Quedlinburg

We arrived in Quedlinburg, Germany on Monday afternoon, March 21. We’ve rented an apartment here for week. What a good find this was! This town is beautiful. It is full of old half-timbered houses, and in fact the German half-timbered house museum is located here. It managed to escape both the ravages of World War II and East Germany, so has maintained its historical character. It seems to be an arts town - lots of visual arts and music - and our apartment is up above an antiquarian bookstore. Perfect. Here are pictures of the bookshop and the upstairs area:
Downstairs is the kitchen, bathroom, and eating area. Here’s a picture of the stairs:

We’re careful.

From here we’ve driven to Eisleben and Wittenburg and have seen much of the countryside around this area. Quedlinburg is on the north edge of the Harz Mountains, and so is a favorite stopping place for people going hiking and camping there. We drove down from a high mountain ridge the other day, and it was a beautiful, forested road. Although Spring has officially begun, the trees around here have not really begun to leaf out. But you can see it coming. Everywhere we go people comment on the effects of the very hard cold winter they all had and how late the springtime blooms are. But everyone is getting ready, and we see gardeners hard at work in the home plots as well as their amazing pea patches! Those have little houses with satellite dishes and all - quite amazing! It looks like people come to garden and really settle in!

On our first night in Quedlinburg we ate at a local Italian restaurant. The young women at the table next to us heard our English and talked to us a bit. They had been on a two-day holiday from their homes in Hannover. They gave us a couple hints for the area, which was nice. But they also commented on how unusual it was to have American tourists around this region, or in Germany at all. We have discovered that not many people speak English, but everyone is game to try with us, and my little dictionary comes in handy! (My German is non-existent.) It just all adds to the adventure.

Our apartment does not have internet, but a nearby hotel graciously allowed us to get hooked to their wi-fi. So we’ll go over there and have another cup of coffee and get this posted. I’ll write about Eisleben and Wittenburg later.