The ground is hard

We were just talking about how comfortable our camping setup is. What with a tent large enough to sit and lounge in, iPod with speakers playing music, camp stove to cook with, and even a laptop to blog from. Oh and not to forget a nice comfy airbed to sleep on. The height of luxury, or so we thought. Unfortunately it was not to last. Last night, just as it was getting dark we discovered that the airbed had developed a leak. In fact it had two leaks. We hadn't thought this far ahead and had not obtained a repair kit for it so we had to make do with some sticky plasters. After taping it all up it was still not perfect and we ended up on the floor several times in the night and had to pump the bed up again. Not the recipe for a good nights sleep!



Anyway, back to our travels, we were last staying at the hostel/castle Burg Stahleck. After a continental breakfast we drove on for about half an hour before saying goodbye to the Rhine. We jumped onto the Autobahn and sped along to Baden-Baden. I think that German number plates are area coded since we've been seeing ones that start with TR (Trier) and COC (Cochem). Amusingly the ones in this area start with BAD (Baden-Baden).

Now we're in the Black Forest. Gem tells me its not because the trees are black (because they aren't) but because its so thick and dark. The scenery is amazing and completely different from that of the last few days. I didn't realize that we'd be so high up in the hills. Looking out from the top of a hill over the forest is breathtaking. One thing we've noticed about houses around this area is that they're really big and mostly roof. I guess it must snow lots here in winter. We've also seen huge stacks of firewood by the country houses which also points to a cold winter. It was raining on and off all day and we had to put the tent up in the rain. But we are camping in a town called Shiltach right beside the river Kinzig. Shiltach is a cute wee town with lots of historic looking buildings. Its been quite an important town back in the day as it used the river to raft logs and goods down to the Rhine and then from there as far as places like Holland!