So You Want to Buy a Cuckoo Clock...

Stuttgart is near the Black Forest region of Germany. The Black Forest is known for hiking, cuckoo clocks, and the ever famous Black Forest cake. As our international gift to ourselves, we wanted to purchase a cuckoo clock as a reminder to us of our newlywed time abroad. We had looked for clocks in a number of stores, but came up empty handed. After doing some reading and research, I came across Triberg, Germany. Triberg is two hours from us, very manageable for a day trip. Triberg is also home to two large cuckoo clock shops and Germany's highest waterfalls.

We left for Triberg mid morning on a Saturday, and were making decent time on our way out of the city. Suddenly, our car started beeping, alerting us to a problem with the engine. While our car, fortunately, never stopped working the engine was not working properly and I was anxious about it giving out in the middle of nowhere. We called our car rental service as we were approaching the airport and were able to switch to another Ford Kuga after about 45 minutes of discussions and effort. This car is a bit newer, all wheel drive, and is black, making it appear much cleaner than our white one! The only down side is we now have a manual. In a country full of steep hills. I haven't driven stick in nine years but I am about to relearn in a foreign country. It will make for a unique experience.

Car trouble aside, the drive was effortless. As we approached the most heavy part of the forest, the area became noticeably darker due to the height and density of the trees. The darkness made for a cool and somewhat ominous effect.

Up first, the Haus der 1000 Uhren (House of 1000 Clocks). I went to scope out the gifts throughout the shop while Tom focused on finding the perfect clock. The shop was very well run. They would take the clock you were looking at, remove it from the shelf, and hang it on a blank wall to provide a more objective view for you to decide if you liked it or not. There were three hooks, so you had the opportunity to compare up to that number of clocks. Ultimately, we were torn between two options. The very traditional cuckoo style, with dark wood and nature carvings, and the style I most associate with cuckoo clocks, more modern with rotating pieces and people. 

We had the more modern one hanging up for a while before hanging the traditional one next to it. When we saw the two side by side, we instantly knew which one we wanted.

When the clock chimes each hour, the man drinks his beer, the water wheel turns, and you have the option for the dancers up top to dance and spin. Each acorn acts as a lever, one is for the clock, one for the "cuckoo" noise, and one for the music and dancers. We will primarily only use the first two, you can remove the acorn of the feature you don't wish to use. The lady who helped us was awesome, plus we were able to ship it back to Chicago for a very practical price. This little beauty will be set up in Tom's man cave upon our return.

Absolutely famished from our successful shopping trip, we were recommended to try the pizza place next door. I got wine from the Baden region and a small Gorgonzola and spinach pizza and both were absolutely amazing. I've had three or four pizzas since arriving in Europe and this one was my favorite.

To work off our pizza, we walked the waterfall path. To call it a hike would be rather overzealous unless you were new to hiking. We went up the steep path directly alongside the falls and the view was spectacular. The sun was well blocked by the trees, creating a very serene and isolated environment.

Triberg is easy for tourists like us. Everyone spoke English and we were able to park our car once as the entire area was walkable. While it doesn't boast huge draws like a castle or museum, it provided us with the perfect Black Forest experience.