Good news in Baden Baden

Recently we both took some time off work and decided to spend a few relaxing days in Baden Baden in the Black Forest. It's a beautiful town where a lot of Germans go when they retire and it's not hard to see why. There are loads of thermal baths and spas there so it's a really nice place for some chilling. The weather was generally nice while we were there and it was a perfect few days after the stressful month we'd just had. We went to Caracalla spa one afternoon, got Thai back massages, ate lots of really good food and enjoyed some nice walks. 

However the best part of the trip was yet to come. We had made an offer on a house we viewed the previous week and while we were at the spa we had gotten a missed call from the realtor. We went and sat down on a bench overlooking the river feeling nervous and then had some trouble reaching the realtor as when we phoned her office we were told she had already gone home for the day! This was on Friday and we were worried that we might have to spend all weekend not knowing the outcome! Luckily we found her mobile number on her email and were finally able to get through...

And the great news is that our offer has been accepted!! It was so nice to receive a phone call with good news for a change. Hubby and I are feeling both extremely excited and quite overwhelmed at the moment! We went out that night to celebrate of course, and since we were in Baden Baden we did it in style by going out for dinner then to a nightclub and on to the casino! Actually the nightclub wasn't so great, the music was quite cheesy and it was pretty empty but we had fun anyway. I can't believe we are going to be house owners soon!

Black Forest for the weekend

The great thing about having visitors when you live abroad is that it forces you to go on trips. Not that I need forcing as I love to travel and see new places but you know how it is, unless you actually make plans to go do stuff time passes quickly while you're busy with day to day life and you suddendly realise you've been living somewhere for ages and still haven't gotten around to go see the local tourist attractions or nearby cities.

So when my family came over last weekend we took the opportunity to explore some of what the Black Forest has to offer. We choose Triberg which is home to one of the highest waterfalls in Germany.

It was beautiful! Just to warn you though, the walk up to see it is very very steep! Wear comfortable walking shoes and be prepared. Then afterwards we had a nice lunch in a beer garden followed by some Black Forest cake, the local speciality.

My sister was hoping to do some shopping while she was over but I don't think these were the sort of stores she had in mind! The black forest shops were mainly full of traditional clothes and trinkets. If you are looking for wooden ornaments, Christmas decorations or cuckoo clocks though, this is the place to go!

When you are staying in the Black Forest region you get a guest card from your hotel which also gives you discounts at tourist sites and enables you to travel for free on buses and trains in the area. We bought a so called 'Baden Würtemberg ticket' for travelling there which covers you for all journeys in the region, just not on the really fast trains and it only cost 39€ for 5 people. The views from the train were also fantastic.

Apart from the hiking and walking around, eating cake and relaxing, there isn't actually loads to do in the black forest so for us two days was the ideal amount of time.