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Tuesday, July 17, 2007: It has been a while since I last posted a blog…Since the last time I had written, we had went to Dresden and had a wonderful weekend. Our train was to leave out of Holesevice (our neighborhood) at 10:34; it was delayed 45 minutes. Once we placed ourselves on the train it began it get uncomfortable because of the heat…It seems as if Europe knows nothing of AC. A heat wave had come over the area. We met a family who was from Maryland and had been traveling Europe for the next few weeks, they gave us some good recommendations of what to see in Dresden. Our train followed the Elbe River the entire trip. It was amazing to see the difference between the Czech Republic and Germany just as you cross the border. Once you entered Germany, houses and lawns were well kept, and the homes didn’t look like bomb shelters. Simply an amazing view the entire train ride. Once we arrived we stopped in a Burger King at the train station, tastes the same…they actually had beef and didn’t substitute with pork. We walked outside and tried to figure out where we were in coordination to where our hotel was. A woman who works for the transit service in Germany not only showed us which tram tickets to buy to save us money but also explained the tram system and even walked us over to the proper tram stop. People here were very friendly, contrary to what we were told they do not know English. Luckily Hannah could speak a little German. Once we reached our hotel we took a short nap and went out to see the town. We saw the main church in the square and a lot of construction going on around it. During WWII the Allies bombed Dresden so bad it wasn’t even recognizable. They have just recently began to rebuild the city to look as it once did. On many of the buildings you can see the darker stone that appears to have soot or burn marks contrasting against the freshly replaced stones. We took some pictures with the Martin Luther statue and then I spotted a Bier Garten across the river. The culture here is charming. People just walk into this outside restaurant and order Brats and chicken right off the grill and sit anywhere outside. Good food! The banks of the river were like a grassy beach, with everyone laying out and gathering picnic style on the shores. Overwhelmed we went home. The next morning we went to Pfunds. This is the oldest standing dairy in Europe. Milkshakes in Europe aren’t real milkshakes they are more like flavored milk. Chris got a cheese soup…it looked like curdled milk. We all got potato omelets, chunks of potato with ham. I thought it was great. It was followed by real ice cream. This was the first time we didn’t find gelato. We then went to purchase tickets to take a four hour boat tour starting that evening. After taking another nap we went back to hop on the boat. It was a little fancier than we thought. Everyone was well dressed and it was similar to the Spirit of Norfolk. I think because we spoke English they gave us the American table in the corner…it was okay with us. After we ate a great meal we went on the upper deck to see the churches, castles and beautiful homes. The sun set was amazing…I will have to send emails with the pics when I get back. The next day we went back to the center to pick up souvenirs that we wanted and headed back to the train station. Because so much of my heritage is from Germany, I really tried to picture how life would have been for them during their era. I did find a street named Gustav Adolf Strasse. Strasse means street but Gustav Adolf was my Great Grandfathers name. As soon as we arrived back from Germany Andreas invited us to a Jazz orchestra. Fatigued we went as we were…for me very underdressed…a little embarrassed but none-the-less it was nice. Luckily I was sitting next to two Czech girls who spoke very good English and they narrated the performance for me. The man we are helping here, Andreas, had helped sponsor the event and had a sign for the business out in front of the orchestra and on the tickets. Yesterday we spent the most part of the day at Andreas’s home working on translating information from his website and editing his introduction pieces. Although his tutorials are nice, they are a little informal for the U.S. market and this is the market he is hoping to attract. Hallelujah Chris and I have now found a place to get our haircuts.
Good stuff Aaron..always ready to read your recent updates….seems like Germany was a pleasant experience. You will need a vacation when you get home. Yes, I am counting the days..:) See al you can, laugh alot, and stay safe!!
mom () - 17 07 07 - 15:10
I can ditto your mom’s comments…so glad you are having this experience…we all need more understanding of other countries, as well as getting to appreciate ours that much more. Love your blogs…so interesting…keep them coming. Love, G-ma
Grandma () - 18 07 07 - 17:06
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