheese, pâté en croûte, Alsace wine, and spicy biscuits back to our apartment for dinner which turned out to be one of my favorite memories from that trip). The feel of the grand 19th-century building and the steam that rose from the outside pool in the crisp evening air inevitably reminded me of a scene from the Grand Budapest Hotel where old Mr. Moustafa magically slides into a bathtub next to the writer, and they arrange a dinner where he’ll tell him his story. I can imagine a Mendl’s style patisserie blending in quite well into the town atmosphere (unfortunately, the bakeries and the only cake shop in the town are quite basic).

When we travel, we like to find places that become “ours”, and in Badenweiler, we found one already on our first evening. In the center of the town, there was an old-style tavern called “Winzerstube” (translated it would be something like “Wine cellar”) with a historic rural atmosphere, low ceilings, and waiters dressed in traditional German folk costumes. We did not call in advance so the only place for two they had left for the evening was a tiny table squeezed into a niche below the stairs. The waiter pointed to the table apologetically- little did he know that we would have probably chosen this table even if the restaurant was half-empty! A tiny table with two tiny built-in benches, a space just for ourselves? Yes, please! In Germany, we like to treat ourselves to proper German food and that evening we had Schnitzel with potatoes, onion soup (a little bit of French influence), rye bread with cottage cheese and fresh vegetables spread, a salad of everything (I love German salads topped with pumpkin seeds and that mysterious cloudy dressing)… Local “Markgraflerland” wine in traditional cups to go with it- as a wine cellar, they’re proud of the regional wines and serve no beer (which we’re so used to drinking everywhere in Germany!). We drank those local wines everywhere and found Gewürztraminer especially pleasant (“Gewürz” means “spice” in German- the name itself sounds aromatic, so who wouldn’t want to drink it?)

The waiter was in good humor that evening, so he wrote down a list of places that we should visit in the area (without us asking him to do so), Schladerer Distillery in the town of Staufen being one of them. We never refuse local advice, especially when there’s a distillery involved!

I already wrote about Cees Nooteboom on this blog- after all, he is one of my favorite writers. When I first read his “Roads to Santiago” I was enchanted with his way of looking and thinking about art, I had so many questions that I wanted to write him a letter (which did not happen). On our first evening, we were taking a walk down the main street of Badenweiler, when I- expectedly so- stopped by the shop window of the only book shop in town. Among local guides and the books about the history of the area I saw Nooteboom’s face- the poster said that there was a book evening with the writer himself, and that in Badenweiler, of all the places! The only thing was that it had already happened a day before, and so I missed an opportunity to talk to one of my favorite writers (even if I did not, I would have probably been ashamed to talk to him, I wouldn’t know in which language after all- German? English? and would remain a silent listener, which wouldn’t be that bad either).

The next day, we rented the bikes and took a nice ride around Badenweiler- the road went up the hilly vineyards, through the forest, and then down a shaded street back to the town. The vineyards were quite a sight in early autumn- the leaves golden-hued, intensified by mild October sun, speckled with the darkest blue of the grapes. We took a break on a bench overlooking the vineyards and I thought how it was the exact image of a bucolic, neat countryside I often look for but rarely find. A shadowy forest road led us around the hill, with views of the neighboring hills opening up in between the tall fir trees. Once we descended back towards the town, a beautiful sight of the houses, estates, meadows, and trees glowing in autumn colors opened up- later, we passed by some of the houses and each of them was prettier than the next, as if competing which one would have a greener, more flowery garden, windows, facade.

Our friends took us to some of their favorite places, one of them being a very local inn called “Zum Wilden Mann”, where we were welcomed with a steamy atmosphere and a waitress from Croatia. Luka had a fantastic gulasch with wild mushrooms, I had a Tafelspitz (cooked beef in horseradish sauce), Branka and Otto both had trouts- another specialty from the region. The food was delicious, they served beer on tap (we couldn’t leave Germany without having a proper amount of beer), and everything was quite affordable!

The next day we took the waiter’s advice and went to visit the town of Staufen and Schladerer Distillery. Schladerer has been a family business since 1844, and since then it grew from a local tavern to a big, neatly organized distillery that produces excellent fruit brandies, one of the best I’ve ever tried. The tour started in the courtyard, where quinces were waiting for the fermentation in big wooden crates and emanating that sweet autumn smell, then we went through the distillation rooms with impressive German copper stills, cellars, where they keep the brandies in stainless steel, wooden or ceramic barrels (I love the ceramic barrels, so classy and vintage!), tasting room, and a lovely shop at the end. I especially liked their Raspberry brandy- it smelled like fresh raspberries and summer, and Mild Mountain Apple (aged with wood, golden in color but also in flavor somehow). On our way out we bought the Raspberry Brandy as a gift for my parents, and for ourselves- their Gretchen gin with strong pine needles scent in cool hipster-traditional packaging with a drawing of a woman in traditional Schwarzwald folk costume.

The town of Staufen was really lovely, as advertised by the cheerful waiter, buzzing in the late afternoon, with leafy facades, flowers everywhere, a medieval castle on top of the vineyards, and cute details such as neatly packaged walnuts casually left on the street for self-service customers. What we didn’t know was that Staufen was well-known (and still is) in the geological circles because of a phenomenon that causes undreamed-of problems to its inhabitants- the town is rising. In 2007, town authorities started a drilling project for the new heating system below the town hall. When they accidentally drilled through a layer of anhydrite, it started filling with water and consequently swelling- that caused the town to first sink, and then start rising. As the ground is rising, the buildings break, and the locals stick symbolic bandages over the cracks with the inscription “Staufen darf nicht zerbrechen”- “Staufen must not break!”

After Staufen, we went to visit a small distillery that Luka had planned even before our trip, the one that regularly gets awarded at “Destillata”, a prestigious Austrian brandy competition. Fridolin Baumgartner is a family distillery that makes a variety of the most refined brandies- we tasted a hazelnut brandy that reminded me of the nutty Giotto chocolates, Acacia flower brandy that smelled sweet as the white flowers that fill the Istrian woods in spring, blood orange brandy that tasted like real oranges (we’re making a blood orange brandy at the moment too:)). Then we tried strawberry, medlar, a couple of varieties of German plums, pears, and cherries… all of them pure distillates from fermented or macerated fruit, we’re not talking about the sweetened liquors here. We bought their awarded Weinbrand (wine brandy), Williams pear, and Acacia brandy- we take a sip now and then when we feel that the occasion calls for it!

Of five days spent in the Black Forest region, we took two for day trips around French villages and towns- I’ll write about that in my next post. What about you, have you been to the region, does “Mitteleuropean” flair, wines and brandies, a forest whose name itself sounds like a set for a fairy tale tempt you?

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Thank you,

Anja

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