After breakfast, we boarded our bus for a scenic ride to the Bavarian Forest, the largest continuous wooded area in Germany and the largest protected forest area in central Europe. It’s a nature reserve and natural park dotted with charming villages, fields and farms. Our first stop was the small village of Baernzell, where a horse drawn carriage was waiting. We hopped aboard, were given blankets and a bottle of Blutwurz (blood root) schnapps, which is renowned among locals for its medicinal properties. I could not drink it. One sip and I handed mine to Kos.
After our ride, we boarded the busses again to go to Theresienthal, a famous Bohemiam glass factory on the outskirts of Zwiesel. Theresienthal is a world renowned brand that creates handmade, one of a kind works of art. We watched a demonstration of glassblowing before going into the shop.
As beautiful as this glass was, it was very expensive and fragile.
Then we went back to the village of Baernzell, where we indulged in some local cuisine, sampling homemade bread hot from a wood fired oven. Yum.
I was really impressed with the flowers that are so typical of the homes here. Especially the window boxes.
Above you can see Sonya, our tour guide, holding one of the loaves of bread, made with rye flour. We all had a sample along with some homemade elderberry and apple tea. Delish.
Above is the woodburning oven that the bread is baked in. The ovens are built 20 paces away from the home to avoid the possibility of a fire.
After our tour ended, we returned to the ship for lunch and then picked up our bikes that we reserved for the afternoon.
Weather today was beautiful – sunny and cool. Perfect for riding.
We rode into the town and along a bike trail through the residential farming area. Above you can see a traffic light for bikers, which I’ve never seen before. The bike trails were well signed and easy to follow --- even for us tourists. :)
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