Germany                       Oschersleben                   18 May 2025


   I always try to escape Wolfen at weekends to meet friends and explore
   new towns.  I typically plan my weekends well in advance, and this
   Sunday was meant to be dedicated to a trip with Timofey to the
   Dessau-Wörlitzer Gartenreich, a landscape park created in the English
   style, located relatively close to where I live.  Unfortunately, a
   combination of circumstances prevented us from visiting this time,
   but we'll certainly go there sometime in the future.  After all, I've
   been there multiple times and always discover something new.  A
   wonderful place.

   Timofey suggested visiting Barby, a town not far from Schönebeck and
   Calbe, which I'd visited before.  On the way there, we were supposed
   to change from the train to a bus at Schönebeck station, but we got
   caught up in conversation and missed the announcement for our stop.
   We only realised when the train driver announced Magdeburg Südost
   station.  Considering that this trip was a spontaneous decision,
   unlike the planned visit to Wörlitz, we decided not to return but
   simply to check the train schedule at Magdeburg Hbf and head off from
   there to some random town.

   I looked at the timetable and discovered there were trains to Burg
   and Oschersleben.  The latter sounded familiar, and I suggested we go
   there.  Timofey also thought the name rang a bell, so the decision
   was made.  However, our train to Magdeburg was running late, so upon
   arrival at the station, we had to dash to the platform we needed.
   There we found a single-carriage train with "nordbahn" or something
   similar displayed on the information board instead of the
   destination.  Just to be sure, I checked with a station employee if
   this was the right train, and only then noticed a small handwritten
   paper stuck to the front window with "Oschersleben" barely visible on
   it.  Amusingly, trains to both Oschersleben and Aschersleben were
   departing from the same platform but on different tracks.

   Since our journey was completely spontaneous, I thought it might be
   nice to get off one stop before our destination, at Hadmersleben.  At
   first, I assumed it wouldn't be far to walk to our intended town, but
   after leaving the train and checking the maps again, we discovered it
   was quite a trek - six kilometres across fields.  Making our way
   towards our destination, we came across a small restaurant called
   "Flotts Höhe" at a crossroads, where we decided to stop and briefly
   shelter from an approaching downpour.  I politely asked the waitress
   if we could take refuge from the rain, thankfully my German was
   sufficient: "Wir möchten hier den Regen abwarten.  Dürfen wir?"  They
   even invited us to sit at a table rather than standing in the
   entrance.  Very kind.  A lovely establishment.

   Later I mentioned that we were walking towards Oschersleben, and as
   we set off, they wished us a pleasant journey.  On our way to town,
   we simply enjoyed the natural scenery around us.  Approaching the
   town, we discovered there was a permanent racing circuit of the same
   name, primarily used for the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters touring car
   championships.  We noticed this thanks to the distinctive sounds
   coming from there.  Interestingly, the stadium is surrounded by dense
   greenery acting as sound insulation.  We tried to get closer hoping
   to glimpse the track, but unfortunately, that proved impossible
   because of the fencing.

   A bit further on, we were caught in the rain again, and afterwards we
   discovered an amusing place: a canteen styled like a border
   checkpoint between East and West Germany.  Unfortunately, it only
   operates on weekdays, so we couldn't go inside.  Walking through the
   town itself brought considerable aesthetic pleasure: the town turned
   out to be very green, with a wonderful park.  Yes, the natural
   environment here is lovely.  We even discovered an abandoned building
   that bees had decided to turn into their hive.  It looked
   mesmerising.  A couple of times we were caught in the rain again,
   which alternated with sunny weather, creating some beautiful scenery.
   We managed to wait out another downpour in the entrance hall of a
   Sparkasse bank branch, barely making it there in time.

   The trip was wonderful, like all my other outings with Timofey.
   Though everything didn't go according to plan and our destination
   changed several times, isn't that cool?  What adventure is complete
   without such unexpected twists and turns?  Our state of Saxony-Anhalt
   holds many such unusual and beautiful places that people typically
   don't notice and where tours don't go, and it's great that each time
   we find ourselves in such amazing hidden places.  As I finish this
   note, my friend and I have already parted ways at Magdeburg Hbf, and
   I'm now heading towards Dessau while he's heading towards
   Aschersleben.  Yes, towards Aschersleben, not Oschersleben.  The
   important thing here is not to get confused between the two!





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