Wednesday, October 23rd
After leaving Buchenwald we headed to the old town of Quedlinburg where we rented an apartment for three nights in the Harz mountain area with private paid parking. After arriving and walking the town we attempted to add a fourth night. Not so lucky, but we did find a hotel for a fourth night. The apartment is small and modern in an old building. The restaurant staff was very friendly and we enjoyed a good meal. Our blog was put on hold due the extremely poor WiFi.
Thursday, October 24th
Our mission was to visit an especially scenic point on The Brocken by going through a magical forest. So we headed out on a ten minute walk to the bus depot. About twenty minutes later we stood at the bus stop across from the depot and waited for bus 230 to take us to Wernigerode where we’d catch a locomotive to The Brocken, the highest and most famous mountain in the Harz.
So much for the spectacular view and magical forest, the forest is dying from a combination of stress due to weather change and attack by bark beetles. The train ride took us through what once was a scenic view, now a depressing sight.
The top of the mountain was bitter cold, shrouded in fog and so windy it was hard to walk in a straight line. The only redeeming quality as far as Phil was concerned was that he had the best bratwursts ever and had it with dark German beer.
The trip down was much the same as the way up – Did we get iron the right train? Where do we switch trains? Are we on the right train? Slight difference was when Phil realized we no longer had our travel bag and the train was ready to leave. See Phil run. He found it but we lost our primo seat.
Back in Wernigerode we waited thirty minutes at the bus depot for bus 230 again. Towards the end of the hour ride, except for the driver, we had the bus to ourselves. The driver started speaking to us as we’re the only passengers left, which we assumed he wanted to know where we were getting off. Phil knew to answer “der bahnhof, bitte”. The driver responded “der bahnhof ?”, Phil, “yah, der bahnhof’. That’s where he dropped us off, at the bus depot around 7:30 that evening. We used the iPhone to find our car which got us back to the apartment ten minutes later.
Later we found a nice restaurant on market street for dinner.
Friday, October 25th
The next morning we set out for breakfast, “fruhstuck” in particular fried eggs. We remember seeing someone eating fried eggs at one of the many outdoor cafes on market street. We must have looked at every menu at every restaurant and cafe for something that we could interpret as eggs without success. So we ended up at the same place we had dinner the night before asking for eggs. The waitress indicated it was too late for breakfast but seemed to say she would accommodate us and seated near the rear. After being served coffee we waited and waited til she returned and asked if we weren’t going to eat and pointed to the buffet. Oh no, another buffet. Another sad, sad, sad buffet with only the only eggs being hard boiled. Afterwards we set out on another ten minute walk to the castle and afterward to check out the location of tomorrow night’s hotel.
The story goes that the the castle was built by the first king of a United Germany. We visited the grounds but declined the ten euro per person entrance fee to the interior museum.
On the way back to the apartment we found the hotel sign listing it as a “Hotel – Pension”. A pension generally provides very basic rooms typically with shared bathrooms. We’ve been learning to make do with basic but a shared bathroom exceeds our comfort level. To make matters worse it appeared to be closed with a sign on the window listing phone numbers. After rapping on the door and ringing the bell we were leaving when the door opened. Yes, they have our reservation. We may come early tomorrow. Around the same time? Phil answered, a little later than now. Private parking here at no extra charge. Just like our current place you just have to squeeze your car through a narrow wall opening off a narrow street while holding your breath. Collected pictures Of the village along the way.
Had a late lunch at an outside cafe, then checked out several bakeries until we found some appetizing treats to take back to our room. That turned out to be dinner. Neither one of us wanted to do any more walking today.
Saturday, October 26th
Saturday morning we got up early. We still wanted fried eggs. Turns out that Saturday is market day with the square filled with vendors. So delightful and picturesque. We finally found our fried eggs. What a treat. We also found a vendor selling pastries. Another treat which we took back for lunch.
Went back to the apartment, packed up and set off for the pension which appeared closed. Like the day before we rang the bell and rapped loudly when a woman across the courtyard stuck her head out of an upper window and yelled something at us. She subsequently came down and checked us in. We have a bathroom. We have working WiFi. We have cake. We have coffee.
Today’s plan was to visit Wernigerode’s old town, but …. Phil’s ankles are hurting, probably from the cobble stone streets and Diane’s knees could use a break. That combined with the fact that neither one of us want to deal with getting the car through the squeeze and back again we decided to stay put and work on the blog. Wernigerode can wait til tomorrow as we head west towards Koeln where our tour of Germany began.
Strolled around using the iPhone to locate a place for dinner. We are a bit of a walk from the market center where we had previously found many cafes, pubs and restaurants. Not being familiar with this area and not wanting to walk any further than necessary, we took advantage of the iPhone. Found a brewery restaurant. Food was plentiful, not so taste. Beer good!
