East Germany

It is some time I do not write anything.
I have been very busy and no travelling.
I have moved to Muldental, precisely to Leipnitz zum Rittergut.
I live in the Rittergut, among forests and lakes.
July, August and September were spent in the woods.
I was there most of my day, officially looking for mushrooms (and I found tons of them) but in reality enjoying every bit of it.
They are so dark and silent and there are millions of strange mushrooms, of every color.
You can easily find deers and (rarely) wild pigs.
Millions of birds make useless the music machine.
Now in winter, if possible, the landscape looks even better under the snow and we had a lot of it this year.
I would define East countryside the landscape of the past.
Therefore it is the landscape of the future.
It didn´t live the mad Era of "New is beautiful" "Plastic is better".
Oil didn´t leave big marks here and, since we are almost at "Peak Oil", this will be a Western part untouched by Mac civilisation.
Whoever likes nature and want to breath it, this is a place to be.

Hunterwasser, Magdeburg

Many have an idea of the Germans as people so precise and obsessed with perfection that have no space in their brain for new and original projects.
These many should go to Magdeburg and would have a very different opinion.
I personally do not like Gaudi, I find it a little kitschy, but I was surprised and pleasantly surprised...
The real catchy is that you wouldn’t certainly expect anything of this kind in Germany.
This is a Paradise for children and adults that dream to be children again.
All those stairs and small gardens and hidden windows and colored columns.
It is something like the "One thousand and one nights".
It is like jumping in a fairy tale and be a part of it...

Wernigerode

The Broghammers love to wander around. It is their favorite sport.
Not too heavy, not too light.
They walk a lot and look and see and enjoy.
At least it has one of their favorite features: it is cheap and brings a lot for the money you spend.
Besides there is always the opportunity to find eventual bargains.
Enjoy and save...

Wernigerode is a real jewel, a gem few know and it is a real pity.
Because it is such a nice place to visit in an early Spring day.
At least if you like old towns.
They (the Germans) have a lot of original buildings also in the West, but the beauty of the East is that they are still as they were, roads and environment included.
In the DDR they just abandoned the old and built new ugly towns somewhere else.
That is why entering something like Wernigerode you feel like jumping in the past.
What brings you to the present is the huge mass of tourists sitting in the beautiful Cafes, eating ice creams (Italian) and enjoying the sun.

We walked and walked. We went to the Castle and coming back we finished in a "Gross" and beautiful Park.
After the Winter we had, it looked like Nature had died, the sun had gone away and the cold was our friend forever.
But suddenly Spring exploded and everything is so green that I guess a painter would have problems to copy it.
There were a lot of young people playing, small children running and mothers chatting.
The sky was blue and there was a very sweet smell in the air: the smell of flowers.

We finally sat in a fancy Cafe, had a coffee with the Schwarzwald cake, a huge slice, and we were, if not happy, at least very pleased.
If you plan to go to Germany this is a place to be.

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the German Federal Free State of Saxony. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe.
Dresden means "people of the riverside forest" and you can understand why, if you visit the surroundings, beautiful countryside with woods and historical little towns.
Dresden has a long history as the capital and royal residence




for the Electors and Kings of Saxony, who for centuries furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendour.

It is also well known for the controversial bombing of Dresden in World War II by the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces (the direct predecessor to the independent United States Air Force), plus 40 years in the Soviet bloc state of the German Democratic Republic Considerable restoration work has settled the damage.



You can still see by the colour of the stones in the famous Frauenkirche (the blacks are the original).
Since German reunification in 1990, Dresden has emerged as a cultural, political, and economic centre in the eastern part of Germany.
Dresden is a spacious city. Its districts differ in their structure and appearance. Many parts still contain an old village core, while some quarters are almost completely preserved as rural settings.

The touristic part, the old town and the Elbe river is one of the most fascinating places of it.






If you plan a visit, one thing I loved was the Dresden Panometer which is the faithful reproduction of Dresden in the 18th century.

Naumburg

"Two return tickets for Naumburg"
"Are you going to visit Naumburg?"
"That is indeed a good choice, I'm sure you'll like it!"

Naumburg is one of the most beautiful towns in central Germany.
In the Middle Ages the cathedral town had its heyday as an important fair and trade centre.
Today impressive old burgher houses,



the town fortifications, the magnificent market square,



and the world-famous cathedral




all bear witness to this rich and colorful history.

The town is nestled in a charming cultural landscape which owes its unique character to terraced vineyards, castles and ruins still towering over the river valleys,



recalling a time when the first German kings and emperors resided here.

It was a trip through history, as all my ramblings in East Germany.
It was a pleasant surprise, a total discovery, the first step into this journey into Germany as a beginner.