Gengenbach and Around

We woke up this morning to more rain. The fog and clouds had moved down over the mountainsides and it was raining quite steadily. A bit depressing when we have so few days here, but we decided to get on with it anyway. We went to Wolfach where there was a glass factory and we could get inside the factory for a demonstration of the glass-blowing process. We had seen one similar in Portugal a few years ago but it was still interesting to see how they work together to form a piece ... and very quickly. They are certainly skilled at their craft. We noticed that the workers were drinking beer and smoking while they were working. Guess the laws in Germany aren't as stringent as other countries !! We stopped for a quick lunch in a town we were passing through - Steinach. Another example of the lax German laws - people bring their dogs into the restaurant with them. One lady seated just next to us had her dog with her and Richard was thrilled to have it nuzzle its head up on his lap twice while he was trying to eat. How do you say "F... off" in German!! It continued to rain a lot as we drove back toward Gengenbach. We had our umbrellas and rain jackets so decided we would brave the elements and take a walk through the Old Town centre. What a pleasant surprise .... we can only say that it was like walking into a fairy tale. What a place! The half-timbered buildings and houses and the curved cobblestone streets. Apparently it was in the opening scenes of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Barbara (our landlady) said they had asked all of the town people to come out as extras dressed in old winter clothes (it was still summer) and they shot here for a few days. When the movie came out it was only in the beginning few seconds of the movie along with a subtitle "Dusseldorf!" It is a very charming town. You really do get a feeling of being transplanted elsewhere; it is just so different! We will enjoy exploring it further when the sun decides to shine tomorrow. We stopped for our afternoon kaffe und kunchen. Richard decided to try the famous Black Forest torte - which was shot through with Kirsch (cherry liquor). Yummy! He headed off to the WC (water closet) to return very quickly asking "Damen or Herrem" which one means "guys?" It has been a good day despite the weather. It is supposed to clear tomorrow so we will see how far around we can get. But they are forecasting rain for Friday again. Oh well, on the plus side we didn't get this weather while we were trying to cycle the Danube or in Croatia.