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Zittau sits very close to the border with Poland and Czechia. It's a lovely rural German city but what great timing for us. We took the train from Gorlitz which was simple, cheap and quick. Then we walked the 20 minutes down to the main square where we were staying. On arrival they were setting up for what looked like a German Christmas market in May. All was soon to be revealed, but first we checked into the
Hotel Sonnewhich was a wonderful birthday treat for Russ and a class above our normal travel digs! It's a beautifully restored building full of quirky works of art and we absolutely loved it there.
Art themes continue all around the city. Near the hotel is GrĂ¼ne Strasse where the old communist housing blocks have been painted eclectic colours and some weird sculpture adorn the walls. There were even some giant colourful fish in one of the parks. In other parts of the city we found more bizarre sculptures, some great graffiti and murals, and wonderful architecture - especially the district with the grand mansions.
Anyway, back to the non-Christmas Christmas market. We just happened to arrive on the day of their
Spectaculum Citaviae,
a medieval spectacle. Stalls were set up around the central maze of streets and large crowds gathered to watch parades, listen to music, and eat bratwurst while glugging down some refreshing beer. It was a great evening which culminated in a spectacular fireworks display in front of city hall and our hotel. To our amazement, by the time we emerged the next morning it was like nothing had happened such was the success of the clean-up operation.
That was just a bonus. The main reason for our visit was to take a train ride up into the mountains. We didn't ride on a steam train, but then you don't get to see it even if you do. We were quite happy with a standard locomotive and we did get to see the steam engine en-route. We walked up to the train station and bought our ticket there. The
Zittau Narrow-Gauge Railway runs alongside the main train tracks and its ticket office is impossible to miss. We opted to go to Jonsdorf but there are also trains to Oybin which is no doubt similarly spectacular. After a wander around Jonsdorf we walked out into the countryside where we climbed all the way
to the top of the Nun's Rock (Nonnenfelsen) to get magnificent views over the whole area. We returned to Jonsdorf for a birthday beer and bratty in the lovely cafe in the park, accompanied by some great Oompah music! The birthday treat was later completed by a wonderful meal in the
Dornspachhaus in Zittau.
Our final day was spent not in one country, nor two, but three! A fairly simple walk,
about an 8km round trip, took us out the the tri-border where Germany meets Poland and Czechia in a beautiful riverside location. It is impossible to technically be in all three at once as the true tri-border is in the middle of the river. You have to cross into Poland and then walk alongside the river for a few kilometres before meeting the bridge that crosses the river into Czechia. It was something quirky we really enjoyed doing. Had we rented bicycles we could have done the same on a longer route. Maybe next time.
Considering its size, Zittau has train lines going to a wide variety of destinations. For us, it was Liberec in Czechia.
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