During the Summer of 2017, I did a 30 day trek in Europe. I started by flying to Frankfurt, Germany on July 11th, and visiting with my niece, MaLaan and family. From there I rented a car and traveled through the Black Forest National Park towards Switzerland.

     I started the day by driving to Baden-Baden and visiting the world famous Roman Spas, (pictured below).

In the nineteenth century the German spa town of Baden-Baden (pictured above), on the edge of the Black Forest, was a fashionable gathering place for the rich and famous from across Europe. The desire of the overfed elite of the period to combine leisure activities with a cure for the tortured livers made this and other spas a unique focus of social life.

The existence of medicinal springs at Baden was known to the Romans and had been fitfully exploited through the centuries, but the development of the resort did not begin in earnest until the 1820s. Baden became an important venue for diplomatic summit meetings, most memorably that of the “Three Emperors”–Franz Joseph of Austria, Alexander II of Russia, and France’s Napoleo II— in 1863.

     The picture below, is of the Black Forest. Covering the southwest corner of Germany, the magical forest with its jagged hills, clear lakes, and deep valleys cast a spell on all who come here.

     The Black Forest is not really black, but deep evergreen—mostly Norway spruce, a tall straight tree ideal for timber.