Kam's Postcard

Highlights:

• First train ride in Europe!
• Castle exploration and hiking
• Hiking stamp collected
• Cancelled train and missed connection

Places:

• Magdeburg, Wernigerode, and Halberstadt Train Stations
• Wernigerode Castle
• Stempelstelle 31 – Agnesberg (stamp station along hiking trail)
• Eiscafe Barbara (so good!)

Fun fact: you often have to pay for public restrooms in Germany.

Friday was my first solo trip and train ride in Europe! It started with boarding a 9am train from Magdeburg Hbf to Wernigerode Hbf, about an hour long ride. Upon arriving in Wernigerode, I walked through the quaint little town, making a couple quick stops. Then, I made my way up to Wernigerode Castle. I explored around the castle grounds and found a good spot that overlooked the town to eat my lunch. It was such a gorgeous view! 

Following that, I made my way up to a short hiking trail to explore and get a better view of the castle. While up there, I met a sweet older lady and between her broken English, my tiny knowledge of German, and a translator app we managed to have a brief but wholesome talk😄 We each took each other’s photos and she showed me her stamp book for hiking in the Harz Mountains. It’s a passbook that allows you to collect stamps along trail/hiking routes in the region. Unknowingly, the spot I had hiked to had one of these stamp stations. So, I made my way back down to town, wandered around some more, purchased a passbook, and hiked back up to collect my first stamp at Stempelstelle 31 – Agnesberg! 

Upon arriving back at the train station, I learned that my return train was canceled, so I found another one and walked to town while I waited. I got ice cream from Eiscafe Barbara, and my gosh did it hit the spot! After my brief ice cream break, it was back to the train station. I hopped on the train, but it was slightly delayed causing the connection to be too short so I missed my following train. This seems to be a recurring theme🙈 Thankfully, there was another one heading towards my final destination, so I waited around Halberstadt station until it arrived. 

Once back in Magdeburg, I made my walk back to where I’m staying and chatted with my good friend, Jasmine. Back at Rachel and Lukas’ I was greeted with yummy food and good company, as Rachel was helping host a girls’ night! Gabi (one of the wonderful women I’ve met here) taught us how to knit and later in the evening I tried to teach a few girls the line dance to A Bar Song (Tipsy) by Shaboozey. Couldn’t have ended the night on a better night!