The Harz Mountains - Stiege, Hasselfelde, Wernigerode and Thale

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I was lucky to be invited by a German friend to her family home for Pfingsten, a religious holiday translated to Whitsun in english that marks the beginning of the hotter half of the year - supposedly. Well to be fair this weekend did see better temperatures and weather and I had my first swim in Germany in my friends natural swimming pool, or should I say natural swimming pond. In either case it was nice to see sunshine and be able to lay outside in the sun.

I found myself in the Harz Mountains of Germany, in a small village of 1000 people called Stiege. A town that 99 percent of German people haven't heard of! So when I found myself in this tiny East German village I was pleasantly suprised to find myself completely surrounded by luxury. My friend has a sauna, sunbed, spa pool, gymnasium and natural swimming pool at her house, so there wasnt much need to go further afield.

We did however spend a day checking out Wernigerode and Thale. Wernigerode is perhaps the most known town in the Harz Mountains, its 35000 people making it a little bigger than the surrounding villages. It was one of the towns fortunate enough to not have been annihilated during the war or wars. Therefore it has retained alot of character and old German style charm. It´s Rathaus is the best one of come across to date. After Wernigerode we went to Thale which is famous for its Hexentanzplatz (witches dancefloor) and scenery. We went up the gondolas and took a walk around the mountains, then went back to Steige to prepare for the nights acitivities.

The town next door, of 4000 people, has its biggest annual party during Pfingsten. After the best BBQ I´ve had in Germany at a friend of my friends house, we watched Bayern München play Inter Milan in the Champions League final and then headed off to the annual party of Hasselfelde. On arrival I found myself at an American style country fair. After spending some time mingling there, we went to the disco that the people in the surrounding villages have been going to every year for years and had a great night there.

The highlight of the weekend for me was discovering bulette, a german meatball filled with goat cheese, that is cooked on the BBQ. Will be eating that again no doubt!!! Overall, another great experience that I feel lucky to have had, may they keep on coming...

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