If you know me at all then you know how much I love....adore.....clocks, specially cuckoo clocks and today was clock-a-licious!

The morning began slow because I was so freaking comfortable in that bed. We went down to breakfast and had the usual except for a fancy pineapple and coconut herbal tea. We packed up our stuff and braved the storm for the two steps to our car that we so conveniently parked right in front. We punched in the glass blowing factory called the Dorotheenhutte in the black forest. We got there with out problem. 

We toured the glass shop then bought tickets to see the people blow glass right in front of us. We watched for a while then got in line to....get this....BLOW OUR OWN GLASS VASE. Right? We had the coolest looking vases in the whole house. We had time to watch people make theirs ahead of us. When it was our turn, I went first, we both asked for a small vase. This was key because we do have to get these puppies home after all and some out there were mighty huge. I chose white and black and spots rather than swirls. 

The man who was so nice and helpful, got me a glob, put on the color chips, heated and shaped the blob. Then it was my turn to blow. They give you a plastic nub so your mouth isn't right onto it and the man spins it for you. I blew a little to keep it small. Then he told me to do more so I blew my brains out and a beautiful little vase formed. The man put a flat bottom on it and broke it off the pole. I looked over to see the bf finishing up his totally gorgeous black and orange one. His was smaller than mine. 

We left the Dorotheenhutte elated and uber proud of our vases. It was still relatively early in the day so we actually passed the town we were to stay in and drove an extra twenty minutes to the German Clock Museum. 

This was a paradise to me. It lead us on a tour of the history of time keeping in the finest detail. It began with astronomical clocks, then went through the whole history of the first clocks made. It told the story of function to aesthetics to precision. I particularly liked the progression of the wrist watch display as it represented watches through the decades from before the 1930's all the way through the 90's and beyond. There was also a whole room dedicated to the pocket watch. I loved all the wall clock displays and the various methods of displays as well as methods of function from wooden cogs wit only an hour hand to the nuclear clock. I checked my watch and it was only two seconds off! I left with an even greater appreciation of clocks than I had before. They sound beautiful, as I heard angels sing in the ticking in the room with over sixty ticking cuckoo clocks, they look beautiful, as I admired the intricately carved wooden or the golden inlaid clocks and they are intricate as I staggered at the fine tuning of the miniature cogs used in small intricate watches.

We tore ourselves away from the museum only because the metabolizing machine of a bf needed food, stat. We backtracked to Triberg and checked into our wonderful, darling little hotel, the Hotel Pfaff which is dead center of town and steps away from the waterfall that is sort of the jewel of the town. We had little interest in climbing the waterfall because, one, my legs were killing me but two, because we might not have been able to tell the difference between the waterfall and the rest of the town, it was raining so hard!

We poked our head in an Italian restaurant so the bf could grab a cheese pizza, some of the only things he, as a vegetarian, could eat. Then we walked a block down the street to Cafe Schaefer where they hold the original recipe for the Black Forest cake. I have tasted the Schwartzwaldertorte other places and it is NO comparison. The reason we came to this town is to go to THAT cafe and eat THAT cake. It is like licking the frosting off of heaven. The cherries are perfectly soaked in alcohol, the chocolate cake is perfectly fluffy and flavored. The cream, well I don't even need to tell you how amazing cream is here in Europe. It's one churn away from butter, as I say. Then the whole thing is sprinkled with the kirshwasser which is a cherry schnapps. It is worth the trip, for sure. 

The bf got an eclair like thing with cherries, and we both got some hot chocolates to warm up our bones. Full, and stupid happy we strolled up the shopping street in search of a cuckoo clock. There are a few stores here called The House Of 1000 Clocks. We ended up in one such a store on our third stop. They do not joke around in there. We looked at the various types available; the one day' the eight day, which means you only have to pull the string once a week, the electric, the manual, the musical ones, the ones with dancing people, beer drinkers, water wheels spinning and the ones that are dark, carved wood. We left $1200 poorer but one magnificent cuckoo clock richer. It is dark wood, with very intricately carved pieces, it has a cuckoo and dancing figures with two different songs and it is an eight day. I had to have it when I saw it and i am so thankful that the bf felt the exact same way. He also bought some prezzies that I won't mention until he gives them to the men in his family, but they are really cool.

We rested from the massive purchase and checked our email then headed down for our dinner. I ordered a half board with the room because I have been here before and this hotel has a wonderful looking restaurant which is quite affordable with the half board. We went down at seven and were seated. The awesome waiter started going too fast with the German and I got all confused. I said 'English?' And he said oh! And explained to us that we were having a soup to start, a lamb and pancake soup. I was embarrassed because I didn't know half board meant a set menu so I had to explain that the bf is a vegetarian. I think that set him back a bit but he said no problem. The bf got a tomato soup, a salad like mine, and a veggie and rice platter that he said was the best meal he has had this whole trip! Yay! I adored the pancake soup that had thinly sliced strips of crepe in it. The salad was fresh as it could get, with various lettuces and tomatoes. My main course was a juicy, tender pork slice with mushrooms and bell pepper covered in melted cheese with a side of fries. I tried to trade my fries for the his potatoes. I do not know if it the type of potatoes they have here or how they cook them but they taste like pure butter throughout. If given the opportunity I would eat them like a goldfish until I exploded. I would.

The dessert was just perfect, like everything else on this trip; Two scoops of ice cream, one chocolate, one vanilla, covered in cherries and hidden in whipped cream. At the bottom was a wonderful surprise of alcohol, more kirsh, I suspect. Amazeballs!

We climbed the stairs to our room and internetted until we sere sleepy....like right now....see you tomorrow!