7/13: Gone Cuckoo in Triberg

After breakfast, Lisa kindly helped us figure out our way to the nearby village of Triberg, even writing us out some free train passes. Triberg is the reputed home to several Black Forest Cuckoo Clock stores and workshops--as well as the World's Largest Cuckoo Clock. If anyone has spoken to my dear wife for more than five minutes, you might know that she's had a jones for her own cuckoo clock for years.

Above: Streets of Schiltach

Annie could barely contain herself as we killed time walking through Schiltach until our early afternoon departure. The village streets were quiet and quaint, and the two streams cutting through town lent a peaceful air to the entire scene.

Above: "Whee!"

When it was time for our departure, we boarded a small regional train to Hautach, and then on to Triberg. We were told to head uphill from the train station to hit the main village, so that's what we did. Fifteen minutes of uphill hiking later, we stumbled our way into what looked like the inspiration for Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Above: Kitsch.

The main strip looked gaudy and over-commercialized, with tour buses buzzing through and kitschy crap everywhere. We saw the entry to "Germany's Largest Waterfall" but decided to avoid it because it looked crowded and too touristy for our liking.

After a couple misguided efforts at finding what we thought were dueling cuckoo clocks in the main square, we located the tourist info office and learned there are two "World's Largest" cuckoos, but they're barely within city limits of each other. Fiddlesticks.

Several moments with a town map helped us realize we didn't need to slog our way uphill to see the World's Largest Cuckoo Clock. Annie didn't like the look of any of the clock retailers uphill either, so we sought out a lunch spot before heading back downhill. We found some pork kebabs, a coke, and a beer: 12€. We also achieved the realization that the first cuckoo shop we saw from the train station was the one Annie had browsed online for years. In sum, our journey up to Triberg was a fool's errand.

Above: Clock Villa, located two minutes from the train station.

This shop, Clock Villa, had a great selection of original handmade clocks. We selected a midsize clock on a weekly timer, with a moving waterwheel and wood chopper, along with dancers. A bonus of buying in the store was that we could customize ours with extra figurines, and designate an inscription to be engraved on the back.

Above: A similar model to our purchase.

Electing to have our clock shipped, we were only stuck with the clock's weights...a modest FIFTEEN POUNDS. The three weights, five pounds each, were shaped like pine cones and would be a joy to carry across Europe for another three weeks.

Once I recovered from the agonizing reality that carrying fifteen extra pounds would be a joy, we decided to seek out the World's Largest Cuckoo. From the clock store, we had a mere thousand meters' walk, so we set out (with our fifteen-pound gift bag in tow).

The large cuckoo clock was pretty impressive, we had to admit. We inspected it up close before the clock neared the half-hour.

We couldn't wait for the hour for fear we'd miss the last train out of Triberg, so we watched it chirp on the half hour before returning to the train station.

We boarded just before some afternoon storms hit, so we rode home through a downpour, with only a block's walk back to Zur Alten Brücke for dinner: wiener schnitzel, and noodles with cheese and ham. And more big beers to celebrate our clock acquisition!

Triberg July 13 Album:

Schiltach/Triberg: July 13, 2011

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Location:Triberg, Black Forest, Germany