On the old border between East and West Germany, a hike in haunted hills

It's a holiday Monday in Canada and many people are enjoying their summer travels.

This is a photograph of the steam engine on the Brocken Railway in the Harz mountains of Germany. (Courtesy of Jswefu Makkeö.)

We're in Germany today because this is where Matt Gross, the "Frugal Traveler" with the New York Times, has turned up. For those who have been following his weekly posts, you know he's almost reached the end of the trail. In week 11 of a 12-week budget tour of Europe, Gross left Poland and entered Germany where he's been hiking in the scenic Harz mountains.

Brockenberg, or Brocken Mountain, is an area that inspired Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who decided to use the location as the setting for a celebration of witches in his masterpiece, Faust.
For centuries, the area was thought to be haunted, not only by witches, but also by goblins and other creatures.

Matt has decided to climb through the forest and up to Brocken. He's finding places to eat and sleep along the way.

Matt's weekly video is on his New York Times blog page here.

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