What Does Hiking in Germany Have in Common With German Christmas Markets?

What do hiking in Germany and German Christmas markets have to do with each other?  I asked myself the same question as we pulled into a parking place next to the Calw Christmas Market.  Clearly we were in the wrong place, J.P. and I were the only hikers in sight!

I must say that Calw is a beautiful setting for a Christmas market though - even the half timber houses seem festive with their painted red wood and green shutters!

 

It was a cold day and J.P. suggested we start our 12km  hike with a mug of mulled wine since we were here anyway.  I thought he was kidding - he wasn't.   Despite my initial reluctance I have to admit that it did warm me up and the mulled wine salesman did point us in the right direction for our hike.  It turns out that the Christmas Market was the start of our hike! 

Before long, we had hiked up a hill in the Black Forest and were peering out at Calw through the trees.

 

Fortunately after we hiked up the hill, the rest of the trail was flat - that mulled wine was starting to kick in!  We were fortunate to have the trail almost all to ourselves only seeing two other people and the trees were gorgeous lightly crusted in white snow.

 Hiking in Germany is full of surprises though!  Before long we went from a tranquil snow covered path to a henker sight (beheading sight), where a famous German lady (but not famous to me) was beheaded for suspected witchcraft.  The sign (in German) went on to describe the sight saying it had been in use from as early as 1818 and was where the Henker went about his daily work of beheading people.  It seemed rather casual given the history, but perhaps that was just my elementary German interpretation and J.P.'s rush to translate the whole sign for me, which I naturally insisted that he do.  Who knows when I will come across a beheading sight again?

Needless to say, we couldn't resist a photo opp!  And suddenly we became extremely grateful for our jobs which don't involve beheading people.  Enough talk about beheading people!  Off to the next stop - Ruins!

Unfortunately we didn't make it to the ruins - perhaps the mulled wine slowed us down?  We were running out of day light so headed back to Calw where we were warmly greeted by the above sign which translates as "Christmas in Calw."  A hike that started and ended with a Christmas market - definitely a first for me.

 

And where there's a Christmas market, you know there will be mulled wine.  We enjoyed a cup and then saw a special white mulled wine which the shop owner said was her own original brew.  How could we resist?   Our defenses were weak after all that hiking.  And this time we had earned it - well sort of.  Perhaps hiking in Germany and German Christmas markets do belong together!

More on German Christmas Markets:

German Christmas Markets for Children

The Stuttgart Christmas Market 

5 Tips for Going to a German Christmas Market

German Christmas Markets:  Ludwigsburg Christmas Market

You may also be interested in:

5 Facts About Christmas in Germany

Hiking in the Black Forest

I absolutely love hiking in the Black Forest!  I get excited every time I see the Black Forest getting closer and closer.   This past weekend it was my turn to choose a hike.  When I told J.P. that I had found the perfect hike, he got a smile on his face and said "Let me guess, we're hiking in the Black Forest to a castle."    What can I say, I'm predictable.  But this time, he wasn't quite right - this time I choose a castle ruin, not just a castle  -Ruine Hohenschramberg.  Hmmm...that will show him! 

Visit Ruine Hohenschram while hiking in the Black Forest

It was a rainy day for hiking in the Black Forest, but fortunately for us that meant that we had the whole castle ruin to ourselves!  I couldn't believe it, a whole castle ruin all to ourselves!  J.P. was less impressed, pointing out that it was likely because Ruine Hohenschramberg isn't all that well known (you won't find it in any Lonely Planet book), it was pouring rain and Hohenschramberg is located in a small town.  "Details, details" I dismissed with a wave of my hand.  We have a whole castle ruin all to ourselves!

Sausages and potato salad at the hut while hiking in the Black Forest

After enjoying the castle ruins we continued hiking in the Black Forest and headed to a marked hut which our hiking book said was famous for its sausages.  What it didn't say was that sausages were the only thing on the menu and I'm not much of a sausage person.  Nonetheless, it hit the spot and the potato salad was delicious.  After we dried off a bit, we headed back out hiking in the Black Forest.  We were soon soaked again, but I couldn't wipe the smile off my face, it's not everyday a girl from Canada gets a castle ruin all to her herself.

See also:
Hiking in the Black Forest (for another hiking in the Black Forest adventure)
Farmhouses in the Black Forest
Hiking in Germany

Castles in Germany:  Hiking to Hohenzollern Castle
Hiking the Swabian Alps

Hiking in Germany

Hiking in Germany photo (actually in Reutte, Austria, near Fussen, Germany)

We've been hiking in Germany almost every week since I've been here which is fantastic.   I’ve done most of my hiking in Germany in the Swabian Albs and the Black Forest, which while beautiful are not true mountains, so I was excited for our trip to the Alps.  It started off like any other hike - we choose our destination and off we went, enjoying the nice views and hearing the cow bells in the distance which always make me chuckle since I can't figure out why cows need bells.

  The service that we walked into - the priest is on the right

A couple of strenuous hours later, we arrived at a mountain hut, which are famous when hiking in Germany and a welcome sight.  The hut was already busy, which wasn't really surprising since it was a beautiful day.  We came and took a seat and then the sermon started.  Sermon?  Yes, that's right; we unknowingly walked right into the middle of a Catholic service.  How we missed the priest and all the prayer books, I'm not sure.  We got up to leave, but the entrepreneurial staff of the huts seeing that we were paying customers in obvious need of a drink soon ushered us to a back room where we were allowed to order drinks just a few meters away from the service and told we had to be "as quiet as a mouse". 

The sign announcing Catholic mas

Thank goodness J.P. was with me.  After a little more than a week of German school I definitely didn't have the German vocabulary to deal with this bizarre situation.  For future reference, the sign on the left means "Catholic mass" I walked right by it thinking that it meant lunch was available after 11:30 - good thing I'm in German school.  J.P. didn't see it.

 After quietly quenching our thirst, we headed out and once we were a safe distance away, burst out laughing,  no longer having to be "as quiet as a mouse".  Hiking in Germany is full of surprises -  you just never know when you're going to crash a church service!

Places to Visit in Germany: Black Forest

Valley in the Black Forest

The Black Forest was one of the places to visit in Germany that I was most excited about.  The Black Forest is located in SW Germany and is legendary with stories of witches,  sorcerers, wizards and even werewolves.  Fortunately we didn't see any of these on our trip to the Black Forest, but we did see spectacular scenery that far exceeded my expectations.

Zweriback Waterfall in the Black Forest

Our goal was an 11km loop starting in Simonswald, that continued onto the Zweriback Waterfall.  This was one of my favourite hikes in Germany so far with views of the tranquil Black Forest valley throughout our hike and glimpses into what farm life is like in the Black Forest.  J.P. lived in the Black Forest as a child, but this was his first time hiking in the Black Forest and even he was impressed!

Even if hiking in the Black Forest is not your goal, the drive through the Black Forest in itself is rewarding and  Furtwagen is a great rest stop where you check out the famed cuckoo clocks.  We're already planning our next hiking trip back to the Black Forest and perhaps even a stop at the German Clock Museum.

See also:
500 Reasons I Love Germany:  Farm Houses in the Black Forest

Black Forest Legends