A Fluid Postcode: November 2025

Gengenbach

(Part 2: 15 - 27 November)

I mentioned before that 11/11 isn't a thing here in Germany.

We had to wait until 16 November for Volkstrauertag, the National Day of Mourning, the German equivalent of Remembrance Day - observed on the second Sunday before Advent.

On a cold morning, John walked up the hill towards the church we visited the other day for the service. The town band played a few hymns that people sang to. All done in the sombre mood you'd expect.

That Sunday afternoon we caught the train 40 minutes away to Shiltach and had another walk through a town full of character half timbered houses. Our first drizzle.

We caught the train the next morning to Haslach where we went last week. We needed to do a bit of supermarket shopping and, while there's an Edeka not far from here in Gengenbach, Haslach has an Aldi, Rewa and more in the same square so it's a good spot to shop.

It's such a pretty train ride along the valley; farms, hamlets, small towns and a bit of industry.

Our visit coincided with an annual market day there.

Tuesday we had an early start to Titisee, a two hour train trip south of where we are staying to walk around the lake there.

Gengenbach is 175m above sea level, Titisee is about 850. As the train got closer we could see more and more snow on the ground and in the trees.

What a lovely walk around the lake, with a frosting of fresh snow giving it that winter wonderland feel.

On the way home, one of our interconnecting trains terminated early. After being herded off the train at an unfamiliar location, we were fortunate to be looked after by a local couple heading to Manheim for a concert that night.

Two things came to mind:

1. As a tourist, how good is it when a local person is happy to help. If I'm willing to appreciate this, it really does behove us to volunteer assistance to anyone in Sydney if we can. And

2. they were travelling 450 km to go to a folk concert that night. That's Sydney to Wagga Wagga, and they thought nothing of it because their ICE (Inter City Express) rattles along at more than 300kph with just four stops. That means they CAN be on a train at 4pm to catch a 7pm concert. #envious

Wednesday, Robyn went into Offenburg for the day, while John stayed locally and did a bit of food shopping and wandered up a different hill above the town.

That afternoon we wandered into town after lunch for a walk.

Thursday we caught a train to Triberg, about an hour away up in the mountains. Triberg sits at about 800 metres above sea level, so no surprise there's ski fields not far from there. Up until the 60s it also hosted an earth-walled bob-sled track... some of the footage of sleds rocketing down a bumpy track shown in one of the museums attest to why this track is no longer in use.

This was our first real snowy day. The trees were covered in snow and the town looked beautiful.

We walked up the path to the (famous) falls. We could only reach the first tier because the paths were closed with snow, but it was just lovely.

This area is famous for its black forest cake, so we enjoyed the warmth of a cafe to partake.

Rather than wait for the bus, we walked the kilometre or so back to the station.

Friday we caught the train to Zell - a medieval town about 20mins away. Another beautiful town in the Black Forest - lots of hikes from here. There were many stork nests atop buildings - but no storks.

The Christmas market in Offenburg started this week so we caught the train in (about 8 mins) and enjoyed the carnival atmosphere, a gluewein and shared a hungarian snack- a deep fried dough called a Langos- we had ours with garlic sauce, ham and cheese. YUM!

Of note, after seeing hamburger prices throughout our travels in Australia which were $25 to $30, we were surprised to see a hamburger for between €5 and €6.5 - about $9 - $11 AUD.

Saturday was a lazy day for John, who was dying from man flu. While he lay around the apartment, Robyn wandered into town to the farmers' market to get some supplies - essentials included cake from the local school stall.

Sunday we caught the train to Basel in Switzerland to have lunch with a former colleague and friend of Robyn's from teaching at Wenona.

It was great to catch up with Phoebe who is now teaching at an international school in Zurich. It was interesting to hear how life is when living in Zurich.

We can also say we had lunch with an international netball player... Phoebe has made the Swiss netball team!

We travelled the two hours to Basel by train, continuing to take full advantage of our free travel cards - we had to walk the last 1 km from the closest German train station, Basel Bad, to Basel itself.

On the way we passed another stork who has forgotten to fly south for the winter.

Monday was warmer than it has been, owing to the heavy cloud cover that brought consistent rain overnight and into the morning.

We caught the train to Freiburg, about 20 stops and 60 minutes away.

Without our Konus card, which we enjoy as part of our tourist tax, it would be about $100 return each, so we're really getting our money's worth.

Freiburg is a city of about 200,000 people.

Tuesday we woke to continued rain, so it's warmer from the cloud cover.

Overnight we received notification that a coming Trenitalia train strike meant our plans to get to our next destination were thrown into a bit of chaos. We (well, Robyn) spent the morning pouring over maps, train timetables and car hire opportunities to sort out getting from here to Milan and on to Certaldo in Italy where we travel to on Thursday.

Once that was settled (we've hired a car from Milan to Certaldo) we caught a train the short distance (one change) through Zell to Oberharmesbach, the end of a short train line.

It's a bit higher in elevation so we thought there might be snow... alas, no, just light rain. Oberharmesbach is a tiny town, so it didn't take long to go for a walk through the town and see the highlights before a friendly farmer showed us a shortcut path back to the main town. We sought refuge in a cafe for Black Forest cake (should be tax deductible given our location) and coffee.

We do love the tradition here in this region of advertising a new baby born in the town with a sign that includes the stork. We've seen a few of these - just gorgeous.

On the way back we diverted into Wolfach for a similar experience.

Then a bit of shopping at Haslach (couple of food items, waterproof shoe spray and a new umbrella) and home for the afternoon.

Wednesday was our last day here in the Black Forest.

We spent the morning packing and gathering stuff (staying for up to three weeks at a time, we're carrying quite a few odds and ends), then after lunch we caught the train north to Strasbourg again. There were places we didn't get to, and the Christmas markets started today so to Strasbourg we went.

We stayed till the lights came on... very pretty.

And so to the present.

After three weeks, today we're leaving this town that we feel we really know well and are on a train to Milan where we'll stop for the night, then tomorrow we'll drive the short distance from Milan to Certaldo.

We've loved our time here - it really has exceeded expectations. It's such a pretty part of the world.

More excitement just around the corner :)

Gengenbach

(Part 1: 7 - 14 November)

We're here in Gengenbach for about three weeks.
It's a gorgeous small town of about 11,000 people. For context, that's about the size of Bateman's Bay or Mudgee.
It's a popular tourist town on the edge of the Black Forest, 30km east of the Rhine, which borders France.

Gengenbach was founded in 1231 but the city was destroyed twice during the Nine Years War in 1634 and 1643. Any old buildings (as well as stone churches, town gates and walls and "half-timbered" houses) were built after these events.

Our apartment is great. It's the ground floor of a house with good size rooms, comfortable lounge, good wifi and a full kitchen. Very convenient, and nice and warm.

There's a LOT of firewood stacked outside people's houses - mountains of the stuff, and lots of chimneys smoking. Our apartment is heated with those column type heaters along walls in each room.

It's a very easy walk from our accommodation to the medieval town centre ("Altstadt"), which is gorgeous and features a town hall which each year becomes the world's biggest advent calendar with its 24 windows on display.

All accommodation in this area includes a public transport travel card for travel anywhere in the state (Baden Württemberg.)
So, after a couple of local days settling in, doing initial food shopping, a few walks to get our bearings etc., Monday we caught a bus that meandered through other local towns to the closest major town of Offenburg, population 60,000 (think Albury). Unlike Gengenbach, it has department stores and specialty shops.
It has a very pretty old town and we had a good wander there before catching a train back.

11 November doesn't really figure in German commemorations so there was no reason to be in town at 11am. The sun was out, there was no wind and the temperature was about 10 or 11 degrees, so a perfect opportunity to walk up the hill to the small chapel of St Jakobus and enjoy the the view down over the valley and Gengenbach town.

The next day was again scheduled to be mild, so we hopped on a train to Strasbourg, just over the border (the Rhein) in France.

Our transport card is only good until one stop from Strasbourg, so rather than risk a fine we did the right thing and hopped off and caught a tram for 15 minutes into the city near the cathedral.

We did a free city walk tour - tips based thing we've done in plenty of other places. We like the way it orients you to a new place.

Strasbourg was interesting - its such a mix of French and German because of its location on the border and it was evident (even to us) in the architecture and building.

We'll likely return one day for another look in the next couple of weeks - a luxury we can enjoy as a result of choosing to travel slowly.

It feels a bit like Annecy in France

It feels a bit like Gengenbach

It feels a bit like Brussels

It feels a bit like Paris

While Strasbourg is on the Rhine, the River Ill also flows through the city over a series of locks.

Notre Dame Cathedral dominates the old city skyline and is quite beautiful. Pink sandstone, beautiful carvings, enormous stained glass windows, and of course, those who know us, a walk to the top :)

With the continuing mild weather, we caught the train the next day, Thursday, to Haslach, about 15 minutes up the valley.

Another pretty little town.

It's bigger than Gengenbach and has a commercial area and a more supermarkets, but the old town and the houses that settle in the valley beside the river are beautiful.

We did a self guided walking tour through the old half timbered houses.

Overlooking the town is a tower. John did the 50 or so minute walk up the hill to take in the view.

Robyn enjoyed a hot chocolate!

It's a gorgeous path through the forest to the top.

Such a pretty area.

Another day of mild weather; best to make hay while the sun shines.

We caught the train the next day, Friday, to Baden Baden. While there is of course some people living near the station, the main old town is a further 20 minute bus ride away.

Bad mean spa or bath - so Baden Baden is a spa town. The Romans (of course) built baths there, possible as far back as the Emperor Hadrian.

It's another pretty old part of town, with some grand homes that are now divided into flats. There's the obligatory decorated churches, including an old Catholic church (whatever that is!) which is presided over by a female bishop from Austria.

Feels like winter, but it's still clearly autumn.

A significant hill overlooking the town is accessed via a funicular railway. Without doubt the steepest funicular we've ever taken. The incline ranges from 23% to 58%.

A drink at the top with a great view.