Hirschberg (Jelenia Gora)

Hirschberg (now Jelenia Gora) is 10 km south of Langenau and the nearest town. It has a pretty historic centre with arcades and baroque houses on the main square and a mediterranean feel. 

ein Hirsch

The town is the entrance to the Hirschberg Valley leading towards Schneekoppe (1603m) and  the Riesengebirge, where skiing is the winter sport and tourists go hiking in summer. It is a beautiful valley with a string of Prussian castles, parks and mansions, some in ruins. In recent years many of them have been rebuilt or renovated and converted into hotels. We stayed in one: Stonsdorf Palace with a park around and views towards Schneekoppe.

 Schneekoppe

in the park of Stonsdorf Palace

as so often, a robin came to greet me on my walk through the park

and the house cat ...

The charming house has been carefully renovated and has a very good chef. 

The place is a bit difficult to find. Our car navigation system had problems, we were lucky to have brought old-fashioned maps ...

But the motorway towards Breslau is well endowed: this may possibly be the only Autobahn in existence where not only outside temperature but also tarmac temperature is measured and posted.... There must have been some  EU money left over after the main construction earmarked for spending on this particular stretch of road?