Wine country

Wherever we look there are vineyards covering the steep mountainsides.

loving the flowers

The Mosel Wine Route is particularly stunning with pretty villages and wine tasting outlets everywhere. The road follows the wide and winding river through the countryside and into these small old towns that are all about wine. We follow ancient tractors towing trailers with various wine growing  paraphernalia but apart from the agricultural vehicles the roads are fairly quiet unlike the towns which are heaving with tourists (like us). It’s a mystery how they all get there without crowding the roads.

Mosel Valley rush hour

Germany, like most European countries, caters for motorhomes very well with well signed, dedicated parking places and ‘stellplatz’ for overnight stays.  These are usually free of charge or cost less than £5 per 24 hours. The Mosel Valley is a bit more expensive due to its popularity – we actually paid 8 euros (£6) last night.  If only the UK would learn from Europe…….

I must say the UK does do ‘better restaurant’ than Germany. As we can now afford to eat here, unlike Scandinavia where we couldn’t afford to dine out, we have had a few meals out but if I see another schnitzel or stroganoff with noodles and little else I will scream. The food is ok but extremely dull. I’m looking forward to France and a crepe or two.

Graham doesn’t drink white wine so I have been doing the sampling……not a massive fan of German wines but I have had one or two trocken (dry) Rieslings which aren't too bad.  Heading to Trier and hopefully some wee fee tomorrow.

.......

Mr Soggy at the Ponta Nigra

Ugggh! We are now in Trier and it is totally pouring! I don't know if it is the weather but we're not loving it here. It is very interesting as it is in ancient Roman town with some very intriguing churches and maybe if the rain stopped it would be nicer. The woman in the Tourist office was 'lovely' - on asking her a question she replied with 'WHAT?' 

The stellplatz has the most confusing instructions in the world - the minuscule info on how to enter and pay for the site is around 100 metres from the entrance where it would, perhaps, have been more useful. 

Luxemburg tomorrow.

Brocken to Wernigerode Narrow Gauge Railway

Couldn't resist a quick video of the train for rail enthusiasts click here

pootling along in the fog

for number enthusiasts

Up the Brocken

After huffily accusing Mr Fluffy of taking the wrong path I had to eventually concede that I was wrong and we had, indeed, entered the walkway to the Brocken mountain. Having been given the choice of either an easy walk beside the track for the railway or a steep rocky ascent, guess which one Graham chose? Harumph!

heading off

We drove to Shierke this morning and he managed to persuade me to join him in the 2 hour (ish) hike up the mysterious and witchy mountain.

spooky forest

The initial confusion on the trek was due to a distinct lack of proper signage but after some help from the tourist information centre we trudged up the Brocken through ancient forests, hearing the occasional distant whistle from the steam trains reminding us of that easier alternative route. As we neared the top, just 1 km from the summit, there was a lovely clearing and the sight of a flat-ish road to continue our upward journey. At the exact moment we entered the clearing the clouds burst forth and totally peed it down. ‘Get the waterproofs out of the rucksack - quickly’!

is that a witch I see flying there?

Too late – it hit us before we could get the jackets out or run to the trees for cover – the sunny morning instantly turned into a freezing winter scene. Drenched and cold we carried on to the popular summit to fight with 100s of other tourists for shelter.

stone on the Brocken

We eventually managed to get a bowl of hot goulash and a rather dubious bratwurst based noodle dish in an extremely busy café full of soggy steamy people. This managed to warm the cockles as we took amusing witchy based photos and watched dense fog encircle the famous viewpoint.

inappropriate outfit to climb a mountain 

We decided to take the narrow gauge railway back to Shierke and as the train left the station the sun started to shine again. Typical! It’s a bit of a train aficionado’s delight with people coming from all over the world to ride on them.

A bit bedraggled

Mr F loved the powerful steam engines, the noise, the smell, the vibration, everything about them – it’s a boy thing. I just liked not having to walk. 

Wernigerode Antics

amusing pottery pussy from the schloss

The town of Wernigerode is overshadowed by a gigantic schloss which we decided to visit yesterday. It's an imposing castle with a close association with Kaiser Wilhelm. The many portraits of him on the walls were a far cry from our depiction of him as a voodoo style pin cushion in the Museum of Witchcraft. Mr Fluffy was thrilled (not) to arrive just as the Hexenuhr was happening - a gigantic witch popped out of a cuckoo style clock to cackle the midday hour. I think he is getting all witched out.

The Hexenuhr

We walked through the forest around the schloss and came across a small zoo which we could freely walk around. The cutest were the little tiny wild boar children who came out as a blur on my camera as they were whizzing around the yard merrily. Second cutest were the deer and racoons. We noticed at the end that this was next to a schusenhaus (hunting house) so we are hoping they were not being bred for a spot of schusen (although we did eat 'meat of a stag' for dinner last night at Ins kleine Paradis).

what's up dick?

loving the foot draped over the edge

Off to The Brocken today.

Witches, Witches and More Witches

‘Zis is MY Karte!!’ The high pitched words of the panic stricken tourist information attendant screeched through the visitor’s centre as I circled the points of interest he’d mentioned on a map (which I presumed was a freebie) with a pen that was conveniently located within my reach. ‘Don’t panic I will buy the karte.’ Five euros later I noticed the information was all conveniently in German (which I don’t speak) but he seemed so distressed I felt the need to allay his stress before he had a heart attack.

a hint of witchy overload

Our night in Quedlinburg was filled with half timbered medieval houses, schlosses, and shops selling infinite varieties of witch puppets. Some of the houses are carved with protection symbols like pentacles and six pointed stars, daisy wheels and other familiar symbols. We visited St Wipiti’s church this morning, more for its amusing name than anything else, and discovered a real treasure despite the fact the 10^th century church had been restored in the 1950s. The standing stones in the grounds suggested a much more ancient history.

St Wipiti

We are in the Harz mountains, a place famed for witchy goings on, Faust, and Walpugisnacht celebrations. A drive up to Hexentanzplatz outside Thale proved amusing as we discovered an almost witch-theme park location with shops selling endless witch puppets and a Hexenmuseum which was a little bit more like a cross dressing enthusiast’s plaything. I will let the photos speak for themselves. We wonder if some German visitors are reluctant to enter the Boscastle Museum of Witchcraft as they may have been here and were somewhat put off.

crushed velvet clad wiccan priestess in medieval wisewoman's tableau

a divination scene

The mountains themselves are rather lovely and very atmospheric despite the tacky commercial surroundings.

Our stop tonight is Wernigerode which is a very attractive medieval town with a very large schoss (castle) and a very small house (the only two things the tourist office said was of interest.

a novel use for a washing line

We may get the steam train up to the Brocken tomorrow.

Prozzies and Pagan Murderers

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Vegemite on a German breakfast table.

Having met our Aussie at the Leek festival we gladly took him up on his offer to visit so last night we stayed on Ian and Dorothea’s drive way and had a very pleasant meal with them in Dagebull on the Waddensee. In true Aussie fashion we later enjoyed a few glasses of wine on their patio where we were joined by their neighbours, Christian and Karen. Flocks of geese flew overhead as we exchanged stories of travel and adventure.

Mr Fluffy resting by the Waddensee

This morning we shared a yummy German breakfast of fresh bread, cheese, meats and boiled eggs and Kerriann was delighted to find Vegemite (Australia’s poor attempt to copy Marmite) on the table. Thanks Ian and Dorothea, we really appreciate your hospitality.

Outskirts of Dagebull by Waddensee

little train carrying locals and guests

Today we slowly meandered South through Northern Germany and have stopped at a stellplatz (free parking place for motorhomes) next to a boat museum in Wishhafn. As we queued to get on the ferry we heard on Radio 4 that a ferry in Bangladesh had sunk – Kerriann did not enjoy the trip as we were heavily loaded and listed a little to the right so she was very happy to reach the other side.

stopover in Ttzehoe - witches get everywhere

The weather is a little cooler today but this evening it has turned rather muggy and uncomfortable. Even Kerriann (an Australian) is finding the warm/hot nights rather uncomfortable.

Wischhafn

We are planning to head towards the witchy Harz mountains then on to the Mosel Valley for a bit of wine tasting. Hoorah!