GLIMPSES OF GERMANY

A Few Apricots and a Packet Of Crisps…

…Happened to be our dining options that fateful evening

The beautiful town hall of Wernigerode [All photographs used are owned by the author]

It has been an annual ritual for quite some time now. The last week of a given year, and the first seven days of the New Year, is a period when we prefer taking an extended vacation. We have for many years now adjusted our annual leaves and made a schedule accordingly. Save for the two virus-affected years, we have managed to go ahead in every other holiday season.

Spending a few days in the region around the Harz Mountains was part of our plans for 2023. Having discussed the available options, we zeroed in on a small town as our base. We made the necessary bookings well in advance and were busy wrapping up all the pending assignments. As luck would have it, we finished work ahead of schedule and were left with two additional days.

It’s time to prepone our upcoming vacation. The hotel, in which we were booked, was sold out. As such, we had to book in another hotel for the first two days. This ad hoc arrangement turned out to be so good that it made us rethink our decision. Unfortunately, in Germany, we mostly have a 14-day cancellation policy.

To cancel your reservation within 14 days of your arrival date is possible only at a heavy cost, considering we had booked at a place that was anything but cheap. Checking out of the first hotel and heading into the pre-booked one came at a price, and it had nothing to do with the invoice. The payment had to be made in any case.

A beautiful little town

The HSB narrow gauge railway and the imposing castle are among Wernigerode’s biggest attractions

Wernigerode is a beautiful little town in the Harz Mountains. Considering its size, it has a lot to offer for both tourists and travelers. There’s Schloss Wernigerode, an imposing fairytale castle that looms over the town. There are a plethora of museums and a convivial market square. Besides, there is something that draws most of the tourists to the town.

Harzer Schmalspurbahn (HSB), a historic narrow gauge railway that starts from Wernigerode and heads to the highest peak in the Harz Mountains. The Brocken, with an elevation of 1,141 meters, is part of the Harz National Park. Considering we were using Wernigerode as a base, we had the opportunity to explore some of the other beautiful towns in the region.

That being said, we had kept the first few days to explore the nature around Wernigerode and to soak in the ambiance. Besides, the Christmas Market at the main square, with multiple food stalls and live performances, was still a key attraction when we reached the town. The first three days went by in a jiffy. It was on the fourth day that we suffered for having ignored a significant detail.

Sorry we’re closed

Unlike in the big cities we are used to living in, shops tend to close early in the small towns. Wernigerode is no different. Save for a few restaurants, all other commercial establishments shut down early. We should have kept this in mind and stocked up a few more things to eat. Having explored the surroundings till late in the afternoon, we realized we had not eaten anything since breakfast.

The old town area is a great place to explore on foot

It was only when we came across the closed doors of a few restaurants that we realized the obvious. That fateful day happened to be December 24. Even the Christmas Market in the Wernigerode center had shut down the previous day. As a result, the possibility of savoring delicacies from its many stalls had been nullified.

We wandered around in vain trying to find if anything was open. On most occasions in Germany, if nothing else is open, there is at least the possibility of finding a döner outlet or an Asian restaurant open. On Christmas Eve in Wernigerode, every such option had also displayed the sign Sorry we’re closed.

After being completely exhausted following our exercise in futility, we returned to our hotel. Having already spent a night in the hotel, we were aware it didn’t have an in-house restaurant. Not willing to give up, we made an inquiry with the reception manager, hoping he could help us with a pragmatic solution.

“I was thinking about it myself,” he replied, adding, “My family is not in town, and I am not in a mood to cook this evening. I was wondering where I am going to have my dinner.” Back in the room, besides giving the tired legs some rest, we were busy assessing our options.

Running out of options

A quick search on the internet indicated three Asian joints were open. With the restaurants in our area not open, we set out to locate these. Our first two searches ended in front of locked doors. We gave up on the third. On our way back we noticed the restaurants of some of the town’s major hotels were open. So good was our luck on the day that a few we entered clarified they were only serving the guests in their hotels.

One of those options happened to be the hotel we had stayed at on arrival. Only if we had booked our entire stay in their premises, and not considered them as an afterthought. One should never select hotels solely based on reviews… We were being made to re-learn this harsh lesson in the harshest of circumstances. It was getting increasingly frustrating… and irritating.

As we made our way back to the town hall area, we could see lots of people in a queue. It turned out to be a makeshift arrangement, an old man selling glühwein. While you can’t fault the man for trying to make a few quick bucks in an evening everything was shut, what he offered tasted terrible. Not to forget it was grossly overpriced.

Having run out of energy to a significant extent, we chose to return to our room. Once inside, we looked at what we had at our disposal. There was a stall in the Christmas Market selling fresh apricots. We had purchased some in the previous evening, but not consumed all of them. There were a few left in the bag.

As regards the minibar, well it will suffice to say the minibar usually has all the useless things in the world. The one in our room had a few cans of beer, a couple of soft drink bottles and a packet of crisps (potato chips). They were not exactly useful options for us. That being said, my better half, having realized the apricots won’t be enough for both of us, tore open the crisps and ate with a sense of guilt.

In the aftermath

Random statues can be found across the town

Having been forced to skip dinner, we couldn’t have been faulted for having expected good options at the breakfast table. Unfortunately, our hotel disappointed us big time in this case as well. For a property levying a daily charge of 30 EUR (per person), the breakfast was forgettable, and that is putting it politely.

We opted for an early lunch and headed to a Greek restaurant. While the place (and what it served) was anything but Greek, suffice to say it was edible. For two famished souls, that is what mattered in the final analysis. Besides, it was Christmas and there was no way we could have let anything spoil our festive mood.

Having learned it the hard way, we decided we should either always book hotels with an in-house restaurant, or at least have enough eatables stocked in our room as an emergency measure during our future travels. Our decision to opt for Wernigerode as our base was a smart one. Unfortunately for us, our choice of hotel was anything but smart.

When we checked out after a few days, the woman at the reception smiled and said we were good to go. We had paid the bill well in advance, but she seemed to have forgotten something. Nonetheless, I took out a 2 EUR coin from my pocket and handed it to her, taking her by a little surprise. It was the price of the packet of crisps (from the minibar) that my better half had been forced to eat on that fateful evening.