John Wayne in Germany

After a brief sojourn in the Harz Mountain region of Germany, the blog is back! This is quite a beautiful area of the country. Most of it is a huge national park. There is a lot of camping and hiking and much skiing in the winter. The landscape is unusual and is a separate ecosystem with distinct species.

The area was also divided between East and West until the wall fell. The highest point, Brocken, was in East Germany and there was a Russian military base right nearby. Now, that is all history. We did not go into the towns in the Eastern part so I cannot really say what they are like around there but the countryside of Thuringia is worth driving through. Somewhat reminescent of Kansas. Enormous flat farm fields with few towns.

The town Osterode, which is in Lower Saxony, actually had an American bar. Very strange. A country western bar. The owners were German and must have fallen in love with all things kitchsy Texas. The place was covered with western paraphenalia, including a big cardboard cutout of John Wayne on the front door. There were license plates from American states all over the walls. It looked like the owners would go each year to America and buy cheap schlock to display.