Fatman-Overland

26^th April 2009

A short day again. Just a quick hop across to the Schwarzwald (Black forest) which is where some of Isabel’s ancestors came from. After another good breakfast at the hotel overlooking the lake we set off. We had decided to head for the town of Titisee for no other reason than it has a silly name (hey I grew up on Carry-On movies 🙂 ). Again the roads were good and, this time, full of bikes enjoying the good weather. On the way we came across a cafe full of bikes. Naturally we sopped for a coffee and a gaze at all the bikes. Most were German (naturally) with some Swiss and French and two British (us). There was also a Honda Blackbird complete with a sidecar for two – cool! When they left there were four people on board – who says you need a car?

After our wander we were back on the road. After some more good roads we arrived at the town and parked up in a large car park. Not only did this have a separate area for motorbikes it also had a changing room (with lockable lockers – price 1 euro refundable) for bikers. I like a country where bikers are not treated as 3^rd class citizens. Having deposited our helmets, jackets, camelbaks etc. we headed off to the part of the town on the lake (i.e. the actual “Titisee”). This is very touristy (but then again that is what we are 🙂 ) selling generally the same stuff – quartz cuckoo clocks etc – but a nice little wander anyway.

For lunch we went to one of the restaurants that were dotted about. Isabel had sauerbraten and spetzle (a dish her mother made) and I had the dish of the day – Pork knuckle and potato salad -very nice and very big! After that we did a boat tour of the lake (I’m surprised that the boat didn’t sink after that large lunch!) which was quite pleasant. After that we did a bit more touristy wandering looking at all the shops.

Then it was back to the bikes to look for a campsite. We intend spending some time (about three days) in the Schwarzwald so we will be able to have a base and ride out without the luggage for a change which will be nice. We would have liked one on the lakeside but the road to them wasn’t really suitable for bikes so we chose one in amongst the trees instead.

Didn’t check the road in the campsite (which was loose gravel) nor the fact that we had to park the bikes up on a grass slope 🙁 – Oh well we managed it. Anyway we found a nice pitch away from the caravans and mobile homes and up went the tent in quick time.

All in all this is a very nice campsite with friendly owners and good facilities so we awarded it

After getting the tent up we went off to get a beer at the campsite bar/restaurant since it had been a very hot day. We also got some bread and groceries from the onsite shop. We then made dinner back at the tent, played some cards and went to bed hoping that the bikes didn’t fall over in the night!

Lessons Learnt:

• Germany has good facilities for bikers
• Being tourists sometimes isn’t a bad thing

Adrian & Isabel

& Mr Teddy

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