This week, Dave had a short trip to Laufenberg, just one overnight. A perfect opportunity for me to tag along and enjoy a most lovely place. Even better as we could count this as a little anniversary celebration--our actual anniversary is tomorrow; 17 years.
We left here yesterday morning, dropping Rio off at school on our way out of town. By 10:45 i was dropping Dave off at the plant and heading towards Laufenburg. I stopped on the outskirts of town, in the modern shopping area and had a cheap lunch at Subway (yes, they are eerywhere, een in Germany) and read for a while at teh table to kill time until it was late enough to check in at Hotel Rebstock.
I should stop here and explain. If you are ever in a position to travel around the Black Forest, I highly recommend that you take a couple of days to simply relax and soak in the atmosphere in this picturesque little town. It is a tourist town, no doubt, but a calm, lovely one. You wont find loud busloads full of tourists looking to check a well known area off their list, as you find in Garmisch (near Neuschwanstein castle) or even Heidelberg. You'll find quiet, beauty loving, off the beaten path people, mostly bicyclists as well as a dozen or more little Bed and Breakfasts and a local population who seems to truly understand an enjoy the beauty they have been blessed to live in. And, if you DO have the chance to visit, I very highly recomend that you stay at the Hotel Rebstock.
If you arrive by car, you will park right under the crumbling old tower and the German side church:
Put 50 cents in the parking meter to buy 90 minutes of time, grab your suitcase and walk into old town through the "town gate" that is also the Rathaus.
Just after the tunnel, the first building on your left is the charming, clean, friendly and reasonably priced Hotel Rebstock (yes, I know I sound like an advertisement--hey, I love this place and would be happy to throw some business their way, what can I say?!).
I happened to arrive during the lunch rush (like most Guest hoses in Germany, there is an onsite restaurant); I think every business person from the Rathaus was in there eating. The place was PACKED!
Nonetheless, the owner (the third generation from her family to run this place) had me all checked in in a jiffy and I headed up to our room, number 22 on the second floor (third to the Americans!).
One of the things that I LOVE about the Rebstock, is that the building is older, and has all of its original charm but is not in the least bit run down, dark, musty, etc. All the good with one of the bad (okay, almost none, the stairs are VERY creaky lol, but I kind of find that charming too in its own way).
In case you happen to e thinking of REALLY visiting my little happy place, here are some photos of the room itself (notice how new, and clean and modern the bathrooms are? and how spacious and charming everything is?):
Here is one of the balcony, and also of the view of the Swiss side of town as seen from the balcony. The ash tray on the outside table reminds me that the interior of the hotel is completely smoke free. Something I really appreciate.
Okay, I hope I have whetted your appetite a little bit. I took several photos enjoying a walk around town after checking in--but I don;t want to overdo it in one post, so I will be back tomorrow with those. In the meantime, I hope your weekend gets off to a nice start tonight.
--Hadley
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