Goodbye Thuringia, welcome to Hesse, hello Harz!

Our time in Thuringia naturally ended way too quickly - we could have easily relaxed by the Saale or embarked on other attractions. Perhaps another time - all in all, we were definitely pleasantly surprised. And since we were primarily focused on nature in the beautiful Schiefergebirge and the somewhat more famous Thuringian Forest, as well as the various workplaces of Goethe and Schiller and the Federal Garden Show in Erfurt, there is certainly much more to discover in the 'green heart' of the country. We took a hike along the Saale to Ziegenrück, where we explored the hydropower museum and the diverse history of various types of mills before the 'hiking bus' brought us back. Unfortunately, we could only visit Burg Ranis from the outside on our last day in Thuringia and do a little shopping at a small market nearby.

We made a stopover for a day and a night in Ronshausen (Northeast Hesse), where we enjoyed excellent food, a sporting walk along a fitness trail, and a nice chat by the campfire with Tabea, an old friend of Andrea's, and Jens as well as Malte, Lenya, and Cassandra.

We then stayed in Bad Lauterberg am Wiesenbeker Teich. Here in the Harz region, we combined the tried and true (super slide at Matthias-Schmidt-Berg, swimming pool and sauna 'Vitamar', Grube Samson) with family time (we were finally able to visit Uli and Rosemarie after a long pandemic break, and we also met Felix with Meylin and Meiting). The visit to Andrea's old home not only provided conveniences such as laundry and the best hospitality, but also allowed the children to take a break from the caravan at grandma and grandpa's for two nights, giving us some time for activities that experience some fluctuation in motivation for Oskar and Karla 😉. So we were able to start off sporty by adding the first three stamps to our newly acquired passes for the 'Harzer Wandernadel' and explore the sleepy village of Zorge, which is not part of our usual Harz routine. We also enjoyed a cappuccino at the café in Kloster Walkenried. Finally, we visited Celine, Steffen, Ronja, and Thore in Clausthal, from where we walked through the pleasantly fragrant forest to the Polsterberger Hubhaus, a component of the UNESCO World Heritage Upper Harz Water System - on the way back to Bad Lauterberg via Altenau, Torfhaus, and Braunlage, however, we passed through alarming deserts that were left behind by pine plantations after two warm, dry summers due to the bark beetle. Not a World Heritage Site, but also a significant reminder of climate change. Although the weather this week was rather so-so, our relaxation deepened and now we are looking forward to a relaxed week in the Lüneburg Heath, about which we will report separately.