20th December.
A light frost greeted us in the morning, and finally, some pleasant sunshine in which to drive through the rolling countryside to
Osnabrück; still a British army base for another couple of years.
Despite purchasing a 2013 edition of the indispensable
Bordatlas stellpatz guide in Xanten, the first park we checked out was being
re-developed into something more profitable, and the second turned out to be at
back of an Unnewehr Hymer Motorhome dealership. They were very friendly
however, and happy to provide us with a free overnight stay with electricity;
the water though was shut off for winter. We had a good browse in their well
stocked accessory shop and bought some new Thule ramps for only 26 euros.
GPS: 52.2619 N, 08.0022 E
The bus stop is directly outside the showroom and despite
knowing where we wanted to go, the driver took us for troublesome tourists and
waved us through to the seats without paying! Nuemarkt had a drab, disjointed
appearance, but away from the bus station there are some impressive shopping
precincts, beautifully enhanced with coloured floodlights and lighted
decorations.
Further on, the Christmas market meandered through parts of the old town and
seemed much more food orientated than Munster. The choice was comprehensive:
from Oriental through to Doner, though the ethnic traders didn’t seem to be
picking up the trade as well as the traditional outlets selling pizza, and
bratwurst and chips. We chose succulent pork butties in a hot crispy roll, with
pickled cabbage and mustard mayonnaise.
Suddenly aware that our neighbours by the pork butty stall were tuning into our conversation, we introduced ourselves to a British ex-army man, who, incredibly, was from our hometown! I actually knew and had worked with his brother - how small a world is that! Curiously, his German wife would have preferred to live in England, but he wanted to stay in Germany, a secure job obviously influential in that decision.
We followed up the butty with a strawberry and white chocolate kebab – heaven, and finally, a liqueur coffee to keep out the cold.
Gingerbread heart or chocolate goodies?
Chocolate covered Strawberries - mmm... they were good!
Wandering around the Schaffer Department store, checking its, er.. services, we came across an incredible kitchenware department. I’m a bit of a nut when it comes to kitchen equipment (engineers and their tools!) but this was certainly an Aladdin’s cave up with the best.
Off the bus back from Nuemarkt, we found a British van parked next to us - the first we had seen this trip - and the entrance blocked for the night by a car belonging to the franchise.
21st December
Up early, but not early enough to say hello - or goodbye
- to our British neighbours, we hit the road for Hameln, the town immortalized
by the Grimm brother’s fairy tale of the Pied Piper. Apparently the true story
is not one of the Piper’s revenge for non-payment of services rendered; ridding
the town of rats, but one of population control, removing the next generation!
Our weather station's prediction of snow ultimately
proved correct, and we drove into sleet on the motorway, the wipers struggling
to shift the slabs of ice that swiftly built up on the windscreen. This is more
like it we thought, winter is on its way, we could get a white Christmas yet!
After all the fun we have had in the Alps over the years, the grey skies and
misty atmosphere lifted our spirits with the promise of frozen delights.
From our Bordatlas again, we found a super stellplatz by the river and a railway line, within easy reach of Hameln centre. On a well organised and paved plot between two commercial buildings, to our surprise it was sparsely occupied, with Dutch and German vans only. A gate leads down and along the riverbank all the way into town, passing a café and a bar/restaurant on the way. €8 per day. Electricity €1 euro for eight hours.
GPS: 52.0962 N, 09.3582 E
After battening down the van with the winter outside
covers (strange no-one else was bothering) we walked into town but the sleet
was already turning to rain. Not the best start, especially as it was still
bitterly cold - that bone chilling, jacket penetrating cold at just above
freezing, before true sub-zero dries the air.
Hameln was virtually untouched by the World War II
destruction and this was probably our most picturesque setting yet.
Hameln's old streets are beautifully preserved
Wandering though the ancient and decorated streets, we discovered snow capped market stalls around the church and the Rathaus (the town hall), with its rows of bells below the roofline, and an advent calendar laid out in its 24 small windows. We stood in the rain for 10 minutes waiting for the “glockenspiel” of the bell chimes at the appointed hour, but nothing happened, obviously we need a new Green Guide! For the kids, a small ice rink was laid out between the buildings, and a gazebo erected at the top of the steps for the carol singers.
Wandering though the ancient and decorated streets, we discovered snow capped market stalls around the church and the Rathaus (the town hall), with its rows of bells below the roofline, and an advent calendar laid out in its 24 small windows. We stood in the rain for 10 minutes waiting for the “glockenspiel” of the bell chimes at the appointed hour, but nothing happened, obviously we need a new Green Guide! For the kids, a small ice rink was laid out between the buildings, and a gazebo erected at the top of the steps for the carol singers.
The rest of the market wraps around these two buildings,
and in the street behind, a beautifully decorated children’s Christmas train was
whizzing around, the kids entranced. The now continuous heavy rain didn’t seem
to be putting much of a damper on the festivities, but after one gluhwein and a
wander around we retreated to the shopping mall opposite the church to warm up
– these Hamelnites (Hamelnonians?) must be made of sterner stuff! We eventually
did hear the peel of bells, but as we couldn’t see the fun standing and eating
bratwurst in such weather we decided to find a quiet restaurant for some
traditional grub.
Easier said than done, but I had earlier spotted the
Kartoffelhaus im Büergerhus on the Kupferschmiedestrasse, and therein we had a
good bellyful of German comfort food. Pork steaks on a bed of fried potato,
onion and bacon, with a salad and a 50cl carafe of a good red wine came to
€38.70, and it absolutely hit the spot!
GPS: 52.1034 N, 09.3547 E
22nd December
The one snag with the stellplatz in Hameln is that the
water supply is shut off in winter. I used our grey water to wash out the
toilet cassette, but that still left us a very nearly empty fresh water tank.
Overnight the rain had completely washed away the snow from the ground, but a
little remained on the roofs.
We were soon out of Hameln and enjoying the countryside
scenery, dank and misty though it was, the snow-white fields gave it a slightly
surreal air. Just off to the right, I spotted a motorhome parking sign at
Eschershausen and turned off to find a large carpark with a segregated
wohnmobil area opposite some residential housing. This had an electrical supply
and thankfully a working water supply, which delivered exactly 100 litres at
high pressure for 1 euro.
GPS: 51.9298 N, 09.6287 E
The ease with which we found and used this open and
unattended facility got me thinking – even if such a provision for motorhomes
could be set up in the UK, would it not be only a matter of days before some
mindless yob rendered the equipment unusable, simply because he or she thought
they could, and get away with it?
Our destination was Wernigerode, our intended stopover in
the Harz mountains for the Christmas holiday. The Harz has a 25,000 hectare
national park, through which the old East/West German border ran for 40 years,
and was then largely a prohibited area. After reunification, conservationists
moved swiftly to establish the national park and secure the future of the wild
life. What was once the longest fortified border in the world was formed into
part of a Green Belt that now extends across Europe taking in over 150 nature
reserves. A re-introduction programme for Wild Lynx was started in 2000 and the
first wild born pups detected in 2002. As well as wildlife there are all the
other mountain pursuits of skiing, hiking and mountain biking
Wernigerode was first chartered in 1121 and became a spa
and holiday resort at the beginning of the 19th Century. Its write-up was full
of ancient half-timbered buildings and narrow streets and its unique 15th
Century town hall, overlooked by an imposing neo-Gothic Schloss. It is one of
the top Christmas market destinations, as well as a summertime holiday mecca.
Wernigerode forms one of the three main hubs (with links
to main line services) of the Harzer Schmalspur Bahnen or HSB, a narrow gauge
railway network that, at 132 km, is the largest in Europe. It is served by 25
steam trains and 10 diesel locomotives, which have to tackle gradients of 40%
and curves as tight as 60 metres. Most locomotives date back to the 1950’s but
the first train ran from Wernigerode in 1898. As industries later collapsed
much of the freight traffic was lost and it now serves the nostalgic passenger
traffic, with three separate Railway Lines: the Trans-Harz, the Selke Valley
and the legendary Brocken.
First, we checked out the Harzblick stellplatz at
Darlingerode, slightly out of Wernigerode. This had only a few vans in a fenced
off, gravelled park, but did advertise the bonus of available wi-fi.
GPS: 51.8528 N,10.7367 E
However, we were not sure of any bus route into town and
decided to examine the town centre stellplatzs. The one closest to the old town
doubles up as a bus and car park and has no electricity facilities. Surrounded
by busy lanes of traffic we did not find it a tempting prospect and neither,
apparently, did anyone else.
GPS: 51.8379 N,10.7953 E
We moved on to the one over the river and the railway
line known as AmKatzentiech. It’s in a great location, only ten minutes walk to the centre of the old
town, but has the benefit (?) of the whoo…. whoo! of the Brocken steam train
whistle echoing through the trees at regular intervals together with the oily,
coal-smoke scents so evocative of steam loco travel. It is actually tucked
behind a large, and at the time, empty lorry park. Entrance is 5 euro via a
traffic light controlled barrier, the pitches roughly delineated by shrubs on
what was then rather soggy grass. Electricity is supplied at 1 unit (kW hour)
per euro, water via a similar set up.
Looking from the stellplatz, water and show facilities available in winter
GPS: 51.838 N, 10.7816 E
Walking into town we had a lovely view of the Schloss in
the fading light from the bridge over the railway line.
The neo-gothic spendour of the Schloss at Wernigerode
The market square of Wernigerode is an impeccable setting for a Christmas Market; rough cobblestones and timbered buildings all around, dominated by the 10 metre high Christmas tree and the twin spires of the Rathaus. In front of the town hall a brass and woodwind band was doing its best to murder some popular carols, but each stall was a joy, its colourful wares and lights just picture-perfect. Around the bars, traditional square metal and glass candle lanterns – desirable objects in themselves - illuminated the elbow high drinking tables thronged with happy drinkers enjoying their gluhwein.
The market square of Wernigerode is an impeccable setting for a Christmas Market; rough cobblestones and timbered buildings all around, dominated by the 10 metre high Christmas tree and the twin spires of the Rathaus. In front of the town hall a brass and woodwind band was doing its best to murder some popular carols, but each stall was a joy, its colourful wares and lights just picture-perfect. Around the bars, traditional square metal and glass candle lanterns – desirable objects in themselves - illuminated the elbow high drinking tables thronged with happy drinkers enjoying their gluhwein.
At one of the bigger food stalls, we asked for a tiny sample of the ubiquitous Gruenkohl and were presented with a full paper tray of the stuff and two forks. It’s cooked in a huge paella type pan, with bacon fat and seasonings and we found it very salty - nice enough, but in small portions. Instead we opted for the sautéed baby mushrooms with herb mayo and followed them up later with chips and more mayo! If my German had been better, we could have ordered the Harzer Kartoffelecken or country potatoes (chunky chips with the skin on), which looked a much better bet. These were served with a cheese sauce or Greek tsatziki.
Here we met a German English teacher and her family, and
again we raised the question of “what you do for Christmas dinner?” The answer
in this case was go for a hike in the forest, followed by a meal in a
restaurant within the forest, at which everybody ate what they chose; no
enforced adherence to turkey or, heaven forbid, the apparently traditional cold
potato salad and sausage!
As we were about to leave a band of wandering minstrels
dressed in medieval costume struck up with a very vigorous, even impassioned,
series of renditions; something of a cross between Irish jig and Morris dancing
tunes, but foot-tapping stuff anyhow.
On our return from the town the stellplatz entry light
had changed to red, indicating there was now a full complement of 19 vans. We
were all set for Christmas – except we had no snow… and we hadn’t got anything
to cook for Christmas dinner!
Next: A soggy/frozen…different kind of Christmas!
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