Mar 27, 2008 - Meissen

We took the train to Meissen, near Dresden, Germany, to see the Meissen porcelain factory. It was really neat to go through the workshop part of the factory, because it laid out each step of production and had samples in the background as a person was actually doing the work in front of you. We got to see them throw porcelain and use molds to make intricate pieces of work. We also saw how the porcelain changed after being fired (it was a lot smaller and looked white, whereas before it looked more like regular clay). We also saw people use...

Nov 15, 2007 - German train strike!!

So last night at 2:15 (45 min earlier) we arrived in Dresden. Me, Stef, and I think maybe one other person were dropped of on the side of the road. I don't have enough time to explain in detail but we took a taxi to a hostel in our book that was supposed to be 24 hr. no answer so we walked to another one. No answer then some guys came out of a bar right next door and we were cautious but were actually very helpful. One guy walked us to about 3 other hostels, still no answer and finally we ended up staying at this one guesthouse type place...

Oct 13, 2007 - Dresden

So iäve made it to dresden after an interesting story iäll come back and elaberate on, but mz internet time is about to expire so i just wanted to update the journal to say where iäm. meeting a friend from aspen here, so not going to waste too much time on the internet but iäll update sometime in the next few days

Jul 11, 2007 - Onward to Dresden, Germany and Prague, Czech Republic

Today, we got off to an early start on our way to Dresden, Germany, the former capital of Saxony. After a 2.5 our drive, we arrive in the City of Dresden. This city was literally destroyed by the Allies in February 1945, near the end of WWII. The city was bombed continuously for 3 days with fire bombs that destroyed the center of town and the main city Cathedral. Over 100,000 thousand people were killed during the bombing raids. The city has since been restored to its baroque splendor. This is a very beautiful city with its architecture...

Apr 9, 2007 - Dresden

On the way from Berlin to Salzbourg we made a brief stop in Dresden to take in some of the architecture we had read about. It was well worth the stop. Much of Dresden was destroyed in the second world war and much of it has been rebuilt in original style, and many buildings are still in the process of restoration. We were only there for about an hour so pictures are not labeled and are posted just to convey a flavour of the city.

Oct 27, 2006 - Dresden, Germany

It is always good to listen to advice people who have travelled give you. In two days, we had two people tell us to visit Dresden in the southeast corner of Germany on the Czech border - so we did ... the joy of travelling with no fixed itinerary! Dresden was a city that was badly damaged during a bombing campaign late in WWII so many of the city's historical buildings have been rebuilt . It is also situated on the Elbe River, as is Hamburg, so the river covered in tour boats and its many bridges provides such a perfect foreground for the...

Jun 22, 2006 - Leipzig, karaoke time

I had a really great time in this smaller city which used to be a part of the old East Germany, it was a short 2-day stop and I only went for the football match I was going to there but it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable visits I have had so far and the reason for this is the amazingly friendly, welcoming and generally legendary local people I met. I arrived after a relatively short journey from Berlin and made my way to the hostel, it was a fair way out of town and the rules there made me feel like the Iron Curtain was still up-...

May 13, 2006 - dresden

really cool city - no hotels, but cool place to visit. theyre just now rebuilding from the war and what theyve got done is worth seeing. great little market with fruit and crafts and food where we grabbed lunch and the most amaying cherry juice. would have been fun to go to the opera or something here - all the buildings and plazas are very royal and glamorous looking.....

Mar 6, 2006 - Catching up with Katja, Leipzig

Well, I finally made it back to Leipzig to catch up with Katja! On the 3 March I flew to Altenburg, near Leipzig. It had snowed heavily as you can see from the airport photo. I made my way to Leipzig by bus, then caught a train to Delitzsch where I was met by Katja and we drove to her parents initially before heading back in to Leipzig to go to the flat she shares with her boyfriend, Enne. I first met Katja last February when she stayed on my couch in Brisbane for a few days during her trip to Australia. 'Couch surfing'...

Nov 3, 2005 - New York City, Tag 4 und Heimreise

Nun, heute morgen war erstmal Koffer umpacken angesagt. Nachdem all unser Gepäck bereit war, haben wir das Gepäck untergebracht und ausgecheckt. Dann liefen wir über den Times Square Richtung Central Park und genossen den Park dort ein wenig. Später dann nahmen wir die Metro zurück zum Times Square und verbrachten dort den Rest des angebrochenen Nachmittags bis wir dann zum Hotel zurückliefen und dort auf das Shuttle warteten. Nach einer eineinhalbstündigen Fahrt zum Flughafen durch die gröbste Rush Hour verlief der Rest des Tages ziemlich...

Nov 2, 2005 - Meissen, balkon am der Elbe

Meissen is a jewel in the crown of the Queen of Heaven. High atop a fortified hill, sits a medieval protestant kathedrale that never felt nor even suspected the rude hand of an iconoclast. It would seem that the Wettin Fursten und Koenigen dem Sachen Volk thoroughly protected their ancestral burial cathedral. Many of the Wettin nobility are buried in the church. There are two altars, one before the altar screen for the liturgy of the Word, and the second tight up against the eastern wall of the mile high apse, for the liturgy of the...

Nov 2, 2005 - Leipzig und Bachiana

We left Torgau with regret, but soon were under the spell of the bucolic German countryside. However, Leipzig is a hell hole, traffic wise. The place was badly bombed out during the late unpleasantness, and 50 years of poverty generating "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need" gives it the patina of a long buried egg. There are spots of urban renewal which are quite interesting and not without some beauty. As it happened, it took us an hour to get from the underskirts of the city through the miles and miles of...