BLACK FOREST ADVENTURE Gabrielle Sander

Fairytale BLACK FOREST

For travel writer Gabrielle Sander, exploring the region – and its food – on an epic 26-mile cycle ride, was the highlight of her journey on the Rhine

While picturepostcard sights, architectural delights and diving into new cultures are what make travelling the world exciting, it’s the promise of all the glorious edible discoveries that piques my interest the most. e local dishes you discover abroad; the ingredients you can pick up to evoke that holiday feeling back home. When that trip runs 800 miles along the Rhine from Basel to Amsterdam, through four countries, six cities and ve towns, rich in wine and weissbier, cheese and charcuterie, schnapps, schnitzel and stroopwafels, the anticipation dials up a notch.

My rst Viking river cruise was a veritable spring feast for all senses: crisp April days oering muchneeded blue skies and sunshine after the long winter, technicolour tulips galore and sweet interactions with wildlife – the family of ducks that passed beneath our veranda balcony one morning in a neat

40 VIKINGCRUISES.CO.UK | SPRING 2020 little row, and the swans we met at almost every bank along the way. Viking Eir, our comfortable home for the eight-day trip, delivered my partner and I seamlessly from one Rhine-side destination to the next; the lowlevel Longship designed perfectly to dock near the heart of the action. Each day brought a new adventure, through a rich itinerary of inclusive excursions, opportunities to explore alone, aided by the handy maps conveniently handed out at guest

services, and well-priced, optional activities that took us even deeper into the location.

e rst stop after embarkation, 60km north of Basel, was the German town of Breisach. Here we hopped o the boat and onto e-bikes to get a taste of the Black Forest and the eponymous gateaux. e next day, the French city of Strasbourg delighted with its picturesque old town of colourful, half-timbered medieval houses, winding canals, and waterside restaurants serving up boards of delicious mountain cheese and crisp Alsatian Rieslings.

In Heidelberg, Germany’s oldest university town, the inclusive tour taught us interesting nuggets of local history, tales of the male-dominated fraternities housed in the grand baroque houses, and the story behind the red sandstone castle perched 330 feet at the top – the world’s largest wine barrel residing inside. Some free time at the end allowed for souvenir shopping, peoplewatching at one of the cafés lining the main square, and a hefeweizen at micro-brewery, Kulturbrauerei. Rüdesheim, in the heart of the Rheingau, marked the start of vineyard country, which stretched over the next three days in an endless patchwork of verdant stripes. Here we were introduced to the paper-thin ammkuchen, an Alsatian ode to the pizza, topped with lardons, crème fraiche and onions, and the brandy-spiked Rüdesheim coee, rst via generous samples handed out during the onboard cookery demonstration, then at a restaurant in town, where we dined that evening.

rough the Upper Middle

Rhine, we congregated on the top deck for a dazzling display of fairy tale, Romantic-era castles, accompanied by homemade icecream and peach bellinis handed out by the crew. Steep vineyards melted into pretty sugared almond villages each with their own legend to tell, entertainingly regaled by cruise director, Ivan. e most

famous was Lore Lay, the goldenhaired maiden who mesmerised sailors to their shipwrecked demise, marked by the jutting Lorelei Rock, at the point where the Rhine curves at its deepest and narrowest towards Koblenz.

At Koblenz, we docked at the mouth of the Moselle river and joined an optional excursion into the 300-mile-long valley, bordered by some of the world’s steepest vineyards. Our guide spoke of the 2,000-year-old viticulture traditions, the legend of the wine witch and the protected Apollo buttery uttering around these parts, before taking us to Winningen, a village where vines grow along and between the houses like telephone wires – their roots helping to keep the cellars dry. Following a tour of a family-run winery and tutored tasting of superb Riesling and Pinot Noir wines, we made our tipsy way back to the ship.

Clockwise, from top right: Viking Eir sailing along the Rhine; half-timbered houses in La Petite France, Strasbourg; traditional French saucisson; the view through the gate from Hagenbach tower in Breisach

Clockwise from above: Rustic windmills in Holland; Gabrielle on her e-bike; a farmyard cow; colourful town houses; Gabrielle samples some local beer; rows of Gouda cheeses spotted during an optional excursion

 at evening, as we sailed towards Cologne, the ship laid on a Taste of Germany-themed feast.  e Viking team, dressed in Lederhosen and Dirndls, delivered glasses of Kolsch, while a traditional display of bretzels, veal schnitzel and sugar-dusted kaiserschmarrn adorned the bu et. 24 hours later, after a day of solo sightseeing in Cologne enriched with sweet spicy trays of currywurst and 360-degree vistas from the top of the Köln Triangle, we enjoyed a direct

view of the Dom Cathedral and an onboard performance by the Cologne Symphony Orchestra.

After Germany came Holland, marked by the distinctly  at landscape dotted with wind turbines and Friesian cows, and stroopwafels at the co ee station.  e optional excursion du jour took us to a cheese farm, where we ate creamy shards of Gouda, took sel es with the giant, wax-covered rounds and stocked up for home. We marvelled at the 19 windmills that make up the UNESCO World Heritage site, Kinderdijk.

 en, just as soon as we’d fallen hook, line and sinker for the river cruising way of life, it was time to disembark at Amsterdam and head home. But not before exploring the characterful capital: to the tulip market for spring bulbs, dodging bicycles along the 165 canals, window-shopping the independent boutiques lining De Negen Straatjes, and tucking into sweet and savoury treats at one of the many pancake houses.

EXPLORING THE BLACK FOREST ON E-BIKE

When I spied the Black Forest e-bike ride in the list of optional activities at Breisach, it sounded like the perfect way to stretch my legs, get off the beaten track and explore an area of southern Germany known for its beauty: an eight-hour route through landscapes that inspired the Brothers Grimm tales, and a chance to tuck into the famous gateau.

I selected and adjusted my bike to the right height and took a test ride to check I hadn’t defied the old ‘you never forget to ride a bike’ adage. Then, helmet clasped, listened attentively as our guides, Lydia and Nick, talked through the plan for the day, took our lunch order and explained the bike settings.

It was a wonderful start, following a traffic-free trail along the banks of the Rhine which sparkled beneath the cloudless sky; swans casually gliding and preening and red kites scouting with predatory intent overhead.

We ducked off the path and onto a woodland track, keeping eyes peeled for the wild pigs, deer and woodpeckers we were told roamed these parts. Wild garlic scented the air, while the sound of wood pigeons, and crunch of wheels over twigs provided the soundtrack.

We popped out the other end to meet a babbling brook and weaved through sprawling farmland, where young strawberry plants grew under the warm comfort of plastic and asparagus protruded from earthy mounds. After an hour, we pulled into a little village farm shop, where a glass cabinet of homemade bakes were laid out for us to select from. It had to be a giant slab of Black Forest gateau for me, which was by far the best I’ve ever had.

By 1pm, we’d zipped through many a picturesque village, past a community garden bursting with tulips, a 12th-century castle bordered by vines, and settled into the 14th-century former laboratory of Dr Faust (the protagonist of many a local legend).

Sufficiently-fuelled we embarked on

the second half of the ride, starting as we were warned it was going to continue, with a steadily growing ascent until we reached a tiny village marking the start of Black Forest proper. Up and up we went, through the Black Forest magic I’d envisioned: curvaceous green hills dipping down to winding streams hugged by stone bridges.

Fairytale farmhouses, goats grazing, and birds twittering melodically, I halfexpected to pass brightly coloured toadstools and a wolf in red clothing. We continued along an interchanging mix of quiet roads and forest-lined tracks, following our guides like the children of Hamelin, captivated by the landscape. The feeling when we pulled into our final destination, a family farm and restaurant, was one of giddy accomplishment. 26 miles, with or without the e-push, is a good distance. Homemade schnapps were poured and we clinked glasses to the fantastic journey we’d ridden together.