Day 282: South to Dessau

Off we went from Quedlinburg, only a single night stay which has been quite unusual for us on this trip! Filled up beforehand on a hotel breakfast of course, before walking the 10 minutes back to the train station. 90 minute train to Magdeburg where we had 30 minutes to grab some lunch and change trains to another 90 minute train to Dessau.

Here we weren't actually staying in town, but in an old tollhouse right on the river, about 5km north of the town. It was pretty rural, though the train station was about 10 minutes walk away across a highway bridge. Very surprised to learn that pets cost an extra 8 euros per night, as that wasn't mentioned at all on the listing! And that the "included breakfast" was only included if you paid 11 euros per person per night! Complete rip-off, and we weren't very impressed.

Our room was OK, it's in a large farmhouse building but we're on the upstairs level, essentially in the attic. We have a lot of floor space in the room, but most of it isn't that usable since it's underneath a sloping ceiling. You have to stoop quite a bit in places, and it's very easy to hit your head. Not super impressed again! Decided that we'd head into Dessau proper and have a look around, even though we'll be going through there quite a bit over the next few days.

First stop was the large gardens area just near the station, which is a fairly unimportant part of a larger World Heritage site, the larger more important part of which is elsewhere. But it was again decent weather, so we had a wander around the gardens in the fading light. As it got dark we walked into the main part of Dessau where the Christmas market was kicking off. First night of the season! We had a look around and ate a few things - sausages, waffles, chocolates. A few interesting looking things to buy, but obviously we resisted!

It's funny, they're such a romantic idea, the Christmas markets in the snow with cute candies on sale, delicious German food and of course steaming hot mulled wine, but when we visited a few years ago we found them quite underwhelming. They're nice, but after a couple they're basically all the same. Oh well, the first one for the season is good! Had a cup of gluhwein of course and filled up on various treats before catching the train back home. The walk across the highway bridge was a bit hairy since it was completely dark, and there were no lights on the bridge!Read more