{"id":6673,"date":"2025-06-26T21:32:37","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T04:32:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/?p=6673"},"modified":"2025-12-21T18:59:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T01:59:11","slug":"black-forest-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/2025\/06\/26\/black-forest-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Forest & Beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a>We set out Friday morning for Hohenzollern Castle<\/a>, which felt more medieval fortress than royal retreat. After lunch<\/a> capped with spaghetti eis<\/a>, we admired the cuckoo clocks<\/a> in Triburg and indulged in original Black Forest Cake from Hotel-Caf\u00e9 Adler<\/a> before marveling at the world\u2019s largest cuckoo clock<\/a> in Schonachbach. With 6-pack tickets, we raced toboggans at Sommerrodelbahn Gutach<\/a>, then settled into Hotel Bell Rock<\/a> with its American-themed buffet and pool. Our early access to EuropaPark<\/a> next day gave us a whirlwind tour of the continent through roller coasters<\/a>, dark rides<\/a>, wet rides<\/a>, and even a bobsled ride<\/a>, along with a daredevilish Zorro<\/a> stunt show and a hilarious Magic Atlas<\/a> puppet show. We stayed until closing before driving to Baden Baden for dinner<\/a>. Next morning’s breakfast at the stately Hotel Belle Epoque<\/a> evoked the romance of the bath town. We ditched our hiking plans to soak ourselves at Caracalla Spa<\/a>, picnic with takeout shawarma<\/a>, and tour the glitzy Baden-Baden Casino<\/a>. The punishing heat cut short our tour of the Burg Hohenbaden<\/a> ruins and Heidelberg market square<\/a>, but we fortunately cooled down for shipboard tapas and paella<\/a> with my old lab friend Monika. Despite lacking overnight AC, our host greeted us with a generous breakfast spread of pastries and homemade jams before taking us up the funicular<\/a> to Heidelberg Castle<\/a> to circle the giant barrel<\/a>, and educating us about Student Kisses<\/a> and the Student Prison<\/a>. After souvenirs from a closing apothecary and salads for lunch<\/a>, we caught our train<\/a> to Luneburg, where we bumped into my parents and headed to our hotel<\/a> together. We lost our sense of time with the prolonged daylight and belated dinner<\/a>, but managed a morning start for a Hamburg day trip Tuesday. We picked<\/a> up a jean jacket and sweater to keep us warm for our rainy stroll past the Rathausmarkt<\/a>, Binnenalster<\/a>, Mellin Passage<\/a>, and Alster Arcade<\/a>, where pastry shops<\/a> lured us in for strawberry tarts and Nutella shakes. The ornate interiors and spiral staircases of the Hubner Haus<\/a> and Kontohaus<\/a> buildings were a photographer’s dream, but we were more intrigued by the paternoster<\/a> at the Sprinkenhof<\/a> building, where we decoded the lift’s mechanism with an apricot before testing human subjects. We roamed the Speicherstadt<\/a> district, took our obligate photo from Poggenmuhlen Bridge<\/a>, then recharged with fish & chips and fishburgers at Fleetschloesschen<\/a> en route to Miniatur Wunderland<\/a>. The world’s largest model railway offered much more than trains – with interactive VR<\/a>, day-night cycles, F1 racers, and even an Airbus Beluga<\/a> model that can take off. After dinner<\/a> with mom’s family and a mellow morning of mall<\/a> and market<\/a> browsing, we headed to my cousin Jasmine’s wedding at the city’s water tower<\/a> and banquet at the groom’s family restaurant<\/a>. Between Melody’s stilettos clattering on cobblestones and Westley’s dwindling patience with the 4-hour meal, we were wiped out for family time afterwards, and crashed early to prepare for our train and flight home. We had enough time to graze at Frankfurt<\/a> and SFO<\/a>, and reflect on the satisfying mix of friends, family, and fun on our Germany vacation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We set out Friday morning for Hohenzollern Castle, which felt more medieval fortress than royal retreat. After lunch capped with spaghetti eis, we admired the cuckoo clocks in Triburg and indulged in original Black Forest Cake from Hotel-Caf\u00e9 Adler before … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6673"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6911,"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6673\/revisions\/6911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}