A first excursion in the Schwarzwald

We have the use of our HomeExchange partner's lovely Saab, obviously well-maintained over its long life.  We extracted it from its underground garage (an interesting business of moving platforms and keeping the garage door open) for an first outing into the Black Forest, both to practice our driving and navigation skills and to go out of the city a bit.

It wasn't disappointing.  The villages of St. Peter and St. Margen were both delightful, as was the drive.  I even was able to practice my German (with a Canadian!) who recognized us as English speakers, as we tried to go up (the closed) road to St. Peter, under construction, apparently;  the signs were subtle, to say the least.

I loved these signs in the herb garden next to the Kloster in St. Peter.

Flowers and herbs are the "smiles" of the earth.

The way to health is in a garden. 

And my sister, a clinical herbalist, now post her piano studio career, would have loved this walk. I'd have enjoyed it, too!

The poster describes a local walk identifying local herbs and edibles. 

There are lots of such events around -- in St. Margen and St. Peter, they were celebrating their 900 year and 925 year anniversaries of founding the religious communities there, the forerunners of the towns that are now vacation destinations for walker, bikers, and winter enthusiasts (walking, snow shoeing, skiing, etc.).